Posted on by Zack Albert

DARLINGTON, S.C. — Even before NASCAR Cup Series cars hit the track for Saturday’s preliminaries at Darlington Raceway, Chris Buescher said he didn’t envy the job that RFK Racing colleague Scott Graves had ahead of him — when to pit, when to save tires and when to switch it up when strategies shift.

“I’m glad I’m not a crew chief this weekend. Let’s put it that way,” Buescher said with a grin. “I don’t want to have to make that decision and have to live with the consequences if it doesn’t go the right way.”

Drivers are expected to have a handful with a revamped rules configuration in Sunday’s Goodyear 400 (3 p.m. ET, FS1, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), with a horsepower boost, reduced aero stability and tire management all at a premium on an already abrasive asphalt surface. Crew chiefs won’t have it too much easier, trying to thread the right balance on strategy with fresh Goodyear rubber being a precious commodity.

RELATED: Schedule, TV info: Darlington | Goodyear tire notes

Crew chiefs have already heard an earful from Saturday’s practice and qualifying sessions, held in the same warm conditions that are expected to make the surface slick again Sunday afternoon. “I told ya I’m sideways,” Team Penske’s Joey Logano told No. 22 crew chief Paul Wolfe over the team radio in the second 25-minute session. “I’m freakin’ hanging on here.” Fellow Ford driver Zane Smith had similar sentiments for his No. 38 Front Row Motorsports team: “Extremely, extremely loose. Just about wrecked a few times.”

The increased falloff in lap time over the course of a run was evident, roughly 1.5 seconds after a 10-lap stretch. Spire Motorsports veteran Michael McDowell said his first lap in Saturday’s practice felt like what 15-lap wear would have resembled a year ago. Crew chiefs cued in on that, too, and will adjust their Sunday plans accordingly.

“I feel like the package change definitely was noticeable for us,” Brandon McSwain, first-year crew chief for Ross Chastain’s No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet, told NASCAR.com. “Definitely down on grip, as we kind of thought. Just the magnitude of it, I think, is a little bit higher for us than we predicted, but it gives us some data points that we can kind of mull over for tonight and work on for tomorrow and make it better.”

Cup Series teams will have an allotment of 10 new sets of Goodyear tires for Sunday’s race, plus one that carries over from Saturday’s qualifying. The stages roughly split the race into thirds, with breaks at Lap 90, Lap 185 and the full distance of 293 laps — making the final stage the longest by a slight margin.

MORE: Paint Scheme Preview | Fantasy Fastlane

When to use those sets of tires depends on how caution flags fall and how frisky teams want to get with bucking established trends. As the garage observed in Friday night’s Craftsman Truck Series race, Corey Heim was able to bolt through the field in a series of overtimes, using a reserve set of gently used scuffed tires to a winning advantage. Holding a fresh (or fresher) set for such an occasion could also be Sunday’s winning play, but the potential cost is waiting for a yellow flag that never comes and going home with an unspent set.

“If you could get away with just splitting a stage in half instead of pitting twice, I think that’s the big question for all of us,” said Ryan Sparks, crew chief for Daniel Suárez’s No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet. “Obviously we’d want to just split one in half so you can save a set of tires, right, because we saw what happened (Friday) night and how important tires are. So I think the guy that can give up the least track position and keep a set will probably be in a really good spot. So if you end up having to pit twice each stage, it really puts you in a bind on tire allotment. So it’s in the back of all the crew chiefs’ minds. That’s the big question this weekend.”

Pole winner Tyler Reddick said he was able to coax 42 laps out of a set during practice, “and I was hanging on for dear life,” he added. Sunday’s race-day results may vary for other teams, but the merits and perils of gambling and pushing those runs farther versus stopping more frequently will weigh heavily atop each pit box.

“Traditionally, we don’t use all the sets here because you don’t have those natural cautions,” McSwain said. “And I definitely think now that you’re going to see guys being more aggressive on strategy, essentially two-stopping the stages, because the falloff is so high and they drive so bad. So I think you will see a different Darlington than what we have in years past from a strategy side. So you’ve really got to stay on top of what’s best for your car. In particular, you may have some guys that are one stop versus two, just because their long run is very high. So I think that that’ll be the difference is you’ll have guys on varying strategies.”

Said Sparks: “It’s a game of risk, right? Risk versus reward. You know, it can be very rewarding if you had a set laying at the end that you could use with a caution with 10 laps to go. And man, if we all knew the answer when the caution was going to come … What’s scary to me is, historically, there’s a caution right off the bat at the start of this race. So if you have to throw a set on it Lap 12, you’re going to have to pit again before the end of stage, so you’re down a set from where you want to be already. I think that’s what’s bothersome to all the crew chiefs in the garage. So, the good news is we all have the same amount. So whoever can come up with the cutest strategy, I think will be in a good spot.”

Drivers and crews alike will face another test with Darlington’s unique pit-road layout. The entry requires a long, sweeping entry down off the banking of Turns 3 and 4, and the chance of missing the opening is greater here than other tracks on the circuit.

Once drivers get there, they’ll find that the first six pit stalls are slightly isolated — still part of the track’s Turn 4 bend before the pit road straightens out on the frontstretch. Suárez qualified 11th, giving Sparks a better pit-stall choice – stall No. 7 for car No. 7 – and some say in setting up camp in a preferred spot.

“I don’t like being in that curve down there, me personally. Some people love it. I do not,” Sparks said. “For the drivers, as far as just getting on pit road with the falloff and stuff, I mean, there’s no grip, so you’re out of control trying to get to pit road under green, which we’re going to do a lot, pitting under green here. So the driver has to be extremely focused. You’ll see guys miss pit road here, so I definitely like to be on the other end of pit road, just because you have a little time to prepare your crew. If you hit the wall here, coming off of (Turn) 2, you’d better be ready if you’re at that end of pit road. The driver’s coming to you quick. Just so many things that happen quickly here and often, so a lot to think about … but that’s what makes our job challenging and fun.”

Posted on by Staff Report

The track “Too Tough to Tame” will put its moniker to the test in Sunday’s Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway (3 p.m. ET, FS1, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Added horsepower and reduced grip will combine for a thrilling show in South Carolina on Sunday, with NASCAR’s best asked to prove themselves all over again in a 293-lap showdown. Indeed, Racing Insights projects that familiar faces will be atop the leaderboard when the checkered flag waves, with prediction models eyeing polesitter Tyler Reddick to score his first Darlington victory.

Will the man who scored a historic three-peat to open the season add his fourth 2026 trophy to the tally after six races? Here’s a look at others to keep an eye on and the full projected results for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race.

RELATED: Full starting lineup | Darlington preview

DRIVERS TO WATCH

BUBBA WALLACE: Wallace has had the hot hand to start the season. While he’s still seeking his first win of the campaign, the 23XI Racing driver sits second in points behind teammate Reddick and hasn’t finished worse than 11th through five races this year. Wallace, a new father of two, has finished inside the top 10 in five of the last seven Darlington races, with one pole and six top-10 starting positions in that span. He starts second Sunday and is projected by Racing Insights to place eighth.

KYLE BUSCH: The No. 8 Richard Childress Racing driver will start eighth Sunday in search of snapping a 98-race winless streak. Busch has won just once at Darlington back in 2008, but the “Lady in Black” has treated him fairly well in recent years, scoring a runner-up and three straight top 10s in his last three Darlington appearances. Racing Insights projects another 10th-place finish for Busch Sunday.

BRAD KESELOWKSI: Keselowski scored his most recent Cup win in this race two years ago and seems poised to contend again despite an 11th-place projection from Racing Insights. The 2012 NASCAR Cup Series champion qualified fifth for Darlington, earning his first starting position inside the top 10 on a non-drafting track since Richmond Raceway in August 2025.

FULL PROJECTED RESULTS FOR 2026 GOODYEAR 400 (3 P.M. ET, FS1)

FINISHCAR NUMBERDRIVER
145Tyler Reddick
211Denny Hamlin
35Kyle Larson
424William Byron
520Christopher Bell
69Chase Elliott
717Chris Buescher
823Bubba Wallace
912Ryan Blaney
108Kyle Busch
116Brad Keselowski
1222Joey Logano
1319Chase Briscoe
1454Ty Gibbs
151Ross Chastain
1660Ryan Preece
1716AJ Allmendinger
1843Erik Jones
193Austin Dillon
202Austin Cindric
2138Zane Smith
227Daniel Suárez
2371Michael McDowell
2477Carson Hocevar
2534Todd Gilliland
2642John Hunter Nemechek
274Noah Gragson
2847Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
2921Josh Berry
3041Cole Custer
3197Shane van Gisbergen
3235Riley Herbst
3310Ty Dillon
3448Justin Allgaier
3551Cody Ware
3688Connor Zilisch
3766Timmy Hill
Posted on by Mike Hembree

DARLINGTON, S.C. – Brandon Jones viewed his second-place finish in Saturday night’s Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts race at Darlington Raceway as the big boost his early season needs.

Jones lost a late-race battle to eventual winner Justin Allgaier, finishing 0.578 seconds behind the winner, but the runner-up finish was easily Jones’ best run of the season. He started Saturday’s race with a seasonal resume topped by a 10th-place run at EchoPark Speedway near Atlanta.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Darlington

“I think you’re going to see our season start to change here a little,” Jones said. “This is how you begin to start winning races again, running up front like we did. Justin is one of the best here, so we’re going against some really heavy hitters. So, I’m proud of that effort.”

An excellent final pit stop by his Joe Gibbs Racing crew put Jones in first place, alongside Allgaier, for the race’s final restart with 15 laps to go. Allgaier, whose No. 7 Chevrolet was strong throughout the 200 miles, took first with an impressive burst out of the second turn after the green flag and sailed away, outrunning Jones to the finish without a serious challenge.

“We were all wheel-spinning and just trying to make as much grip as we could,” Jones said. “The 7 just kept getting just barely better launches than I could on that second lane, and he had just a little more juice in the tank on the short run today. We were matching, if not slightly better on the long run, but just ran out of laps there at the end.”

Jones, who led eight laps, said the finish should lift the team’s performance in races to come.

“This is what we needed with the 20 group,” he said. “That’s the 20 team’s mentality, getting better in the races and staying in contention to have a shot. That is all I can ask for.

“These cars are just difficult the further back you continue to get in traffic. So they (the pit crew) gave me the best chance at it every time. That’s exactly what I need out of those guys.”

Jones said Allgaier, who led 31 laps, “could launch slightly better. He could get a fender on me through [Turns] 1 and 2, and then he kind of has leverage. So I’ve got to either kind of lift a little for him or hit him. I’m going to have to choose to lift a little so we can finish like we did today. All in all, he just looked like he had more fire-off [speed] than we did.”

Jones gained three spots in points to eighth place, 136 points behind series leader Allgaier.

“We’ve been struggling to kind of figure out how to make our car a little better throughout a race weekend,” Jones said. “Today, we did a really good job on that. It was nice to see that we’re putting the whole race together and trying to tie having a good car at the start and end together.”

Posted on by Reid Spencer

DARLINGTON, S.C.  — Justin Allgaier’s formula for winning Saturday’s Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200 at Darlington Raceway was simple enough: Take advantage of excellent pit stops and muscle his way into the lead on the final two restarts.

The result was Allgaier’s fourth NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series victory at the 1.366-mile track, his second of the season and the 30th of his career, tying him with Joey Logano for seventh on the series’ career win list.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Darlington

After a slow pit stop under the third and final caution on Lap 127 buried the dominant car of Kyle Larson in fifth place, Allgaier seized the lead from Brandon Jones on the last restart with 15 laps left and beat Jones to finish line by 0.578 seconds.

Allgaier is the first repeat winner of the 2026 season, but his victory is the fourth straight for JR Motorsports Chevrolets.

“These guys have never quit all year—they won the race,” Allgaier said of his pit crew. “They’ve never given up. They were on top of it all day on pit road.

“We definitely weren’t the best all day. Kyle (Larson) obviously was amazing. He had us covered… I didn’t do a very good job with it all day, if I’m being honest with you. Probably one of the worst days personally I’ve had here at Darlington.

“At the end there, I was worried about Brandon (Jones) — he had a fast car — and I was worried that the 19 (third-place finisher Christopher Bell) and the 88 (Larson) were going to get through the traffic there.”

But it was the 39-year-old Allgaier who took the checkered flag first, and the driver of the No. 7 JRM Camaro savored the victory.

“Nobody will ever know, the later you get into your career, how much these victories mean,” Allgaier said. “And to come at Darlington, a place I’ve loved for so long, is really special.”

Larson was able to catch and pass Allgaier after a restart on Lap 99, after losing a spot to Jones on pit road and watching Allgaier flash past into the lead on the restart lap.

But the final restart, which followed a five-car wreck involving Dean Thompson, Austin Hill, Kyle Sieg, Alex Labbe and Lavar Scott, was another matter. Larson could gain only one position and finished fourth ahead of Carson Kvapil.

“It became tougher to pass,” explained Larson, who led the first 94 laps from the pole and won the first two stages. “At the end, the pace picked up, and you’re stuck.

“Unfortunate, but that’s the way racing is sometimes. That sucks, but I had a lot of fun today.”

First off pit road under each of the final two cautions, Jones chose the bottom lane for the final restart, but Allgaier powered into the lead from the top lane.

“The 7 (Allgaier) just kept getting just barely better launches than I could on that second lane, and he had just a little more juice in the tank on the short run today,” Jones said. “We were matching, if not slightly better on the long run, but just ran out of laps there at the end.”

Corey Day finished sixth, posting his fifth straight top 10 in his rookie season. Sheldon Creed, Parker Retzlaff, Sammy Smith and Sam Mayer completed the top 10.

Allgaier heads for next Saturday’s race at Martinsville Speedway (3:30 p.m. ET, The CW, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) with a 52-point lead over second-place Jesse Love in the series standings. After spinning on pit road during the first stage break, Love recovered to finish 11th, his first result outside the top 10 this season.

Note: Post-race inspection concluded without issue, confirming Allgaier as the race winner.

Posted on by Zack Albert

Track: Darlington Raceway
Location: Darlington, South Carolina
Track length: 1.366 miles
When: 3 p.m. ET
Where to tune in: FS1, HBO Max, FOX One, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Race purse: $11,233,037
Race distance: 293 laps | 400.2 miles
Stages: 90 | 185 | 293
Sunday’s starting lineup | Cup Series pit-stall assignments

Class in session for potentially topsy-turvy Goodyear 400

DARLINGTON, S.C. – One would think that for a track that’s been part of NASCAR history going on 76 years now, there wouldn’t be too much left to learn about competing at venerable Darlington Raceway. On the contrary, Sunday’s Goodyear 400 may be a rigorous study session with some overnight cramming that progresses through race day.

“There’s a lot different going on with the package, so a lot of homework to do tonight, even if we feel decent about our speed,” Austin Cindric said after putting his Team Penske No. 2 Ford 12th in Saturday’s qualifying. “There’s a lot to learn still.”

The sixth race of the NASCAR Cup Series season holds the promise of rules-configuration rambunctiousness at one of the most treacherous tracks on the circuit. The historic 1.366-mile egg-shaped oval is the backdrop for Sunday’s 400-miler (3 p.m. ET, FS1, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), but the twist that everyone on the 37-car grid is chasing stems from a combination of several new-for-2026 factors here – increased horsepower, reduced aerodynamic downforce and Goodyear tires maximized for wear and management.

MORE: Weekend schedule, TV info | Darlington, always tough

Tyler Reddick, a three-time winner already this year, managed best in the early on-track impressions, surviving a scrape with Darlington’s undefeated outside wall during time trials to claim the pole position. But single-car runs in practice and qualifying only offer a hint at what Sunday’s show will look like, when a full field struggling for grip tries to navigate the track’s narrow bends.

“I just feel like we’re going to be out of control, and I think you’re going to be screaming and wanting tires way more than we’ll physically be able to put them on,” said RFK Racing’s Chris Buescher, the sixth-fastest qualifier in the No. 17 Ford. “I hope that the passing opportunities go up. If somebody is really struggling, we’ve got a couple of different lanes to look for fresh race track, and I hope it makes great racing.”

Another change for the season’s first stop at Darlington is the theme. The South Carolina stalwart had been the setting for NASCAR’s Throwback Weekend since 2015, when industry participation in vintage gear, paint schemes and the sport’s heritage was encouraged by all. Some of the retro feel rightfully remains at NASCAR’s first superspeedway, but the thrust of the weekend has shifted to a focus on the growing NASCAR Alumni extended network of drivers, owners and figures from stock-car racing’s past. Those legends will have plenty of race-day visibility as dignitaries for Sunday’s 400.

Honoring that history is important for Hendrick Motorsports driver Chase Elliott, whose father, Bill, won here five times during his Hall of Fame career. While the younger Elliott says the program had seemingly run its course, he also said “less is more” and that bringing back Throwback Weekend on an infrequent basis could rejuvenate the initiative.

“I think it was time for a change,” Elliott said. “I think that the throwback weekend was one of those things where it’s really cool, but man, you’re gonna be throwing it back to myself like five years ago if we keep throwing it back. So I think you have to be really careful about how you do those things and keep it fresh and keep it cool for everyone. You know, that’s not to be confused with a lack of appreciation or admiration or respect for those that have paved the way for myself or anybody else standing in here answering questions, or who gets to race on the weekend. I grew up in a house with someone who has lived this for a long time, so I certainly appreciate that aspect and recognize that a lot of us wouldn’t be here without those guys doing what they did to make the sport great and put on a lot of exciting events that have helped grow this thing over the years, too.

“So yeah, I think it’s always important to appreciate the people that have helped pave the way, and to keep it fresh I think is really important though, too.”

Stacks of Goodyear tires sit ready for Cup Series practice at Darlington Raceway
David Jensen | Getty Images

In the details …

The start of a new season offers a chance to begin with a clean slate. A number of drivers have proven that’s exactly what they needed in 2026. Bubba Wallace is the leader for the “Most Improved Driver” superlative after five races in 2026 compared to his first five of 2025, bettering his average finish by over 14 positions and currently sitting second in points. But notable others, like past champions Brad Keselowski and Ryan Blaney, are in the midst of significant turnarounds from last year’s opening salvo as well. A closer look at those who have made gains since the start of 2025:
DRIVER2026 AVERAGE2025 AVERAGEDIFFERENCE
Bubba Wallace8.823.0+14.2
Brad Keselowski13.424.8+11.4
Ty Gibbs14.625.5+11.2
Tyler Reddick4.813.6+8.8
Shane van Gisbergen17.025.4+8.4
AJ Allmendinger16.623.0+6.4
Ryan Blaney12.418.6+6.2

Speed reads

Race-day essentials:

• Darlington hub: Key information, links, results | Read more
• Paint Scheme Preview: See the mix of new-age colors and throwback schemes | View gallery
• Hauler Talk: How officials moderate post-race altercations | Listen now
• Tire topics: Same Goodyear rubber, different Darlington challenge ahead | Read more
• More power!: Darlington will be ‘absolute animal’ to drive| What Letarte said
• More action!: Brad Keselowski expects ‘a lot of spins and crashes’ this week| Hear it from Kes
• Power Rankings: Cup Series’ top 20 drivers after Vegas | This week’s ranks
• NASCAR Classics: Inside the video vault from Darlington | Watch now

Contributing: Zach Sturniolo | NASCAR.com

Posted on by Staff Report

Bubba Wallace announced the birth of his and his wife’s daughter after qualifying second Saturday at Darlington Raceway.

Wallace and wife Amanda welcomed Cameron Jade Wallace on Thursday, Wallace announced in his post-qualifying interview on FOX Sports. For the first time as a father of two, Wallace will take the green flag in his No. 23 Toyota from the front row in Sunday’s Goodyear 400 at Darlington (3 p.m. ET, FS1, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

MORE: Starting lineup | At-track photos

“That lap for the 23 was driven by Cameron Jade,” Wallace told FOX Sports. “You know who that is? That’s my baby girl. Just born!”

Wallace first became a father when he and Amanda welcomed their son Becks on Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. Wallace was competing that day at Kansas Speedway and ultimately missed his birth. Since then, Wallace was adamant he would not miss another birth, he told Dirty Mo Media’s “The Teardown” podcast in February.

Wallace, 32, is a three-time winner in the NASCAR Cup Series, earning his first crown-jewel victory by winning the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in July 2025.

Posted on by Reid Spencer

DARLINGTON, S.C. — The top two drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series standings will start 1-2 at Darlington Raceway on Sunday — but not before pole winner Tyler Reddick scraped the Turn 4 wall on his no-holds-barred qualifying lap.

Reddick beat 23XI Racing teammate Bubba Wallace for the top spot on the grid by 0.124 seconds in Saturday’s time trials for the Goodyear 400 on Sunday (3 p.m. ET, FS1, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

As the series’ points leader and winner of the first three races of the season, Reddick was the only driver to tour the 1.366-mile speedway in more than 169 mph, posting a speed of 169.152 mph in his No. 45 Toyota. Wallace, second in the standings and 61 points behind his teammate, paced his Toyota to 168.434 mph.

RELATED: Starting lineup | At-track photos: Darlington

The Busch Light Pole Award was Reddick’s second of the season and the 13th of his career, but he ended the qualifying session with a noticeable “Darlington stripe” along the right side of the car.

“I knew qualifying was going to be really tough,” Reddick said. “A lot of drivers were having trouble finding that edge, that limit in Turn 1. I nailed that pretty good. Felt really good about the lap going down the back straightaway, and I truly think I kind of under-did it through the center of (Turns) 3 and 4 and felt like I just had to get on the gas and get off the corner — and basically just ran it into the wall.

“Looks like we’re all good on the damage, but to be able to have that kind of speed in practice and again in qualifying was awesome to see.”

Chase Elliott, runner-up to Denny Hamlin last Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, was third fastest at 167.727 mph, but Elliott’s No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet failed pre-qualifying inspection twice, resulting in loss of pit selection and ejection of his car chief.

Reigning series champion Kyle Larson claimed the fourth starting position at 167.396 mph, followed by Brad Keselowski in the fastest Ford at 167.129 mph.

“I thought it was really smooth,” said Keselowski, who qualified one position ahead of RFK Racing teammate Chris Buescher (167.021 mph). “It looks like Chris is qualified right next to me. I felt like I got all it had. We know the cars are going to be very difficult to drive, and that did not disappoint.”

Ryan Blaney, Kyle Busch, Hamlin and Austin Dillon complete the top 10 of the starting order.

Along with Elliott’s Chevrolet, the No. 17 Ford of Buescher and the No. 66 Ford of Timmy Hill failed pre-qualifying twice and lost pit selection for Sunday’s race and the services of their respective car chiefs for the weekend.

Justin Allgaier, piloting the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet in place of Alex Bowman as Bowman recovers from vertigo, qualified 15th.

Hill starts 37th on Sunday.

Practice

Erik Jones and Riley Herbst posted the fastest laps in NASCAR Cup Series practice Saturday, each posting matching laps of 164.33 mph (29.925 seconds).

Austin Cindric (163.827 mph), Carson Hocevar (163.576 mph) and Connor Zilisch (163.446 mph) completed the top five in single-lap speeds.

MORE: Practice results

Cindric was quickest in 10-lap averages at 160.175 mph ahead of Hocevar, Tyler Reddick, Kyle Busch and Herbst.

Notably, of the 26 drivers who posted 20-lap averages, the four slowest were typical Cup Series contenders Kyle Larson, William Byron, Christopher Bell and Chase Elliott.

Practice offered teams their first chance to evaluate the real-life impacts of racing at Darlington with the 750-horsepower short-track package in the Next Gen car, coupling more power with less aerodynamic grip. Saturday’s quick time posted by Jones and Herbst was nearly a full second slower than that set by  Michael McDowell (29.007 seconds) during practice for last fall’s Southern 500.

According to Racing Insights, drivers’ lap times slowed by roughly 1.5 seconds over just 10 laps.

Contributing: Staff report

Posted on by Reid Spencer

Reaching 60 NASCAR Cup Series victories was a milestone of utmost importance to Denny Hamlin.

The driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota achieved that goal last October at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. With the victory, he tied Kevin Harvick for 10th on the career win list.

RELATED: Darlington weekend schedule | At-track photos

Last Sunday, again at Las Vegas, Hamlin won for the 61st time and now trails Kyle Busch for ninth all-time by two victories. One spot ahead of Busch on the career list is seven-time champion Dale Earnhardt, who won 76 Cup races.

Hamlin, who is signed to drive for JGR through 2027, doesn’t think Earnhardt’s total is within reach.

“I think it’s pie in the sky, realistically,” said Hamlin, who has estimated he’ll win 67 races by the end of his career. “I think that, given the runway, Kyle’s career – he’s still got more years to go than I will. He’s capable of running and winning long after I’m gone. I think I’m kind of where I’m at, and where I think I will be, but you just never know.

“I mean, each win stacks up and, you know, 50 was a goal at one point. So, you just keep moving, keep moving the bar as far as you can. I think that I’ve certainly got more wins than what I would have imagined.”

Hamlin has specific goals that don’t involve a set number of victories. He is still seeking a series championship after narrowly missing out in 2025.

“It’s just now, can we get the big prize at the end of the year?” Hamlin said. “That’s the only goal left to have, other than the Brickyard (400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway), is certainly one that still is mindful (for) me personally.”

Posted on by Reid Spencer

For anyone who knows the secret to saving tires at Darlington Raceway — please tell Christopher Bell.

The driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing NASCAR Cup Series car would welcome any help he can get for Sunday’s Goodyear 400 at the 1.366-mile, egg-shaped track (3 p.m. ET, FS1, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

RELATED: Darlington schedule | At-track photos

To run 293 laps at “The Lady in Black,” Goodyear has provided 10 sets of new tires along with the set of scuffs drivers will use in qualifying. An abundance of cautions could place considerable stress on strategic tire decisions.

Bell is running all three NASCAR national races this weekend, and he got his first taste of tire management in Friday night’s Craftsman Truck Series event, which featured nine cautions and two overtimes.

Bell finished sixth in that event but indicated he wouldn’t have actionable information on the Cup car until Saturday afternoon’s practice.

“We’ll certainly learn more about the strategy piece whenever we get into practice and, like I mentioned before, nobody has any idea, it’s all speculation on what the tire degradation is going to be and what that means for the strategy on Sunday,” Bell said on Saturday morning at Darlington.

“But how do you save tires? I don’t know. I didn’t do it very well last night. That was my Achilles heel, so hopefully I can save tires better today and tomorrow. I’m still looking for that magic answer if anyone else has it.”

Posted on by Mike Hembree

DARLINGTON, S.C. — Contrary to the reactions of most drivers who drive out of the Darlington Raceway garage area to run a first lap on the old track, Chase Briscoe remembers being almost delighted.

“Honestly, I loved this place from the first laps I ran around it,” Briscoe said Saturday on the eve of the Goodyear 400 (Sun., 3 p.m. ET, FS1, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). “I don’t know, just something clicked right away. I still had a lot to learn my first time coming here, but the style of racing here reminded me so much of sprint car racing, where you’re constantly changing what you’re doing.

“You’re always searching and trying to find that little bit more grip. You go to some of these race tracks and you’re pretty repetitive. Like you just do the same thing time in, time out. Here, you don’t ever run two laps the same. Every lap your car is just changing so much, so you’re always adapting, and that’s what I kind of loved about this place from the get-go, and then you just add the fact that you’re sliding all over the place.”

RELATED: Darlington schedule | At-track photos

Darlington loved Briscoe back. He finished a solid sixth in 2019 in his first O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at the track. In his first Cup race, in 2021, he was 11th. He learned quickly, and he enters Sunday’s marathon as the winner of two of the past three Cup races at the track. In winning the Southern 500 last year, Briscoe led 309 laps, the most laps led in a Darlington race since Dale Earnhardt ran a dominant race in 1986, leading 335 laps on the way to a win.

Darlington is Briscoe’s top track in the category of laps led. He has been out front over the speedway’s 1.366 miles a total of 338 laps. Second on his laps-led list is Martinsville Speedway at 142.

“Really, from the first time I came here, I was like, man, this is one of my favorite places, and then as the success came in, it obviously got closer and closer to the top,” Briscoe said. “So yeah, I’ve always loved Darlington. It’s been a very influential place in my career and really my life in general.”

Briscoe is expected to be among the favorites in Sunday’s race, although the Darlington debut of this year’s new high-horsepower package has added a level of uncertainty to what might transpire across 400 hard miles. Will those who have figured out Darlington be in better shape, or could the new landscape lift up those who previously have struggled?

“I think there’s a probability that good guys miss it and some of the guys that are more mid-pack nail it and find the way forward,” said Tyler Reddick, three times a winner this year but 0-for-13 at Darlington. “But I think it will be the players you expect. I don’t think it’s going to be someone that’s bad here, figuring it out.”

And what makes the good guys good?

“It’s their feel,” Reddick said. “Their kind of driver understanding and their senses. This is a place that wears the tire out, and you just have to make adjustments constantly. You feel like the drivers that can really keep up with that are really good. But you’re not going to be able to lean too much on past experiences. It’s kind of like starting over.”

Briscoe is among those who enter Sunday with some wonder about conditions and results.

“I think that it’s such an unknown right now with what this thing is going to drive like that nobody really knows,” he said. “I would think certainly the guys that are good on the long runs and are good when the car is slipping and sliding around, those would be the guys I would think would be good just because I think that’s how the cars are going to drive. So, it will be interesting to see.”

Briscoe needs a boost. Through five races, he has three finishes of 36th or worse and is mired in 26th position in points, one of six 2025 playoff drivers who are outside the Chase qualification window.