Ever wonder what goes on in a driver meeting? We’re here to help.
This year, we’ll publish the actual rules video your favorite Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers will watch before climbing into their stock cars. Above is the video for the Bojangles’ Southern 500 (6 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Darlington Raceway.
Denny Hamlin nabbed the Busch Pole Award before Sunday’s Bojangles’ Southern 500 (6 p.m. ET on NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Darlington Raceway. That only further solidified the place in my Fantasy Live lineup for the two-time winner at the track “Too Tough to Tame.” After two practice sessions and qualifying, we’ve dissected the numbers to offer a suggested lineup worthy of your Fantasy Live consideration as you make roster decisions for the 25th Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race of 2018. Remember that the garage locks at the end of Stage 2.
RJ Kraft’s revised Fantasy Live lineup following practices and the lineup being set:
1: Kyle Busch
2: Denny Hamlin
3: Martin Truex Jr.
4: Kyle Larson
5: Erik Jones
Garage: Kevin Harvick
Notable cars to the rear: Jamie McMurray (engine change), Jimmie Johnson (unapproved adjustments)
PLAY NOW: Set your Fantasy Live lineup | How the new Fantasy Live works
MORE: Fantasy analysis for Darlington | Driver stats | Full lineup | 10-lap averages
Analysis: I’m not making any changes among the six drivers I selected heading into the weekend. These are potentially my last uses on Busch, Hamlin, Larson and Harvick. I’ve planned for that and will take the best of the rest left for Indianapolis. This lineup features four of the top five in the starting lineup and three Southern 500 winners (four with Harvick in the garage). Quick rundown on each and the reasoning why: Busch has been solid all weekend and stout on intermediates all year while Hamlin and Larson have had speed and are both really good at this track. Truex won this race in 2016, nearly won it last year and events that shift from day to night are a 78 team speciality.
For the last active spot, I debated between Jones and Alex Bowman. Jones finished in the top five here last year and has been averaging 32.1 points over the past nine races in 2018. Bowman has been a little faster this weekend but he has been up-and-down on intermediates this year. As a result, I have a little more trust in Jones with the run he’s been on over the past two months. That said, if you are out of uses on the Big 3, Bowman is a nice plug-and-play driver for this race.
I am sticking with Harvick but moving him to the garage. The qualifying effort was surprising — and not in a good way — as he will start 22nd. However, he won this race in 2014, has been stout all year on intermediates and has four top fives in his last five starts at Darlington. He also was the third-best car via the 15-lap board (h/t @SteveLetarte) in final practice. I’ll plan to be vigilant on whether he stays in — he’ll need to be in the top six by the end of Stage 2; anything lower and he stays in the garage and will then be played at Indianapolis next weekend.
As for the bonus picks, I’m taking Hamlin to win Stage 1, Larson to win Stage 2 and Kyle Busch for the win.
DARLINGTON, S.C. — Ross Chastain had been driving the point home for much of the weekend. Making the most of the opportunity, he said often, taking his first Xfinity Series start in Chip Ganassi Racing equipment.
That opportunity for the perennial overachiever had all the prelude, but lacked the fairy-tale finish. Instead, Chastain’s Saturday drive at Darlington Raceway ended with drama and a nod to old-school rivalries.
Chastain won the pole position and both stages of the Sport Clips Haircuts VFW 200 — both career firsts. But his heated tangle with Kevin Harvick in a side-by-side contest for the lead changed the complexion of the race, leaving the 25-year-old underdog with a 25th-place finish.
“I’m going to try not to be too negative on myself. I get that rap a lot,” Chastain said. “This opportunity, man, it’s like once in a lifetime. … It’s been incredible the last two weeks to get up to speed with CGR and to try to use all the pieces to their puzzle to go fast in a race car.”
Chastain led a race-high 90 laps, fending off challenges from both Harvick and eventual race-winner Brad Keselowski through the middle portions of the 147-lap event. But Lap 110 was the turning point.
MORE: Xfinity race results | Harvick responds to push by No. 42
Harvick’s No. 98 Ford dove to the inside of Chastain’s car as the two navigated lapped traffic. With racing room scarce, the two slid up the track and Harvick’s car squeezed Chastain’s hard into the outside retaining wall at the exit of Turn 2.
The two cars initially righted themselves on the backstretch until Chastain’s car hooked Harvick into a spin. Harvick took the act as intentional, blaring his displeasure over the team radio and briefly parking in Chastain’s pit stall. He later cast aspersions on Chastain’s opportunity and the possibility of more chances in the future.
“I tried to stay as low as I could and he just rode on my door,” Harvick said, his day complete in 29th place. “That’s just a really inexperienced racer and a really bad move there and got the air and got on beside me and just kept going up the race track. I couldn’t do anything with the wheel. So, you’ve got a really inexperienced guy in a really fast car and made a really bad move, and then wrecked me down the back straightaway and hooked me to the right. That’s probably the reason that he’ll never get to drive many of them again.”
Briefed on Harvick’s remarks, Chastain was reluctant to chime in. “Nothing I say is going to help,” he said. But Chastain did defend the secondary contact with Harvick’s car, saying their collision was not on purpose.
“I was out of control, man,” Chastain said. “After we hit the wall, I lost the wheel.”
Chastain pressed on, making a pair of additional pit stops to repair damage. He finished two laps off the pace and later marveled at the car’s durability in withstanding the full effect of the late-race damage.
Though the outcome wasn’t the one he was chasing, it fulfilled at least part of the reward. Chastain was named Aug. 23 to drive Ganassi’s No. 42 Chevrolet for three races in the remainder of the season, a step up the speed chart from his usual JD Motorsports ride and a promotion for a driver known for squeezing the most performance from his equipment.
Chastain said he had a perpetual smile on his face while leading more laps than in his previous 129 Xfinity Series starts combined. He’ll have at least two more opportunities coming up later this month — at Las Vegas and Richmond — to convert the storybook ending.
“This was a win for every short-track racer running Fast Trucks, Pro Trucks, Late Models across the country that you can just race as long as you can stay in the car and progress up the ranks,” Chastain said. “However fast or slow it’s going to be or whatever your situation is, it’s just a testament. As long as you just keep racing, however you can, it’ll pay off.”
DARLINGTON, S.C. – Brad Keselowski took the lead in Saturday’s Sport Clips Haircuts VFW 200 at Darlington Raceway when the two cars in front of him tangled off Turn 2.
That was all the driver of the No. 2 Team Penske Ford needed to collect his first NASCAR Xfinity Series victory at the Track Too Tough to Tame.
From a restart on Lap 91, Keselowski chased pole winner and race leader Ross Chastain, who won the first and second stages in his maiden run in the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet. On Lap 104, Keselowski pulled ahead in Turn 3 but brushed the outside wall as Chastain regained the top spot with a crossover move to the inside.
Keselowski’s bobble allowed Harvick to pass for second, but on Lap 111, Harvick and Chastain collided off Turn 2 and handed the top spot to Keselowski, who held it the rest of the way.
RELATED: Full race results from Darlington | Series standings
With his third victory in five starts this season and the 39th of his career, Keselowski knocked a significant item off his bucket list. Darlington and Sonoma had been the only two active NASCAR tracks where Keselowski had raced without a national touring series win.
“I really wanted to run this race for that reason,” said Keselowski, who beat runner-up Cole Custer to the finish line by .738 seconds. “I just haven’t been that great here at the (Monster Energy NASCAR) Cup level, and I’m trying to get better.
“This is such a huge confidence boost.”
Had Chastain and Harvick not wrecked together, the ending might have been quite different.
“I could keep up with Ross, but I couldn’t pass him — he was so fast,” Keselowski said. “Tried to make the move and brushed the wall, and he got back by me, and then they had the wreck off of (Turn) 2, and I was able to take advantage of the opportunity.”
The story for much of the race was Chastain, who started on the pole and led a race-high 90 laps behind the wheel of the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet. Chastain led all 45 laps of Stage 1 and the final 20 laps of Stage 2 to score his first playoff points of the 2018 season as he looks to march into the 12-driver postseason field.
Up until Lap 111, Chastain had a dream race going. Harvick made a move to Chastain’s inside through Turns 1 and 2. Unwilling to give up the top spot, Chastain stayed in the gas within inches of the right side of Harvick’s No. 98 Ford. Harvick’s car drifted up into Chastain’s No. 42 Chevrolet, which bounced off the outside wall at the exit from Turn 2. Chastain then clipped the rear of Harvick’s Ford and sent it spinning. Harvick expressed his displeasure by parking in Chastain’s pit stall before exiting the race.
RELATED: Harvick says Chastain “inexperienced”
“I tried to stay as low as I could, and he just rode on my door,” Harvick explained later. “That’s just a really inexperienced racer and a really bad move there and got the air and got on beside me and just kept going up the race track. I couldn’t do anything with the wheel.”
Chastain hadn’t seen a replay of the incident when he gave his assessment after finishing the race in 25th, two laps down.
“I got to race with these guys, and I feel like I was holding my own with ‘em,” Chastain said. “I was really happy to be out there racing with ‘em. … I was just trying to race. I’ll have to see the film, and if I made a mistake, it’s on me. I was the leader there, and I was just trying to race.”
WATCH: Chastain and Harvick make contact
Chastain had earned the pole position earlier in the day — his first in the series coming in his first of three starts behind the wheel of the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet. Prior to this start, Chastain had made all his starts in the No. 4 JD Motorsports Chevrolet.
Tyler Reddick, Denny Hamlin and Elliott Sadler completed the top five. Justin Allgaier kept the points lead with a seventh-place finish in the race. He holds the lead over Elliott Sadler (-16), Custer (-17) and Christopher Bell (-36). Contact between championship contenders Daniel Hemric and Bell led to some left-front damage for Bell early in Stage 2. Hemric took on some right side damage from the contact as well. Bell would go down a lap that he would never get back and his day would only get worse as he blew a left-front tire on his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota that brought out a caution on Lap 65. Bell finished 34th, while Hemric finished 11th.
RELATED: Bell exits race early
Brandon Jones was one of three drivers to lock into the playoff field; Matt Tifft and Ryan Truex were the other two. They join Allgaier, Sadler, Custer, Bell, Hemric and Reddick as drivers that have already clinched spots in the 12-driver playoff field.
The Xfinity Series will be back in action next Saturday, Sept. 8 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway with the Lilly Diabetes 250 (3 p.m. ET on NBCSN, IMS Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) — the penultimate race of the regular season.
Contributing: Staff reports
See where your favorite driver will pit on Sunday at Darlington Raceway for the Bojangles’ Southern 500 (6 p.m. ET on NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
DARLINGTON, S.C. – Denny Hamlin started his Bojangles’ Southern 500 title defense in the best possible way, grabbing the pole position in the final round of Saturday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series knockout qualifying at Darlington Raceway.
Hustling his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota around the 1.366-mile track in 28.332 seconds (173.571 mph) in the money round, Hamlin edged Kyle Larson (173.411 mph) by .026 seconds to claim the top starting spot for Sunday’s race (6 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
MORE: See every car in Sunday’s field | Full Darlington lineup
“The No. 1 pit stall (a perk for the pole winner) obviously is very important here, and I’m excited about that,” Hamlin said. “Really, the team has done a very good job with the car all weekend. So I’m optimistic, and I’m hopeful we have a good smooth race on Sunday and continue to build some momentum here over the next few weeks.”
The Busch Pole Award was Hamlin’s third in the last four races and the 29th of his career.
Larson ran the fastest laps of the afternoon in the first round, covering the distance in 27.908 seconds (176.208 mph). The driver of the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet was second fastest behind eventual fourth-place qualifier Alex Bowman in the second round before falling just short on his final lap.
RELATED: Throwbacks from every angle
“I just got a little too loose there in the center of (Turns) 1 and 2 and at the exit of 3 and 4, which I felt cost me a little bit of time,” Larson said. “I didn’t need much to get the pole. I felt like we had a better car than Denny throughout qualifying there.
“I just got a little too loose and messed up a little bit in 1 and 2.”
Martin Truex Jr., a four-time winner this year in the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota, qualified third at 173.204 mph, just ahead of Bowman, whose final-round speed was 173.155 mph. Series leader Kyle Busch claimed the fifth starting spot, followed by Ryan Newman, Erik Jones, Joey Logano, Kurt Busch, William Byron, Chase Elliott and Aric Almirola.
Showing encouraging speed during the first round Chevrolets took the top five positions in the first round with the Hendrick Motosrports quartet of Byron, Bowman, Elliott and seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson occupying positions two through five. Johnson, who will start 20th on Sunday, was the only Hendrick driver who did not advance past the second round.
“I was a little surprised,” Bowman said of his fourth-place run. “We mocked up (made a mock qualifying run) in first practice there (on Friday), and we weren’t very good. So (crew chief) Greg (Ives) and the guys did a good job getting it a lot better today.
“I thought I left a little bit on the table there in the third round, a little disappointed in myself, but better than overdriving it and smacking the fence or whatever. Not a terrible qualifying effort, obviously, being fourth. It’s way better than I’ve ever started here before.”
Newman, who hasn’t added to his 51 career poles since 2013, will start sixth for the third time this season and the second time in three races.
DARLINGTON, S.C. — During a Friday question-and-answer session with reporters at Darlington Raceway, Denny Hamlin highlighted the grueling nature of the Bojangles’ Southern 500.
RELATED: Darlington schedule | 10-lap averages
“I’ve fainted in the shower I think twice after this race, just because you just get so dehydrated,” Hamlin said. “I’ve run the Xfinity race on Saturday for the last handful of years, so it really drains you after the Southern 500.
“You’ve got to prepare for that. I’ll tell you, it’s definitely one of the most physical race tracks that I can think of. Way more than the Coke 600 or any other race track. I consider this the endurance test of all, and so you got to have it all put together.”
Two days before the Bojangles’ Southern 500, Hamlin already looked the worse for wear –as if he’d just gone 10 rounds with Manny Pacquiao. Hamlin’s left check was swollen, and there was a mouse under his left eye.
The injury, however, wasn’t the result of fisticuffs. Hamlin’s penchant for pick-up basketball was the culprit.
“My depth perception to someone’s elbow wasn’t very good in basketball,” said Hamlin, the defending winner of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Darlington. “I caught an elbow.”
The No. 19 car in the NASCAR Xfinity Series was penalized Saturday for failing pre-qualifying inspection four times. As a result, the team will receive the following penalties:
The No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota is driven by Brandon Jones, who will remain in sixth place in the driver points standings after the penalty. The Sport Clips Haircuts VFW 200 is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET start (NBC, MRN, SiriusXM).
Additionally, the No. 23 car failed pre-qualifying inspection three times and the car chief was ejected. Chase Elliott is driving the No. 23 GMS Racing Chevrolet in Saturday’s race.
Despite persistent questioning, Matt Kenseth refused to budge.
The driver who returned to Roush Fenway Racing in a part-time role this season isn’t ready to talk about next year. In fact, Kenseth says his sole focus is on finishing out the current season in the No. 6 Ford he shares with Trevor Bayne.
“I’m just kind of honestly trying to concentrate on the rest of this season and trying to get this done,” Kenseth said on Friday at Darlington Raceway. “Those are probably things to talk about at a later date, but the season has been up-and-down.
“I wish our results were better than what they were, but yet, on the other hand, I feel like we’ve made a lot of progress. It doesn’t really show necessarily on the stat sheets or the box score all the time, but I feel like we’ve made a lot of progress, and (we’re) really just trying to keep that going and keep moving forward and keep trying to get more competitive by the end of the season.”
In eight starts after returning to the team in May, Kenseth has an average starting position of 22.8 and an average finish of 22.5, with a season-best of 13th coming at Pocono in June. In opening practice at Darlington, Kenseth was 22nd fastest.
Asked specifically whether he would consider driving the No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford, should Kurt Busch not return to the ride next year (as has been rumored), Kenseth side-stepped the question adroitly.
“I’m certainly not talking about next year, and I haven’t really put as much thought into it as you all have, honestly,” he said. “I think I still have seven races left this season. Trevor has a few races. I have not made the impact at Roush Fenway Racing, at least in the finishes and the performance, necessarily as I had hoped, or as big of a one as I hoped.
“But that’s really all I’m thinking about right now is getting the performance better and trying to do a better job for those guys and get cars faster and get better finishes and get the team operating better and get me operating better – all that kind of stuff. I’m not really looking forward right now.”
NASCAR announced before the season that it will standardize at-track team rosters across all three national series in 2018, providing a structure for the number of personnel working on each vehicle during the course of a race weekend.
Official team rosters for Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway (6 p.m. ET on NBCSN/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) have been released. Click the print icon above, or the link below.
ROSTERS: Darlington
RELATED: Overview of 2018 rules updates
