See the complete starting lineup for the Darlington Nationwide Series race

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Pos Car Driver Team
1 54 Kyle Busch(i) Monster Energy Toyota
2 9 Chase Elliott # NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet
3 20 Matt Kenseth(i) GameStop Toyota
4 5 Kevin Harvick(i) Armour Vienna Sausages Chevrolet
5 3 Ty Dillon # Yuengling Light Lager Chevrolet
6 60 Chris Buescher # Mustang 50 Years Ford
7 2 Brian Scott Shore Lodge Chevrolet
8 7 Regan Smith TaxSlayer.com Chevrolet
9 11 Elliott Sadler Sport Clips Toyota
10 6 Trevor Bayne AdvoCare Ford
11 33 Cale Conley(i) OKUMA Chevrolet
12 42 Kyle Larson(i) Cartwheel Chevrolet
13 62 Brendan Gaughan South Point Hotel & Casino Chevrolet
14 39 Ryan Sieg # RSS Racing Chevrolet
15 22 Joey Logano(i) Snap-on Ford
16 01 Landon Cassill teamjdmotorsports.com Chevrolet
17 31 Dylan Kwasniewski # Rockstar Chevrolet
18 16 Ryan Reed # ADA Drive to Stop Diabetes Ford
19 40 Josh Wise(i) Curtis Key Plumbing Chevrolet
20 19 Mike Bliss TriStar Motorsports Toyota
21 51 Jeremy Clements RepairableVehicles.com Chevrolet
22 99 James Buescher Ruud Toyota
23 28 JJ Yeley Dodge
24 44 David Starr Striping Technologies Toyota
25 43 Dakoda Armstrong # WinField Ford
26 4 Jeffrey Earnhardt teamjdmotorsports.com Chevrolet
27 93 Mike Wallace Dodge
28 17 Tanner Berryhill # bwp Bats Dodge
29 55 Todd Bodine(i) Chevrolet
30 14 Eric McClure Hefty Ultimate / Reynolds Wrap Toyota
31 87 Kevin Lepage teamjdmotorsports.com Chevrolet
32 52 Joey Gase Chevrolet
33 46 Matt Dibenedetto Curtis Key Plumbing Chevrolet
34 76 Tommy Joe Martins Dodge
35 70 Derrike Cope Youtheory Chevrolet
36 23 Carlos Contreras Voli Voli Voli Chevrolet
37 13 Matt Carter Headrush Toyota
38 91 Jeff Green TriStar Motorsports Toyota
39 74 Mike Harmon Dodge
40 10 Blake Koch SupportMilitary.org Toyota
Did Not Qualify: None.

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Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott start on the front row at Darlington

MORE: VFW Sport Clips Help a Hero 200 lineup
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The pit stall assignments are out for the Nationwide Series‘ VFW Sport Clips Help a Hero 200 at Darlington Raceway (Friday, ESPN2 at 8 p.m. ET)

Coors Light Pole Award winner Kyle Busch chose the pit stall closest to the pit road exit. Busch also has an empty stall in front of him.

Joining Busch on the front row is last week’s winner at Texas, Chase Elliott, who also has an opening in front of his pit stall.

Matt Kenseth, Brendan Gaughan and Cale Conley also have that advantage as well.

Ryan Sieg has the stall closest to the entrance of pit road.

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See where the Sprint Cup Series drivers will pit at Darlington

MORE: Lineup for Bojangles’ Southern 500
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The pit stall assignments are in for Saturday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway, the Bojangles’ Southern 500 (6:30 p.m. ET, FOX).

Polesitter Kevin Harvick has the pit stall closest to the pit road exit. He also has no cars or a stall in front of him.

Joey Logano, who will join Harvick on the front row, has a pit stall with an opening in front of him. Marcos Ambrose (starting fourth) and Ryan Newman (starting seventh) also have the same advantage.

Brian Vickers chose the pit stall closest to the pit road entrance.

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Kyle Busch will lead the field to green Friday at Darlington

MORE: Lineup for VFW Sport Clips Help a Hero 200
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Kyle Busch topped the final round of group qualifying to take the Coors Light Pole Award on Friday at Darlington Raceway.

Busch snuck ahead of NASCAR Nationwide Series rookie and points leader Chase Elliott late with a best speed of 173.681 mph, recorded on his second of two laps around the egg-shaped circuit. It was just fast enough to best Elliott’s No. 9 JRM Chevrolet, which ran a lap at a 173.448 clip. Busch’s teammate Matt Kenseth (173.106 mph) will start third alongside Kevin Harvick (171.662).

Ty Dillon (171.249) and Chris Buescher (170.922) fill out the remaining spots in the first three rows.

Kyle Larson will likely have to switch to a backup car after getting his No. 42 Chevrolet into the wall in the final round of qualifying.

Brendan Gaughan, Joey Logano, Dylan Kwasniewski, Ryan Reed and James Buescher were all eliminated after the second round.

Jeffrey Earnhardt was eliminated after the first round of qualifying. He will start 26th.

The VFW Sport Clips Help a Hero 200 gets underway Friday night at 8 p.m. on ESPN2. TV coverage begins at 7:30 p.m. ET.

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Newman topped the final session with a high speed of 179.167 mph

SPRINT CUP SERIES PRACTICE 1 | RESULTS

Kevin Harvick topped the first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice at Darlington Raceway on Friday. 

Harvick posted a high speed of 177.665 mph. 

Second fastest was Clint Bowyer at 176.746 mph.

Jimmie Johnson, Brad Keselowski and Jeff Gordon rounded out the top five.

Six drivers earned Darlington Stripes, scraping the wall at the historic track.

Sunoco Rookie of the Year contenders Alex Bowman, Austin Dillon and Kyle Larson along with last year’s Sunoco Rookie of the year Ricky Stenhouse Jr. found the fence along with veterans Marcos Ambrose and Martin Truex Jr.

"Well, Kyle (Larson) came over and asked, ‘Where did you hit’? I said off Turn 2," Dillon said. "He said, ‘Me too.’ I said, ‘Did you try you try to come off the wall and make it turn?’ He said exact same thing. So we are just learning, I guess."

Of the six drivers who earned stripes in the first practice session, Larson is the only one who is going to a backup car.

SPRINT CUP SERIES PRACTICE 2 | RESULTS

Ryan Newman topped the final Sprint Cup Series practice at Darlington Raceway with a speed of 179.167 mph.

Newman was eighth fastest in the series’ opening practice session on Friday.

Second fastest in the final session was Marcos Ambrose, posting a speed of 178.978 mph.

Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch and Joey Logano rounded out the top five.

Kevin Harvick, who led the first practice, was 29th fastest in the final session.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying session will tonight at 6:10 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1.

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Both Team Penske drivers are seeking their first Sprint Cup Series win at Darlington

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DARLINGTON, S.C. – Joey Logano describes Darlington Raceway as a “hit or miss” track, and that’s about as descriptive as it gets here at the legendary speedway.

Early in Friday’s first practice for NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams, two cars had already made contact with the wall in separate incidents, earning what’s long been termed a “Darlington stripe.”

Sunoco Rookie of the Year contenders Austin Dillon and Kyle Larson were the drivers, both are rookies, and the damage varied – Dillon’s car was deemed repairable; Larson’s was not. Before the practice was done, they were joined in the garage by another rookie, Alex Bowman, last year’s rookie of the year Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and veterans Marcos Ambrose and Martin Truex Jr.

“I came here my rookie year and led a lot of laps and finished ninth,” Logano said Friday morning. “It was kind of a surprising day for me because I didn’t think I would run well here and this place really doesn’t cater to rookies very often. At that point, it was my best race in a Sprint Cup car.” 

The Team Penske driver, now 23, has excelled elsewhere – he has four career Cup wins – but the track that goes by the nicknames “Too Tough to Tame” and “Lady in Black” has proven to be a something of a conundrum. His 10th-place finish in 2012 has been his only other top-10 here in five attempts. The three others were 22nd or worse. 

He does, however, have one Nationwide Series win on the 1.366-mile track.

“Ever since (2009) I have been kind of hit or miss (here),” he said. “I would have a good race, then a bad race and back and forth. I think we learned a lot from last year … I feel both our cars missed it … and we learned from that. We have a different package and different stuff and hopefully we are better this time.”

Teammate Brad Keselowski, the 2012 Cup champion, is also seeking his first Darlington victory. Neither driver finished inside the top 20 in last year’s race.

Now, both already have one win heading into Saturday night’s Bojangles’ Southern 500. Keselowski notched his victory at Las Vegas while Logano scored just five days ago in Texas

That early success could bode well for the pair. 

“When you get that win, especially with both Team Penske cars getting wins early in the year, you are able to switch your focus to Chase stuff, whether that is tests or new specs coming down the line,” Logano said. “Don’t get me wrong, we aren’t trying to not win this weekend and I feel like we will have another good piece here at Darlington and the car will have good speed. 

“It is cool to see your name on the car with the winner sticker next to it. That is a good sign. It is nice to have both our cars in and we can focus in this weekend and kind of have that distraction of needing to win and all the pressure that comes with that relieved a little bit.”

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Fast testing at Michigan helps Dale Jr. get over an early-exit at Texas

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DARLINGTON, S.C. — A test session at Michigan helped sooth the wounds of Texas, Dale Earnhardt Jr. said Friday at Darlington.

That’s a lot of mileage logged for an incident that occurred barely a dozen laps into Monday’s rain-delayed NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race.

Earnhardt Jr. clipped the grass just off the apron at Texas Motor Speedway, hard enough that the splitter on his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet dug into the ground. His car then shot across the track where it struck the wall and erupted in flames.
 
The incident, which took place just after the field had gone green for the first time due to damp track conditions, resulted in a 43rd-place finish. It also affected the efforts of teammate Jimmie Johnson, whose car was struck by debris that damaged his car’s windshield and opened a hole in the front of the No. 48 entry.
 
After a win to open the season, three consecutive top-five finishes and only a week after reassuming the points lead, the Texas miscue was disheartening for the 39-year-old Earnhardt Jr.
 
A day later, however, he and his team were one of several taking part in a two-day Goodyear tire test at Michigan International Speedway.
 
"Just being able to get back in the car and test at Michigan was a big help for me to get past it and to get focused on the next race," he said before practice at Darlington.
 
"This (Southern 500) is a tough event … we’ve got some decent runs here but we haven’t really come here and had a race that we thought we lost.
 
"This is going to be a tough place to come rebound, but we are going to give it our best. I’m just glad to be back at the track, go ahead and get a race or two in the bank and put it behind us."
 
Fans offered support via Twitter in the aftermath of the Texas incident, but Earnhardt Jr., new to the social media platform this year, said his busy schedule forced him to scale back his participation during the week.
 
"I guess Twitter can be a help in a situation like that," he said. "I mean my fans certainly have your back and tell you to brush it off, don’t worry about it. I’m sure there are some people on there saying the opposite, but I didn’t see many of those or any of those.
 
"There is a positive and a negative to everything. I didn’t really spend a lot of time on Twitter this week because we were working at Michigan. We had some things to do Thursday. Twitter is a bit of a playground and I don’t want to horse around if we are not doing good. I don’t want to be on there goofing off and making light of the situation because it was a frustrating mistake. It was something I don’t take very lightly."
 
Now sixth in points, Earnhardt Jr. is one of several drivers still searching for their first career Darlington win. Sprint Cup teams practice and qualify here today, with tomorrow’s Bojangles’ Southern 500 scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. ET start. FOX will provide live, flag-to-flag coverage of the event.

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Each week an expert will answer a tech question on GarageCam presented by Mobil 1

RELATED: Mobil 1 Technology Center

Each week the host of NASCAR.com’s GarageCam presented by Mobil 1 will take an automotive technology question and get it answered by the experts in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series garage.

This week, host Chuck Bush asks Jerame Donley, assistant engineer for the No. 42 team of Kyle Larson, how teams manage their setups for the vastly different corners at Darlington Raceway.

Watch the video above to hear the answer, and be sure to tune in to GarageCam presented by Mobil 1 in two weeks at Richmond and see another question answered.

Sprint Cup Series GarageCam, presented by Mobil 1:
9:30 a.m. ET, Friday, April 25. (Watch here)

Nationwide Series GarageCam, presented by Mobil 1: 2 p.m. ET, Thursday, April 24. (Watch here)

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Jimmie Johnson to roll out first for qualifying, 6:10 p.m. ET, FS1

Order Car Driver Team
1 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s / Kobalt Tools Chevrolet
2 98 Josh Wise Phil Parsons Racing Chevrolet
3 7 Michael Annett # Pilot / Flying J Chevrolet
4 83 Ryan Truex # Borla Exhaust Toyota
5 4 Kevin Harvick Budweiser Chevrolet
6 10 Danica Patrick GoDaddy Chevrolet
7 23 Alex Bowman # Dr Pepper Toyota
8 24 Jeff Gordon Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet
9 34 David Ragan CSX Ford
10 26 Cole Whitt # Swan Energy Toyota
11 42 Kyle Larson # Target Chevrolet
12 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Chevrolet
13 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. National Guard Chevrolet
14 13 Casey Mears GEICO Chevrolet
15 3 Austin Dillon # Dow Chevrolet
16 30 Parker Kligerman # SMS Audio Toyota
17 40 Landon Cassill(i) Hillman Racing Chevrolet
18 1 Jamie McMurray Cessna Chevrolet
19 36 Reed Sorenson Chevrolet
20 27 Paul Menard CertainTeed / Menards Chevrolet
21 9 Marcos Ambrose DeWalt Ford
22 14 Tony Stewart Mobil 1 / Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet
23 33 David Stremme Chevrolet
24 32 Travis Kvapil Keen Parts Ford
25 41 Kurt Busch Haas Automation Chevrolet
26 47 AJ Allmendinger Clorox Chevrolet
27 38 David Gilliland A&W All American Food Ford
28 5 Kasey Kahne Great Clips Chevrolet
29 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Nationwide Ford
30 18 Kyle Busch M&M’s Toyota
31 2 Brad Keselowski Miller Lite Ford
32 35 David Reutimann MDS Transport Ford
33 11 Denny Hamlin Sport Clips Toyota
34 55 Brian Vickers Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota
35 51 Justin Allgaier # Sherwin Williams Automotive Finishes Chevrolet
36 31 Ryan Newman Caterpillar Chevrolet
37 16 Greg Biffle 3M / Red Cross Ford
38 99 Carl Edwards Ford EcoBoost Ford
39 43 Aric Almirola Fresh from Florida Ford
40 20 Matt Kenseth Home Depot Husky Toyota
41 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford
42 15 Clint Bowyer 5-hour Energy Toyota
43 77 Dave Blaney Ford
44 66 Joe Nemechek(i) Justin Johnson / Land Castle Title Toyota

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Joey Logano to start second, Aric Almirola third

"#" signifies a rookie; (i) signifies driver is not eligible to earn points in the race

Position No. Driver Sponsor
1 4 Kevin Harvick Budweiser Chevrolet
2 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford
3 43 Aric Almirola Fresh from Florida Ford
4 9 Marcos Ambrose DeWalt Ford
5 2 Brad Keselowski Miller Lite Ford
6 1 Jamie McMurray Cessna Chevrolet
7 31 Ryan Newman Caterpillar Chevrolet
8 18 Kyle Busch M&M’s Toyota
9 24 Jeff Gordon Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet
10 11 Denny Hamlin Sport Clips Toyota
11 27 Paul Menard CertainTeed / Menards Chevrolet
12 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Chevrolet
13 41 Kurt Busch Haas Automation Chevrolet
14 55 Brian Vickers Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota
15 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. National Guard Chevrolet
16 15 Clint Bowyer 5-hour Energy Toyota
17 42 Kyle Larson # Target Chevrolet
18 47 AJ Allmendinger Clorox Chevrolet
19 16 Greg Biffle 3M / Red Cross Ford
20 3 Austin Dillon # Dow Chevrolet
21 99 Carl Edwards Ford EcoBoost Ford
22 5 Kasey Kahne Great Clips Chevrolet
23 14 Tony Stewart Mobil 1 / Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet
24 51 Justin Allgaier # Sherwin Williams Automotive Finishes
25 20 Matt Kenseth Home Depot Husky Toyota
26 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s / Kobalt Tools Chevrolet
27 38 David Gilliland A&W All American Food Ford
28 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Nationwide Ford
29 98 Josh Wise Phil Parsons Racing Chevrolet
30 7 Michael Annett # Pilot / Flying J Chevrolet
31 13 Casey Mears GEICO Chevrolet
32 34 David Ragan CSX Ford
33 10 Danica Patrick GoDaddy Chevrolet
34 23 Alex Bowman # Dr Pepper Toyota
35 40 Landon Cassill(i) Hillman Racing Chevrolet
36 77 Dave Blaney Ford
37 33 David Stremme Chevrolet
38 30 Parker Kligerman # SMS Audio Toyota
39 83 Ryan Truex # Borla Exhaust Toyota
40 36 Reed Sorenson Chevrolet
41 32 Travis Kvapil Keen Parts Ford
42 26 Cole Whitt # Swan Energy Toyota
43 66 Joe Nemechek(i) Justin Johnson / Land Castle Title Toyota

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