Posted on by Reid Spencer

DARLINGTON, S.C. — It’s almost impossible to keep a good man down — when you’re on the kind roll Tyler Reddick is enjoying, that is.

Overcoming a succession of issues inside his No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota, Reddick delivered a convincing victory in Sunday’s Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway, beating runner-up Brad Keselowski to the finish line by 5.847 seconds.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Darlington

The win was Reddick’s fourth of the season in six NASCAR Cup Series events, following his record-setting sweep of the first three races of the year. That four-victory total puts Reddick in the company of two pillars of the sport.

Only twice before has a Cup Series driver won four of the first six races in a given season: Dale Earnhardt in 1987 and Bill Elliott in 1992.

Nor did circumstances make it easy on the 30-year-old driver from Corning, California. With a malfunctioning alternator from the outset, Reddick had to conserve power by eliminating unnecessary electrical drains.

That meant no cool suit to keep him refreshed on a warm day in the South Carolina Sandhills. It also meant a change to a more robust battery on pit road, a move that relegated the No. 45 Camry to the back of the field.

Trouble on the right-front tire on the team’s first green-flag pit stop compounded the issues, resulting in a 16.3-second pit stop that cost Reddick six positions in the running order.

An untimely final-stage collision with Chris Buescher, who made a late signal to come to pit road on Lap 242 of 293, also cost Reddick valuable time.

Ultimately, though, Reddick overcame all the obstacles thrown at the No. 45 team on Sunday. After pitting for the final time on Lap 246, Reddick charged forward, erasing a seven-second deficit to Keselowski, who led a race-high 142 laps.

On Lap 266, Reddick passed Keselowski for the lead and pulled away to the decisive victory.

“I’m pretty sure it’s frustrating for him (Reddick) because he had an unbelievable car,” said NBA Hall of Famer Michael Jordan, who co-owns 23XI Racing with Cup driver Denny Hamlin. “You know, you never know what’s going to happen, especially at Darlington. I think that the key to him winning was just keeping his head.

“I think Billy (Scott, crew chief) did a good job of trying to keep him calm. We knew we had a fast car. We knew on a 30-lap run we were real good, on a short-lap run we were real good. We just had to get the car right. And he kept his composure, and he did an unbelievable job.”

Reddick, who started from the pole and led 77 laps, thought a trial by fire was appropriate at the track “Too Tough to Tame.”

“I know never to give up,” said Reddick, who won for the 12th time in his career. “I think it’s very fitting that when we finally get our first win here at Darlington that the ‘Lady in Black’ would test us like that. We’ve been so close so many times. I mean, Lap 1 we had the charging problem where the battery wasn’t charging at all.

“All day long, just not running fans. Sweat my tail off inside the race car, and we knew it was going to be physical. Really worn out, but I guess I don’t need as much of that cooling stuff as I normally have.”

Keselowski was running a paint scheme to honor the late Greg Biffle, a former RFK Racing driver who lost his life in a plane crash last December.

“We didn’t have the best car today,” Keselowski acknowledged. “Not compared to Tyler. Tyler drove a hell of a race, and he’s driving a rocket, and he’s making it count right now.

“I think we got the most out of the day we were getting to get, honestly, but we scored a lot of stage points, second place, first-place loser, but that’s OK. We’re doing the things we need to do and making the most of the days we have.

“It’s really cool to have the great group of (RFK) cars running up front. I put a nice right-sided stripe on the car. I think that would make Greg proud. If you know Greg, you’ll understand that one.”

Ryan Blaney finished third, overcoming a penalty for pitting in a teammate’s stall to tighten a loose wheel.

Carson Hocevar showed blazing speed in the final stage in finishing fourth after starting from the rear of the field because of an unapproved adjustment to his No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet — the repair of an upper control arm.

Austin Cindric ran fifth, followed by Ty Gibbs, Daniel Suárez, William Byron, Buescher and Erik Jones.

Kyle Larson was running 11th with 10 laps remaining but suffered a late issue, falling to a 32nd-place finish.

The Cup Series races next at Martinsville Speedway in the Cook Out 400 on March 29 (3:30 p.m. ET, FS1, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Stage 2 recap: Keselowski sweeps the stages

Brad Keselowski held off a fierce charge from RFK Racing teammate Chris Buescher to win Stage 2 in Sunday’s race.

Keselowski, the 2012 NASCAR Cup Series champion, earned a sweep of the stages at the track “Too Tough to Tame” with Buescher just 0.364 seconds behind when the green-checkered flag waved. Kyle Larson, Chase Briscoe and Tyler Reddick completed the top five while Ryan Preece, William Byron, Austin Cindric, Ty Gibbs and Daniel Suárez filled out the top 10.

Denny Hamlin, a five-time winner at Darlington, was running fourth when he feared he might have a tire going flat. He wheeled his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to an 11th-place finish at the end of the stage before pitting while pit road was closed. Crew chief Chris Gayle told Hamlin nothing was broken underneath the car, but there were signs the left-rear wheel was loose, leading to what Hamlin felt behind the wheel.

Stage 2 began with multiple issues for contenders. After trouble on pit road during the stage break cost Bubba Wallace 12 positions, Wallace was collected in a three-car crash at Lap 111 shortly after Stage 2 took the green flag. Hamlin, co-owner of Wallace’s 23XI Racing team, contacted Erik Jones entering Turn 3, sending Jones into a long, smoky slid. Hamlin was on his brakes, slowing to avoid further contact when Wallace was unable to avoid from behind, hitting both Hamlin’s back bumper and the outside wall.

“That what we [expletive] get,” Wallace radioed, referencing the slow pit stop that forced him to reverse back to his pit stall and dropped from fourth to 16th place.

MORE: In-car video of Stage 2 crash | Stage 2 results

Pit road also wreaked havoc for Ryan Blaney. The 2023 NASCAR Cup Series champion finished third in Stage 1, but his pit crew did not tighten all of its left-side tires, forcing Blaney to stop in the pit box of teammate Austin Cindric to secure the wheels before returning to action. Receiving service outside of his pit box dropped Blaney to the tail of the field for the ensuing restart.

“We cannot do this,” radioed Blaney, who overcame two pit-road errors at Phoenix Raceway to score the win. “We cannot afford to do this. We have got to clean this up.”

Tyler Reddick, the polesitter for Sunday’s race, also reported a brake issue early in the stage before rallying back to the top five.

RFK teammates Brad Keselowski, Chris Buescher and Ryan Preece charged to the front and ran first through third, respectively, during the start of Stage 2.

Stage 1 recap: Keselowski wins Stage 1 at Darlington over Tyler Reddick

Brad Keselowski scored his first stage win of the season by claiming Stage 1 at Darlington.

Keselowski cycled to the lead after green-flag pit stops for the field from Laps 37 through 45, with Ryan Blaney, Bubba Wallace, Kyle Larson and Chris Buescher in tow.

At his pit stop at Lap 44, Tyler Reddick’s team had an issue on its right-front tire change, slowing the stop to over 16 seconds. Reddick had led the opening 45 laps of the race before hitting pit road, returning to action in seventh place, nearly 15 seconds behind race-leader Keselowski.

Reddick rallied to second place, just 0.283 seconds shy of the stage win. Blaney, Wallace and Larson completed the top five when Stage 1 ended at Lap 90. Buescher, Chase Elliott, Austin Cindric, Daniel Suárez and William Byron rounded out the top 10.

Reddick also reported voltage issues on his No. 45 Toyota on Lap 2 after he speculates he hit a bump too hard off Turn 2. The team instructed Reddick to manage the alternator and driver cooling aids to maintain power to his engine.

Reddick pitted before pit road opened to allow the team to change a battery and check the alternator belt. Crew chief Billy Scott reported the issue is an “internal problem in the alternator.” As a penalty for pitting before pit road opened, Reddick restarted Stage 2 at the tail of the field.

Note: Post-race technical inspection concluded without issue, confirming Reddick as the race winner. The Nos. 2 and 77 cars will return to the NASCAR R&D Center in Concord, North Carolina for further inspection.

Contributing: Staff report

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.”