Legacy Motor Club driver Erik Jones comes to Darlington ranked 26th in the championship standings, yet he is as optimistic about this weekend as he could possibly be to pull off a walk-off home run of sorts and win to earn his championship chance. Two of his three career NASCAR Cup Series victories have come in the Southern 500.
A victory Sunday night would be Jones’ first top five of the season in the No. 43 Toyota. His best showing is eighth place in the season-opening Daytona 500 — his only top 10 of 2024. He was fastest in Group A practice Saturday but will start the race 28th after dipping in qualifying.
“It’s just been a long year for a lot of different reasons,” Jones said. “But I think if you told me I had to pick one track other than a superspeedway, I’d probably pick Darlington to go win.
“Definitely some confidence in that. I think any time you come to a place you’ve had success a few times with different groups, you have the notes to dive into and the confidence you know how to get around the place and do what you need to do.
“It’s not going to be easy by any stretch, but I feel like we have a good plan.”
Meg Oliphant | Getty Images
Kyle Busch is another former Darlington winner capable of pulling off a victory that would propel him into the playoffs. The driver of the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet has scored top-five finishes in the last two races — including a season-best runner-up showing at Daytona last week — but he still sits in 19th place, 106 points below the current playoff elimination line.
A three-race winner last year with RCR, Busch’s team has struggled in 2024 with only four top-five runs. But Darlington has traditionally been a solid venue for him. He won here in 2008 and has a pair of runner-up finishes (2017, 2020). He’s scored top-10 finishes in more than half his starts (14 times in 25 races) and had a run of 11 top-10 runs in 14 races between 2010-21.
“This race in the spring, we did not run well, but we don’t come in this weekend holding our heads low and thinking that we’re going to not run well again,” said Busch, who finished 27th in April. “We put our heads to paper and try to figure out why and said we’re going to go there with the best piece we can and try to kick their butt and get a win.”
Bubba Wallace sped to the Busch Light Pole Award, with a speed of 167.146 mph, securing his 23XI Racing Toyota a pivotal top starting position in Sunday’s Cook Out Southern 500 as he seeks a spot in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. Carson Hocevar earned a career-best second-place starting spot in the No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet.
Two-time Southern 500 winner Erik Jones posted the fastest lap in Saturday’s practice session at 166.461 mph in the No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota. Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman and Front Row Motorsports’ Todd Gilliland were quickest in 10-lap averages. | Full Saturday recap
Big story line
The swings that make a season
Twenty-five races have led us to the regular-season finale, a 500-mile showdown at one of NASCAR’s fiercest tracks with just three spots left to claim in the Cup Series Playoffs grid.
At least two spots will be claimed based on points, positioning Martin Truex Jr. (58 points above the elimination line) and Ty Gibbs (plus-39) in the most comfortable positions heading into the Southern 500. That puts Chris Buescher — 21 markers above the line — in the provisional final spot in the 16-driver bracket, with Bubba Wallace (minus-21), Ross Chastain (minus-27) and Kyle Busch (minus-106) eager to cut in line.
Before Sunday’s ultimate battle, a look at the swings that have Buescher, Wallace, Chastain and Busch on the brink of either playoff glory or regular-season heartbreak:
Chris Buescher: Kansas, Darlington spring Details: If Chris Buescher misses the postseason one year after a three-win campaign in 2023, a simple two-week stretch in May will serve as the stinging what-if. Buescher was 0.001 seconds away from a playoff-clinching victory on May 5 at Kansas Speedway, falling short to Kyle Larson in the closest finish in NASCAR Cup Series history. In other words, no one ever came closer to winning a Cup race without claiming the checkered flag than Buescher.
One week later, Buescher was back in the hunt for another victory and leading with 10 laps to go over Tyler Reddick and Brad Keselowski — all until Reddick’s dive-bomb move into Turn 3 walled Buescher. The damaged plummeted Buescher from a minimum third-place finish down to 30th in the final rundown, a difference of 27 points that could become pivotal in determining Sunday night’s playoff outcome.
Bubba Wallace: Richmond spring, Michigan
Details: While Bubba Wallace hasn’t been as close to victory as Buescher this year, these races jump out as collective missed opportunities for the No. 23 team. A late-race battle for fourth with Kyle Larson at Richmond Raceway resulted in Larson spinning across Wallace’s nose after the No. 5 Chevrolet slid loose and slowed ever so slightly. The resulting caution cued pit stops, with Wallace falling from the top five with two laps left in regulation to a 13th-place finish in overtime, costing him at least eight points.
At Michigan, Wallace’s 23XI Racing machine was blazing fast, leaving Denny Hamlin and Larson in the dust while charging to the lead early. But a Stage 2 crash at Lap 116 upended his day, triggered when Larson spun on corner exit with Wallace and the field behind with nowhere to go. Wallace nursed his battered car home in 26th, one lap down. The total point loss for Wallace is tougher to quantify since over 40% of the race remained at the time of his crash. But given his early speed, 14 fastest laps per loop data and early running position, a 10th-place run is reasonable to estimate — meaning his 26th-place finish cost him at least 16 points. Coupled with the points lost from Richmond, those 24 points could be the difference from a postseason berth.
Ross Chastain: Texas, Nashville, Michigan
Details: Though Ross Chastain’s laps led are down significantly in 2024 — 175 compared to 640 led in 2023 and 692 in ’22 — Texas and Nashville leap out as exceptions this year. The No. 1 Trackhouse Racing driver led 33 laps at Texas and was second in overtime on the white-flag lap. But a slip high in Turn 2 led William Byron to his rear bumper, turning Chastain on the backstretch, resulting in a 32nd-place finish — a 30-point swing in one corner.
Nashville echoed the same pain. Chastain was passed for the lead late by Hamlin and was cruising to a runner-up day before a late Austin Cindric spin sent the event to overtime. Lined up second on the restart, Chastain was crashed after contact from Larson and finished 33rd — this time, a 31-point swing.
Michigan netted a 13-point loss in overtime for Chastain. Restarting 12th, Chastain charged up the outside down the backstretch but became collateral damage when Alex Bowman hit the wall, creating a stack-up that sent Chastain spinning into the grass, where he got stuck and lost a lap, finishing 25th instead. In all, three overtime periods may have cost Chastain 74 points and may ultimately restrict him from the playoffs.
Kyle Busch: Atlanta, Daytona
Details: In a season full of tough moments for Kyle Busch, no what-if stands out more than Race No. 2 of 2024 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, where the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet finished third by 0.007 seconds in a three-wide finish behind race winner Daniel Suárez and Ryan Blaney. Busch has totaled 25 more points than Suárez this season, but Suárez’s victory seals him a spot in the postseason, while Busch enters a must-win situation at Darlington to advance.
Busch was painfully close to finishing the job last week at Daytona, but an improbable run by Harrison Burton and Parker Retzlaff propelled Burton to the win instead — by just 0.047 seconds over Busch. So while Buescher, Wallace and Chastain all left points on the table, a total of 0.054 seconds may separate Busch from another playoff run.
Alex Slitz | Getty Images
History tells us…
The postseason grid may not change Sunday night. According to Racing Insights, only twice in the elimination-style playoffs has a driver raced his way into the playoffs in the final race of the regular season. Ryan Newman did so in 2019 on points, and Austin Dillon won at Daytona in the 2022 finale.
He may not be the betting favorite to win, but watch out for…
ERIK JONES. It shouldn’t be very surprising to see Jones’ name pop up here. Although Jones and the No. 43 Legacy Motor Club team have struggled to just one top 10 all season, Darlington is a track at which Jones has always excelled, scoring two Southern 500 triumphs, five top fives and eight top 10s in 13 starts. | Darlington odds
Speed reads
Our biggest pieces of the week — get covered for race day from all angles.
• Mark your calendars: 2025 schedules unveiled for Cup, Xfinity and Craftsman Truck series | Read article
• International territory: Cup ventures to Mexico City in ’25 in milestone event | Read article
• Reddick rising: On chasing Regular Season Championship with Jordan, Woods and Gretzky on hood | Read article
• Wallace on stakes at Darlington: ‘I need to portray the best race that I’ve ever had in my career’ | Read article • Past Darlington winners talk position: Kyle Busch, Erik Jones angle for playoff bids | Read article
• Burton on racing future: ‘I think I’ll be a race car driver next year’ | Read article
• Three Xfinity teams penalized: Nos. 27, 28, 45 teams levied L1-level penalties after Daytona | Read article • Power Rankings: Will Elliott, Larson topple Reddick for Regular Season Championship? | Photo gallery • Turning Point: What’s next for Burton, and what a regular-season finale at Darlington highlights| Read article • Racing Insights: Full finishing order projections for Sunday’s crown jewel | Read article • Field of 16: How the playoff picture shakes out with one race left to decide grid | Read article • 36 for 36: Check out this week’s survivor pool picks | Read article
• Fantasy Fastlane: Points battles aplenty as regular season wraps | Photo gallery
• Fantasy Update: Bubba Wallace rising to the pressure at Darlington | Read article • NASCAR Classics: Head into the video vault with vintage Darlington replays | Read article • Paint Scheme Preview: Fresh designs to don at Darlington | Pick your favorite
Fast facts ⏩
Race-relevant statistics, brought to you by the experts at Racing Insights.
• The last eight races at Darlington were each won by a different driver. The Darlington record for most consecutive different winners is 11. • The eventual race winner has never finished worse than 10th in a stage in the 13 races at Darlington with stages. • The top three in the regular-season standings are separated by 18 points, the closest ever at this point in a season.
See where your favorite NASCAR Cup Series driver will pit for the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway on Sunday (6 p.m. ET, USA, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).
When athletes have their backs pressed up against the wall, they oftentimes come up clutch.
After Harrison Burton upset the playoff bubble battle last weekend at Daytona, Michael Jordan texted Bubba Wallace — who had fallen below the playoff elimination line. It read, “Things you want more, cost more.” An emotional Wallace displayed full commitment during qualifying on Saturday at Darlington Raceway, slinging his car around the track to win his third career pole. This could set up Wallace’s “Game 7” moment.
NEXT IN LINE: Christopher Bell, Brad Keselowski, Ryan Blaney, Carson Hocevar
RISING: As we noted earlier this week in Fastlane, Blaney’s stats aren’t exactly eye-catching at Darlington. The defending Cup champion has a best finish of eighth in 15 starts, with only two additional top 10s. Yet, the No. 12 car displayed potential race-contending speed during practice and qualifying, as NBC Sports broadcasters Jeff Burton and Steve Letarte labeled the No. 12 car among the pre-race favorites. I’m keeping Blaney off my lineup, but he moved up the pecking order.
It’s time to start taking Spire Motorsports and Carson Hocevar seriously. No matter the size of the venue, the No. 77 Chevrolet is consistently fast and leading the three-car team. Hocevar’s summer surge included consecutive top-10 finishes at Richmond and Michigan and 10 top 20s over the last 11 races. He will get a head start on track position at Darlington, qualifying second. It’s just the second time this year that Hocevar made the final round of qualifying.
FALLING: Entering Darlington 27 points below the elimination line, Ross Chastain likely needs a walk-off win to qualify for the playoffs. Qualifying 22nd might make the No. 1 team’s race strategy even easier by solely calling the race to win and not focusing on points. Unfortunately for Chastain, with the drastic tire wear, four tires are about a given whenever teams pit at Darlington. Maybe he can pull a Hail Mary like Regan Smith did in 2011 to win the Southern 500 on two tires? I’m not banking on it, though.
Entering the regular-season finale just 18 points out of the lead, Chase Elliott needed to maximize qualifying to allow an easier path to him to scoring points in the opening stage. The No. 9 team could still do that, but Elliott will take the green flag from 20th, while both Reddick and Larson made the final round of qualifying . Elliott was 25th on 10-lap averages in practice.
FEATURED MATCHUPS:
Harrison Burton vs. Carson Hocevar: Spire Motorsports continues to rise to the occasion, as Hocevar is having a solid rookie campaign. The No. 77 team has leaped 16 spots in the owner’s standings entering the regular season finale compared to this time last year. Meanwhile, Burton qualified 24th, one spot better than his season average and does have a top 10 finish at Darlington on his resume. I’ll take the No. 77 car all the way.
Bubba Wallace vs. Ross Chastain: Wallace has the outright speed to win the Southern 500. The only concern that I have is it could become win or bust if Buescher is having a solid race and that could lead to mistakes. Somehow, some way, the Phil Surgen-led No. 1 team will probably be in the picture at some point, but if we’re basing this solely on speed, Wallace was the best in class on Saturday.
Martin Truex Jr. vs. Ty Gibbs: Over the last 13 events, Truex only has a pair of top-10 finishes. Gibbs’ woes have been comparable, though he enters Darlington with consecutive top 10s. Going to flip to Truex entering Sunday, with the No. 19 Toyota cracking the top five in qualifying. Truex also has multiple Darlington wins, which could bode well for him this weekend.
Chris Buescher vs. Kyle Busch: Busch believes he has a car to work with this weekend, but the No. 8 car still qualified 17th. Both RFK Racing cars lacked pace in practice, though Buescher rebounded in qualifying to make the final round of qualifying. Buescher is in my lineup and was in contention to win the last two Darlington races, so I’ll stick with the No. 17 car.
DARLINGTON, S.C. — Offering up a fist pump and big smile, Bubba Wallace claimed perhaps the most consequential pole position of his young career — turning in the fastest lap in the final round of NASCAR Cup Series qualifying for Sunday’s Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway (6 p.m. ET, USA, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).
Wallace’s 167.143 mph lap in the No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota Saturday afternoon puts him out front to start the 500-miler at the historic 1.366-mile Darlington track. And it’s a good beginning for a big night. Wallace currently is just one position below the playoff line — trailing RFK Racing driver Chris Buescher by 21 points entering this last race to set the 16-driver Cup Series Playoff grid.
“Looking at us coming in, being on the bubble, 21 points out, a ton of pressure, well, I think the pressure just switched,’’ said the 30-year-old North Carolinian Wallace, who has four top-10 finishes in his last four races at the track famously nicknamed “Too Tough Too Tame.”
“We’re not here to mess around. I showed up with a more open and calm demeanor, free and relaxing demeanor, but at the same time, I don’t want to be messed with.
“So it’s a fine balance you have to walk.’’
Series rookie 21-year-old Carson Hocevar will start alongside Wallace on the front row – his best career start in the No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet. Stewart-Haas Racing’s Chase Briscoe will start his No. 14 Ford third, with Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Martin Truex Jr. rounding out the top five.
Wallace’s 23XI Racing teammate, championship leader Tyler Reddick, will roll off sixth in the No. 45 Toyota. He holds a 17-point advantage over the defending Southern 500 champ Larson for the Regular Season Championship that will be decided Sunday night. Larson’s Hendrick teammate Chase Elliott is only 18 points behind Reddick and will start 20th.
Reigning series champion Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney, Hendrick’s William Byron, JGR’s Christopher Bell, and RFK Racing’s Chris Buescher round out the top 10.
Buescher currently holds a 21-point advantage over Wallace for that 16th and final playoff position. After a top-10 showing in practice, Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain will roll off 22nd on the grid. He’s just behind Wallace in the standings, 27 points behind Buescher.
“The first round, I thought we did a good job; the team did a good job of making adjustments for the second round,’’ said Buescher, driver of the No. 17 RFK Ford. “We were working hard to try to make three and four better because we left a lot on the table there, but then I ended up messing up Turn 1 a little bit. It is still a good start for us.”
Wallace said that he was a little angry at himself after a sixth-place effort in practice, saying he had wanted to “make a statement” and felt he ultimately did so in qualifying.
“Anything can happen,” Wallace said of his playoff potential. “We saw that last week. So we have to run our own race and it makes it a lot easier for us. I have the first pit stall, and as long as we executive and make the right calls and do great on pit road. All I want for every single person on this team, including myself, is to go to bed tomorrow night and know we did everything we could, we did all we could. Maybe it was good enough. Maybe it wasn’t. That’s the lottery ticket. We’ll find out after tomorrow night’s race.”
Four-time Darlington winner Denny Hamlin, one of Wallace’s 23XI Racing team owners, said he understands the pressure Wallace is facing trying to race his way into the playoffs in the regular season finale.
“It’s tough because I think if you’ve got pressure in race 26, then I think that we’ve had 25 other opportunities where the pressure should have been the same,” said Hamlin, who will start 14th Sunday. “So just, what I’ve been preaching is that every race counts.
“You have to bring it every single week. You cannot take one week off in this thing, especially if you aren’t winning. You have to be a top-10 guy every single week. So that’s really, really hard to sustain. I still think Bubba is still on the rise, he’s still getting better, and he’s taken strides over where he was just two years ago. So I’m really happy with the result either way, but I know he’s going to give his 100% effort.”
Jones fastest in practice
Two-time Southern 500 winner Erik Jones topped the practice leaderboard in the No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota at 166.461 mph.
JGR’s Denny Hamlin (166.146 mph) toppled in at second fastest and is looking for a fifth Darlington win.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (166.118 mph), Ross Chastain (165.989 mph) and William Byron (165.760 mph) rounded out the top five.
Bubba Wallace (165.386 mph), Tyler Reddick (165.320 mph), John Hunter Nemechek (165.031 mph), Carson Hocevar (164.860 mph) and Kyle Larson (164.832 mph) completed the top 10.
During the Group A session, Stenhouse spun exiting Turn 4 as his No. 47 Chevrolet slid down the track. Then, Stenhouse hit the inside wall with the nose and suffered front-end damage.
DARLINGTON, S.C. — Chris Buescher entered last year’s Labor Day event at Darlington Raceway as a three-time winner, steaming into the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs with a flood of momentum. This season, his arrival at the treacherous, egg-shaped oval is a much different scenario.
Sunday’s Cook Out Southern 500 (6 p.m. ET, USA Network, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App) situates as this year’s regular-season finale, and Buescher’s win column is a bare cupboard. The RFK Racing driver sits just 21 points above the dividing line that separates the provisional 16-driver playoff field from those who won’t be eligible for the Cup Series championship at the end of the 500-mile classic.
The year-over-year contrast isn’t lost on Buescher, who noted this season’s number of playoff-clinching winners — 13 — as another surprising factor for his current plight.
“In a way, I guess,” Buescher said when asked if he was surprised by his current spot. “We’re third of the cars without a win on points. I think that’s probably the biggest surprise is that there have been as many different winners this year as there have been. On the flip side, we’ve had a lot of speed this year. We’ve been really close at a lot of races. We just haven’t sealed the deal. That’s been very frustrating at times because that was one of the the bigger goals we had on this season was to make sure that we fired off with the potential that we had around this time last year. And we did. It was good to go to a race track and have speed at types of race tracks that, honestly, we just haven’t been very good at in the past. And we were good at short tracks and intermediates and road courses are still really strong for us. All those things were going well.
“We just had a couple of runner-ups and very near-misses. So I think that it’s been a great year, we just don’t have any trophies on it yet. We didn’t expect to be in this position, and unfortunately, it’s where we’re at, but I am pretty confident in what we’re able to do at Darlington and what we’ve had as an organization this year at RFK that as long as we do everything we need to, we’re going to be in good shape.”
Protecting that points advantage will be a premium at one of NASCAR’s most demanding tracks, but Buescher has enjoyed a measure of solid performance in his most recent efforts here. Buescher placed his No. 17 Ford third in last year’s Southern 500, and he was in victory contention in the Goodyear 400 back in May at the 1.366-mile track before a scrape with Tyler Reddick thwarted his afternoon and knocked both from the running.
The standings will be a point of awareness on Sunday, but Buescher hopes a crown-jewel win will be the playoff springboard that the No. 17 team needs.
“I had a chance to win this race last time we were here and ended up in one of my less highlight-worthy moments,” said Buescher, who seethed as he confronted Reddick on pit road post-race in May. “For us, it’s how do we come in and win this race? How do we be in contention to win this race? I think I just don’t like to be a points racer. I’m aware of our situation. I feel like we can come out here and do what we’ve been doing every week, bringing fast race cars to the track. But a lot of times, I feel like we’ve had speed to compete for wins and then days that we need to execute a little bit better all around. For us, that’s kind of the same thing we’ve got looking at us for this go.
“We’ll pay attention. It’s something we started probably around Pocono time, just aware of the cars we’re racing if they have catastrophic or bad days. Just know what that means for us. And if you do have to be a little more aware of your situation, we can pay attention to that. But ultimately I want to be in contention to win this race and close the deal out that way and not worry about any of the rest.”
Buescher has come close to winning this year — at some points, agonizingly so. Besides his Darlington downturn in the spring, he has been a runner-up twice in the regular season, including a sliver-thin 0.001-second defeat to Kyle Larson at Kansas Speedway in the closest finish in Cup Series history.
Those close calls have stung, Buescher says, but he’s not spending that reflection by fretting about the what-ifs.
“We’re on this weekend,” Buescher said. “All that is stuff that hurts and will when you do stop to look back at it, but ultimately it’s not anything that’s changing our situation right now and would really be a distraction at this point. There’s no changing it, right? So definitely things that you look back on, and we’ll clean up as a team. Things I can clean up as a driver and do differently. And then just situations that certainly could have gone better. We’re focused on this weekend now.”
Christian Eckes will join Kaulig Racing full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2025, the team announced Saturday at Darlington Raceway.
Eckes, 23, will drive the No. 16 Chevrolet for the Matt Kaulig-owned team as part of a multiyear agreement. The Middletown, New York native currently pilots the No. 19 Chevrolet for McAnally-Hilgemann Racing in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and is one of 10 Truck Series Playoffs drivers currently battling in the Round of 10.
“Just super excited for this opportunity,” Eckes said. “This is something I feel like it’s been a long time coming, and to do it with Kaulig Racing, Chris (Rice, team president), Matt (Kaulig, team owner) and so many great teammates as well is something that I’m really looking forward to. Obviously, have a lot to achieve this year still, but very excited for the future. Just ready to get to work.”
AJ Allmendinger, who currently drives the No. 16 Chevy for the team in the Xfinity Series, will return to Cup Series in 2025 as a full-time driver for the organization. Shane van Gisbergen, who currently pilots the No. 97 Kaulig Chevy and posted three wins, will also jump to Cup in the No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet.
Since joining McAnally-Hilgemann Racing in 2023, Eckes has accumulated seven wins, 21 top fives, 29 top 10s and 1,184 laps led in 40 Truck races. Eckes finished fifth in the final standings last season and currently ranks first in the points table through the Round of 10’s opening contest at the Milwaukee Mile last weekend, where he finished third. The 2024 campaign is Eckes’ fourth full-time season in the Truck Series.
Kaulig Racing announced last weekend at Daytona International Speedway that Daniel Dye would join the organization to race full-time for the team beginning in 2025. With Eckes’ entrance into the team fold, Kaulig will sport three full-time Xfinity drivers next season: Dye (No. 10), Josh Williams (No. 11) and Eckes (No. 16).
Rice said Saturday that the team does not plan on steering Eckes away from his full-time focus — either with one-off Xfinity starts this year as he competes for the Truck Series crown, or with any Cup Series experience next year in another Kaulig entry. He also noted how Eckes’ composure stood out when he faced adversity this year, both when battling a brake issue at Atlanta and after a run-in with Corey Heim at Indianapolis Raceway Park. Both those instances made impressions on both Kaulig and Allmendinger.
“So the maturity of Christian, but also how fast he could go because those are the things that we need as a company,” Rice said. “OK, we need to have fast race car drivers and fast race cars for the drivers to ride them. I always say a jockey can’t ride a slow horse, no matter how good the jockey is. So we noticed that his maturity was something that we want to keep in our camp, for sure.”
Eckes will next compete in the second of three Round of 10 races at Bristol Motor Speedway on Sept. 19 (8 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
The regular season is winding down for all three NASCAR national series, and the playoff picture is coming into focus. So, what does the Playoff Grid look like? We’re here to answer.
First, a note. The Playoffs standings you’ll see on our Standings page denote the race into the postseason. Only 16 drivers make it (12 for Xfinity, 10 for Craftsman Truck Series), and those standings show who has clinched via a win and then the points positions for the rest.
This Playoff Grid projection shows what the exact standings would look like if the postseason started today.
Here’s what we do:
• All playoff drivers have their points reset to 2,000 for the opening round. • Each race win counts as 5 playoff points, which are then added to the 2,000. Kyle Larson has four wins, for example, so that gives him 20 playoff points via victories. • Each stage win counts as 1 playoff point. Justin Allgaier has 13 stage wins, for example, so that gives him 13 playoff points via stage wins. • This projection takes into account where the drivers are ranked in the regular-season standings. There are bonus points for finishing in the top 10. The regular-season champion earns 15 bonus playoff points. Second-place receives 10 bonus playoff points, and then third-place receives 8 bonus playoff points (etc., down to 1 point for 10th place). We use that here, too.
Here’s what the exact Playoff Grid looks like for all three national series heading into Darlington Raceway.
NASCAR Cup Series
Logan Riely | Getty Images
Notable: Harrison Burton pulled off a stunner under the lights at Daytona International Speedway after winning the Coke Zero Sugar 400 to punch his ticket to the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs. In Wood Brothers Racing’s 100th victory, the No. 21 Ford team went from outside the top 30 in points into the top 16, with a chance to compete for the Bill France Cup. However, Burton’s win pushed 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace below the elimination line, who enters the regular-season finale at Darlington 21 points back. Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain sits at a 27-point deficit. While Wallace and Chastain could still make the playoffs on points, Kyle Busch (-106) and others behind the Richard Childress Racing driver in the standings will enter Darlington in a high-pressure must-win situation.
Driver
Playoff points
Regular-season bonus
Total points
Kyle Larson
28
10
2,038
Christopher Bell
25
5
2,030
Tyler Reddick
13
15
2,028
William Byron
16
6
2,022
Ryan Blaney
13
7
2,020
Denny Hamlin
11
3
2,014
Chase Elliott
6
8
2,014
Brad Keselowski
5
4
2,009
Joey Logano
7
--
2,007
Austin Cindric
7
--
2,007
Daniel Suárez
6
--
2,006
Alex Bowman
5
--
2,005
Harrison Burton
5
--
2,005
Martin Truex Jr.
3
2
2,005
Ty Gibbs
2
1
2,003
Chris Buescher
2
--
2,002
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Sean Gardner | Getty Images
Notable: AJ Allmendinger and Parker Kligerman worked together throughout the Xfinity Series race at Daytona up to the final lap. Both drivers were looking for their first trip to Victory Lane of the 2024 season. After the white flag waved, Kligerman gave Allmendinger a push heading toward Turn 1. Then, they made contact as Allmendinger’s No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet spun off Kligerman’s bumper and back up the track into traffic. Kligerman still finished third and enjoyed a solid points day, who now sits 44 points above the elimination line. On the other hand, Allmendinger is 113 points to the good, but a win would have given the No. 16 team some much-needed momentum ahead of the postseason.
Driver
Playoff points
Regular-season bonus
Total points
Justin Allgaier
23
15
2,038
Chandler Smith
15
8
2,023
Austin Hill
13
7
2,020
Cole Custer
8
10
2,018
Shane van Gisbergen
17
--
2,017
Riley Herbst
7
5
2,012
Jesse Love
9
3
2,012
Sam Mayer
11
--
2,011
AJ Allmendinger
--
6
2,006
Sheldon Creed
--
4
2,004
Ryan Sieg
2
1
2,003
Parker Kligerman
-4
2
2,000
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
Jonathan Bachman | Getty Images
Notable: While he did not get by Milwaukee race winner Layne Riggs for the checkered flag, ThorSport Racing’s Ty Majeski had another strong points day in his native Wisconsin. Majeski picked up his third consecutive top-two finish as the team appears to be getting hot down the stretch. With Christian Eckes and Corey Heim going back and forth during the Truck Series regular season, Majeski may emerge as someone who can challenge them for the championship. The No. 98 Ford driver’s runner-up finish at Milwaukee moved him into second in the standings, 16 points behind Eckes.
Throughout the 2024 NASCAR season, Ken Martin, director of historical content for the sanctioning body, will offer his suggestions on which historical races fans should watch from the NASCAR Classics library in preparation for each race weekend.
Martin has worked exclusively for NASCAR since 2008 but has been involved with the sport since 1982, overseeing various projects. He has worked in the broadcast booth for hundreds of races, assisting the broadcast team with different tasks. This includes calculating the “points as they run” for the historic 1992 finale, the Hooters 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
The following suggestions are Ken’s picks to watch before this Sunday’s Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.
Olivia, North Carolina’s Herb Thomas captured the NASCAR Cup Series by storm upon the creation of the series.
Thomas made his debut in 1949, finishing 29th in the first race in series history. He went on to race three more times that season before expanding his schedule in 1950. That season saw Thomas make 13 starts and capture the first victory of his career, which came at Martinsville Speedway in October.
The next four seasons saw Thomas hoist the series championship two times, while also finishing second in points the other two seasons. He won 39 races over the stretch while leading over 6,000 laps.
He entered the 1955 season as the only two-time champion, but his 40 career victories were five more than the second and third-place drivers, Lee Petty and Tim Flock, had combined.
Most of Thomas’ victories came behind the wheel of the Fabulous Hudson Hornet, the famed No. 92 Hudson. Thomas also had victories in a Plymouth and an Oldsmobile.
Change came to Thomas in 1955 as his time driving a Hudson slowly went away. Thomas was behind the wheel of not only a Hudson but a Packard, Buick and a Chevrolet.
His victory at Raleigh Speedway in August 1955, while driving a Buick, marked his first win in a different make since 1951.
Thomas arrived at Darlington the following week for the Southern 500 in a Chevrolet, qualifying eighth in the 69-car field.
Thomas bided his time as the laps during the marathon event slowly passed by. He took the lead for the first time on the 279th lap and went on to lead 76 of the final 88 laps en route to Victory Lane.
It was just the second-ever victory for Chevrolet in the Cup Series as Fonty Flock took his No. 14 Chevrolet to Victory Lane at Columbia Speedway in March 1955.
The sixth annual Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway continued the trend of racing on Labor Day, which always fell on a Monday.
Three of those victories went to Herb Thomas, who entered the race in 1956 as the defending champion of the event. Johnny Mantz (who won the inaugural event in 1950), Fonty Flock and Buck Baker were the other three drivers who were crowned Southern 500 champions through the first six events.
The 70-car race was full of names that were or became recognizable to race fans over the years.
The usual suspects like Lee Petty, Tim Flock, Rex White, Buck Baker and Thomas were in the field. As were other drivers such as Rex White, Joe Weatherly, Parnelli Jones, Ralph Moody and Curtis Turner.
Turner, of Roanoke, Virginia, was a 32-year-old driver who had driven mostly part-time since the series’ inception in 1949. He made 16 of the 19 starts in 1950, winning four times and finishing fifth in points. Beyond that, he barely raced over 50% of any of the season schedules, including the 1956 season.
He qualified his No. 99 Ford in 11th for the Southern 500 at Darlington in 1956, as Speedy Thompson put his No. 57 Chrysler on the pole.
Thompson was in the midst of a breakout season, one where the 30-year-old North Carolina native had already captured seven checkered flags.
The 500-mile event saw Thompson lead 15 laps early but never reclaim the lead, despite being fast enough to come home with a second-place finish.
Turner dominated the race, leading four times for 224 laps, on his way to his 11th career Cup Series victory.
Marvin Panch, Jim Reed and Paul Goldsmith rounded out the remainder of the top five.
Tim Flock, who eventually captured the 1956 championship, led 19 laps and finished 12th.
Something clicked for Bill Elliott and his No. 9 Melling Racing Ford at the end of the 1984 season, and the rest of the Cup Series was put on notice because of it.
Elliott ended the season with a third-place finish at Martinsville, a win at Charlotte Motor Speedway, an eighth at North Wilkesboro Speedway, another win at Rockingham Speedway, a runner-up at Atlanta Motor Speedway and a fourth-place result in the finale at Riverside International Raceway.
It was more signs of a breakout for Elliott, who now had finished third in points for two consecutive seasons. Little did anybody know the domination that Elliott and team would bring in 1985.
A dominating victory from the pole position in the season-opening Daytona 500 showed that Elliott might be the driver to beat for the championship.
He won again a few weeks later at Atlanta and then again two weeks later at Darlington from the pole again.
A few weeks later his victory at Talladega Superspeedway not only gave him his fourth win over the first nine races of the season but put him as a real contender for a new program rolled out to NASCAR drivers in 1985.
R.J. Reynolds company, which sponsored the NASCAR Cup Series at the time, announced a new program for the 1985 season called the “Winston Million.”
The program gave drivers a chance at an incredible $1,000,000 bonus check if they captured victories in three of the season’s four biggest races.
It was only May and Elliott had won the Daytona 500, as well as the race at Talladega. This gave him two victories toward the potential bonus money. He now needed to win either the Coca-Cola World 600 at Charlotte in May or the Southern 500 at Darlington in September to capture the prize.
Elliott looked poised to go three-for-three as he sat on the pole at Charlotte. He led 81 laps before mechanical issues relegated him to a disappointing 18th-place finish.
This left Elliott with one opportunity to chase the million-dollar prize, the Southern 500 at Darlington.
With a few months left to prepare for the race at Darlington, all while chasing his first championship, Elliott somehow was hotter than ever.
He managed to arrive at Darlington in September on a torrid stretch, with victories in four of the previous seven races. Dating back further, he had won six of eleven and eleven of 24.
Elliott also was carrying the series points lead, with a 138-point advantage over Darrell Waltrip in the standings.
It was absolutely no surprise that Elliott put his No. 9 Ford on the pole yet again, this being his 10th of the season and his seventh over the previous 10 races.
Elliott, who won at Darlington in the spring, had to battle strong runs from Dale Earnhardt and Cale Yarborough if he wanted to capture the bonus money. Earnhardt led 147 laps and Yarborough 25 before both had issues that allowed Elliott to claim the top spot.
Elliott went on to lead the final 44 laps, capturing the checkered flag, the new $1,000,000 bonus and the nickname “Million Dollar Bill” along the way.
Money poured onto Elliott and his team in Victory Lane, after their total payday of $1,053,725. For perspective, he earned $185,500 for capturing the season-opening Daytona 500 in February.
The program was a huge success for the R.J. Reynolds team and NASCAR as a whole as Elliott’s chase of the prize and following success landed him in the national media. This included Elliott gracing the cover of Sports Illustrated.
NASCAR.com’s 36 for 36 continues at Darlington Raceway.
With 36 races and 36 full-time Charter cars, our players select one car per race, but there’s a simple twist: once they’ve made the pick, they can’t choose that car again for the rest of the 36-race season. Yes, that means every car will be selected exactly once … a survivor pool, by another name.
Follow along weekly as our panel of pickers — Dustin Albino from Jayski, along with Steve Luvender and Cameron Richardson from NASCAR.com — embarks on a season-long journey to think like strategists and prove their picking prowess.
We’ll also feature a fourth “community” 36 for 36 pick each week, as decided by fan vote on the r/NASCAR subreddit. Can the collective vote topple our trio of full-timers?
Current Standings:
Steve Luvender: 635
r/NASCAR Community: -44
Dustin Albino: -68
Cameron Richardson: -104
Race 26 of 36: Darlington
The end of the regular season is here! Coming off a dramatic Daytona finish last week where r/NASCAR’s 36 for 36 pick of Harrison Burton scored his first-ever win, the points have tightened. Points leader Steve Luvender’s selection of Erik Jones netted 20 points, providing Redditors with momentum heading into Darlington. John Hunter Nemechek delivered a solid 22 points for Dustin Albino, while Cameron Richardson’s pick of Zane Smith earned an above-average 24 points.
Darlington will be a challenge for our picking panel. With just 11 possible picks remaining, playoff-qualifying desperation reaching a fever pitch, and the trickiness of the track “Too Tough to Tame,” it may be as unpredictable as Daytona.
Jayski’s Dustin Albino: No. 24, William Byron
Dustin’s pick last week: No. 42, John Hunter Nemechek (22 points) Total season points: 567 (third place)
Dustin: Both William Byron and myself have shown plenty of inconsistency throughout the summer months. We also share Darlington as being one of our favorite race tracks — his stats back it up — on the schedule. The No. 24 team enters the Southern 500 with four straight top-10 finishes at the track “Too Tough to Tame.” Technically, it should be five, but Joey Logano bumped Byron into the wall for the win in the spring 2022 event. Byron earned his win back last spring and is averaging 44.5 points per race in that four-race timeframe. Hoping Byron bookends the regular season with victories.
NASCAR.com’s Steve Luvender: No. 1, Ross Chastain
Steve’s pick last week: No. 43, Erik Jones (20 points) Total season points: 635 (first place)
Steve: Ross Chastain enters the regular-season finale 27 points out of the playoffs, a tall order for Sunday night. We already know Chastain can get the job done when the pressure’s on — his 2022 “Hail Melon” move that fans recently voted the most memorable moment of the playoff elimination era comes to mind — and now he needs a single outstanding race to save his season and race for a championship. Darlington is a good track for Chastain, where he’s won in the Craftsman Truck Series. While he’s never scored a win at the track in the Cup Series, he’s found himself in the mix plenty in recent years (controversially so, in some cases — see the 2023 spring race where he tangled with Kyle Larson late). I’m hoping for the trademark frontstretch-melon-smashing victory celebration when the lights turn on Sunday.
NASCAR.com’s Cameron Richardson: No.43, Erik Jones
Cameron’s pick last week: No. 71, Zane Smith (24 points)
Total season points: 531 (fourth place)
Cameron: What if I told you that Erik Jones is on a multi-time wins list that not even 200-time Cup winner Richard Petty is on? Shocking, but Jones has double the Southern 500 wins compared to the Hall of Famer and motorsports icon. Entering the regular-season finale, Jones’ 2024 campaign hasn’t exceeded expectations, but there’s no reason to believe why the No. 43 Legacy Motor Club driver can’t be in the mix late on Sunday. With multiple drivers in pressure-filled scenarios this weekend, Darlington will be the ultimate test of mental and physical strength and with only one path for Jones to the postseason, the vision is clear. Also, Jones has only failed to finish outside the top 10 once in seven Southern 500 starts.
r/NASCAR Community: No. 43, Erik Jones r/NASCAR’s pick last week: No. 21, Harrison Burton (40 points)
Total season points: 591 (second place)
The NASCAR subreddit has spoken, and Erik Jones is this week’s pick based on community activity in the voting thread. What Redditors had to say:
u/Extreme-Bite-9123: “Definitely take Jones. Darlington is his by far best track, and even if I doubt he wins, this is his best shot at a good day”
u/Joey_Logano: “Jones might also not be a bad pick since this is his best remaining track.”
u/MsCompy: “It’s that time again!”
Check back next week to see how our pickers fared as the season-long 36 for 36 journey continues.
And, if you’ve got a competitive itch beyond meticulously managing your Fantasy Live lineup each week, feel free to save or print your own 36 for 36 sheet and see if you can beat our pickers and the Reddit community!
r/NASCAR’s pick last week: No. 21, Harrison Burton (40 points)