Martin Truex Jr., William Byron lead the pack ahead of Cup Series Playoffs

Posted on August 31, 2023 by Zack Albert

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — How far the playoff pendulum can swing. Martin Truex Jr. was just three points shy of qualifying for the postseason field in 2022, weathering a winless regular season that turned into a yearlong dry spell. He ended the campaign as a playoff outsider for the first time in seven years, and the sour feeling stuck with him and his Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Toyota team.

The efforts to avoid a repeat of that non-playoff sting began the moment the clock struck offseason, just after last year’s season finale.

“100%. The day after Phoenix last year, it was like, ‘All right, we’re getting to work,’ “Truex said Thursday during Cup Series Playoffs Media Day. “It really lit a fire under everybody to just show how bad they wanted it and go to work on it. I think our whole group across the board really, right after Phoenix, got to work on things, and it definitely was a big inspiration for us this year.”

Motivated and at the top of the Cup Series heap, Truex enters this year’s NASCAR Playoffs as the circuit’s regular-season champion and as one of the favorites for the overall title. He shares the top spot in the standings with William Byron, the series’ leading winner so far and the No. 1 seed for the 10 races that will settle the Cup Series crown.

The two drivers are separated by 18 years in age, but zero points after the standings were reset following the regular-season finale at Daytona International Speedway. The playoff journey will begin for Truex, Byron and the rest of the title-eligible contenders starting with Sunday’s Cook Out Southern 500 (6 p.m. ET, USA, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App) at historic Darlington Raceway.

Truex’s turnaround has been among the most dramatic this year. After opening the season with a victory in the Busch Light Clash at the LA Coliseum, the 43-year-old veteran has since rattled off three more triumphs and held the lead in the Cup Series standings virtually all summer.

Truex said that last year’s downfall was chalked up in part to the team’s gambles and experimentation with trying to figure out the Next Gen race car in its first season of Cup Series competition. Those experiences, he said, helped the No. 19 team achieve a better grasp of the car’s characteristics this season. So far, the results have shown, providing Truex with a modest safety net of bonus points for his postseason trek and a quest for a second Cup Series title, his first since 2017.

“I feel as good as I ever have going into the playoffs,” said Truex, who leads the Cup Series in average finish (11.2). “It’s been a really strong year for us, consistently up at the front and doing what we need to do. Certainly, let a few wins slip away, which is always disappointing, but to have three and the Clash win is a pretty good regular season, so you just have to keep putting yourself in the right position.”

Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images

Byron has been every bit the measure of Truex in several performance metrics this year, entering the final 10 races as a worthy title co-favorite. The 25-year-old driver of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet has led the most laps (877) in the regular season, and his five wins are two more than his nearest competitors — Truex, Chris Buescher and Kyle Busch. The only slight lag behind Truex’s numbers is in consistency — Byron went five races without a top-10 finish during a subdued stretch this summer but then snapped that confounding streak in style with a convincing win at Watkins Glen International two weeks ago.

Byron said that the five victories exceeded his team’s own expectations (“Winning three races was kind of the goal,” he said) but that he hasn’t felt additional pressure to carry this banner season to the Championship 4 round. He’s seeking his first appearance in the Cup Series’ final four in this, his fifth consecutive playoffs appearance.

“I don’t think we change a thing. The intensity of the moment already elevates your performance a little bit,” Byron said. “I know we’re good enough, I know we’re capable. I know my best is good enough. I feel like, for me, it’s more the same. … It’s trying to approach each track individually and not look too far ahead. That’s really the thing I’ve learned, not to get ahead of ourselves.”

Posted on August 31, 2023 by Reid Spencer

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Denny Hamlin enters the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs without a contract to drive next season, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have job security.

Though Hamlin expressed emphatically his desire to return to No. 11 Toyota at Joe Gibbs Racing, he does have other options — namely the 23XI Racing team he owns with former NBA superstar Michael Jordan.

PLAYOFFS: Playoffs hub page | Playoffs Grid Challenge game

“I have a race team — I always have options,” Hamlin bantered on Thursday during the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Media Day at the Charlotte Convention Center. “If you’re just a driver, you’re at the mercy of whoever will hire you.

“I will hire me. And I should be the highest-paid driver in the deal.”

Hamlin’s 23XI team currently fields cars for Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace, both of whom qualified for the Cup Series postseason, which starts Sunday with the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway (6 p.m. ET on USA, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).

A third car at the organization might be a possibility in 2024 if Hamlin can’t come to terms with JGR.

“If an apocalypse comes, yeah,” Hamlin quipped.

Apocalypse aside, the first order of business is the playoffs. Hamlin has been tantalizingly close to the title on several occasions. In 2010, under what was then the 10-race Chase format, he led the standings entering the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway but lost out to Jimmie Johnson’s record fifth straight Cup title.

Since the introduction of the elimination playoff format in 2014, Hamlin has qualified for the Championship 4 Round four times, with a best finish of third in 2014 and 2021.

“I should have won in 2010,” Hamlin said. “I (screwed) that up pretty bad. Certainly, Jimmie got in my head there, and I just second-guessed what had made me successful the whole time.”

In 2021, Hamlin was chasing JGR teammate Martin Truex Jr. for the lead late in the Championship 4 race at Phoenix.

“And the caution came out,” Hamlin recalled. “And (Kyle) Larson went from fourth to first on the pit stop. I would say that, in 2019, when we put the piece of tape on the car, I was running Kyle Busch down at the end.

“I was a couple seconds back from him — it was Homestead — but I hadn’t even pushed yet. I was just waiting, waiting, waiting … and then all of a sudden we put the tape on the car, and we blow up.

“There’s like a five-way tie (for closest call to the title).”

Posted on August 31, 2023 by Reid Spencer

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Richard Childress Racing has long been one of the marquee teams in the NASCAR Cup Series.

RCR has accounted for six championships at NASCAR’s highest level, all of them fashioned by driver Dale Earnhardt Sr.

The organization, however, hasn’t reached the pinnacle of the sport since Earnhardt won his final title in 1994. Kyle Busch would like nothing better than to end the drought in his first year with NASCAR Hall of Fame team owner Richard Childress.

PLAYOFFS: Playoffs hub page | Playoffs Grid Challenge game

“It would be phenomenal — it would be awesome,” Busch said during the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Media Day at the Charlotte Convention Center. “That’s what we all strive for. I don’t care what team I’m at, I’m going to go try to win a championship, right?

“But to have the history and the legacy of RCR and everything that they’ve done over the years — with Earnhardt and with the other drivers that have been there … yeah, it’s been a little quiet lately, but that would be nice to shake that up.

“I feel like when you’re in the (Championship 4), that is a championship season. You’ve just got to go out and execute in that last race, and there are so many things that can go against you in that last race to not let you win a championship, but that’s a title season.”

A two-time Cup champion, Busch has won three times in his first year with Childress, but that’s below the benchmark he sets for himself.

“(Five) is always my number,” Busch said. “Anytime you look at a championship season of a driver, they’ve got around five wins. That’s been a good year. You can always bank yourself as being a championship guy if you’ve got five wins …

“So, let’s win two of these final 10, and then we’ll really have something to talk about.”

The opening postseason race will take place this Sunday in the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway (6 p.m. ET, USA, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).

Posted on August 31, 2023 by Staff Report

Throughout the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, Advance Auto Parts is spotlighting a series of Home Track Heroes from NASCAR-sanctioned short tracks around the country. Each Home Track Hero, nominated by his or her peers as a result of contributions made to the race track, will have his or her name appear on the C-Post of Ryan Blaney’s No. 12 Team Penske Ford Mustang in a Cup Series Playoff race. Dr. Jeff Jarvis, the promotor at Limaland Motorsports Park in Lima, Ohio, is the Home Track Hero whose name will appear on Blaney’s car during the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.

Dr. Jeff Jarvis is the promoter at Limaland Motorsports Park in Lima, Ohio.

His relationship with Limaland began 26 years ago, when Jarvis, along with his father Loren and brother Mark, purchased what is now known as Limaland Motorsports Park in 1997.

In part because of Loren Jarvis’ role as president of the nearby Northwestern College (now known as the University of Northwestern Ohio), the Jarvis family envisioned what owning an oval dirt track could do to elevate the University’s High Performance Motorsports Program — hence the decision to purchase the track.

In 2001, Dr. Jeff Jarvis officially sold Limaland Motorsports Park to UNOH.

Jarvis today handles all the major decisions regarding operations and improvements at Limaland, and he assists in other areas as needed. He spearheads efforts around scheduling, growing sponsorships and cultivating new partnerships within the business and industry of grassroots racing.

Through his work as a promoter, Javris has helped make Limaland a nationally recognized quarter-mile dirt track.

Since the beginning of his family’s ownership tenure almost three decades ago, Jarvis has done everything from flagging and mowing to helping on the track surface. As the years rolled on, of course, he’s lost some of privileges … like having a radio on race day. Jarvis now leaves that to all of the track officials.

Limaland wouldn’t be the track it is today without the dedication and commitment of Dr. Jeff Jarvis.

Posted on August 31, 2023September 1, 2023 by Sponsored Content

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Posted on August 31, 2023August 31, 2023 by Cara Cooper

Seventeen years ago, Taylor Goldman was a 13-year-old running her third race in a full-sized Power Stock car when she flipped going from Turn 4 into Turn 1 at Minnesota’s Raceway Park.

As she laid upside down on the hood of her car, she opened her eyes for a split second and saw Victory Lane, also upside down and lit up under the night sky.

“It was the most bizarre thing, because I didn’t really understand what happened because I had closed my eyes,” Goldman said. “I could see my dad trying to get on the race track. He’s freaking out. He’s trying to ask me if I’m OK, and here I am asking questions like, ‘Is the car OK? What can we do to get the car fixed? Can we go race again?'”

When asked if she was afraid to get behind the wheel after crashing so early in her career, Goldman was emphatic.

“Oh, God, no,” she said. “No, absolutely not.”

Her night may have been done, but her race career was not. A week later, Goldman was back on track, and two weeks later she was standing in that same Victory Lane — this time right-side-up — after winning her first race.

That season, thanks to her roll-over mishap, a fan started calling Goldman “Rollergirl,” a name that stuck.

Rollergirl has proven throughout her nearly 20-year racing career she’s just as fearless now as she was that night as a teenager. Not only is she fearless on the track, but she has no fear of any competition.

Goldman became the first woman to win a track championship at Elko Speedway when she won the 2018 Power Stock division championship at the NASCAR Home Track in Elko New Market, Minnesota.

This season, she’s fourth in the track’s Thunder Cars division with two wins and six top fives in 15 races.

Goldman in 2008 began racing at Elko, the same track where her dad David competed. When she started her career, she didn’t go the traditional route of beginning in a go-kart or other smaller ride.

“I just went right from being a kid in the stands to a big car right away,” she said.

Her limited time in a go-kart was spent driving around a make-shift course her dad set up at the gas station he owns.

“He would set up a little pretend race track around the pump islands, and that’s kind of how I got pumped up,” she said. “I felt really cool. I felt like I was like my dad, and when I got the opportunity to do it, there were no questions about it. There was no hesitation. I was like, ‘Absolutely, yes, get me behind the wheel right now.’

“It just felt cool to be able to go do something my dad did and try to carry on his name and try to be as successful as my dad was.”

Goldman’s mom Jane is in the pits every weekend, and David serves as crew chief and mechanic while also playing the role of parent on race days.

While competing as part of the Busch-sponsored Women in Motorsports program, Goldman has had the chance to branch out and try some new tracks for the first time. She’s competed six times at LaCrosse Fairgrounds Speedway, a NASCAR Home Track in La Crosse County, Wisconsin, and came away with four top fives.

This past weekend, she also raced at Rockford Speedway, a NASCAR Home Track in Loves Park, Illinois, and came in seventh in the NASCAR Road Runners race.

She’s cherished the opportunity to try new tracks this summer and is excited to compete in LaCrosse’s fall special, the 54th Oktoberfest, on Oct. 5-8. Oktoberfest is a four-day race event that is “pretty much like the last hurrah of Wisconsin tracks,” she said. It also happens to fall on her birthday weekend.

“I absolutely fell in love with LaCrosse because it’s a really big track,” Goldman said. “When you come out of the corner and you step on the gas, it’s a wide-open experience.”

She also cherishes being the only woman to win a track title in the 57-year history of Elko, but she’s more excited to see that number grow. Goldman’s best friend Julie Jorgenson is currently second in Elko’s Power Stocks division standings, three points out of first place. Jorgenson has three wins this season.

“I feel like she’s definitely got a really good chance to be the girl that’s the second female track champion,” Goldman said of Jorgenson. “She’s one hell of a wheel lady.”

Julie Jorgenson and Taylor Goldman (Photo: Taylor Goldman Racing/Facebook)

While Goldman loves getting in the car and racing herself, her main goal is to show other young girls racing and winning is possible.

She mentors young drivers competing in quarter midgets at Elko’s smaller track, Little Elko, where her biggest message is that it doesn’t matter whether it’s a girl or a boy driving the car; what matters is “when you put that helmet on are you a fast driver?”

“And girls can be,” she added. “Girls can absolutely dominate an entire field of men. I’ve proven it; Julie’s proven it. I want to show little girls, even little boys, too, little kids in general, there should be no fear if it’s a girl or a guy that’s next to you.

“The question is, is that race car going to beat me? No, I’m going to beat them, because I’m the better driver and I’m faster. I want to do what I can to help develop that.”

Goldman thanked her mom and dad — and crew guy Chad — for their support throughout her career. She also thanked the Women In Motorsports program.

“The opportunity that Women In Motorsports has given both Julie and I is really incredible,” she said. “To be able to have even the tiniest bit of light shined on you, I hope I can take that light and shine it on other people.”

Posted on August 31, 2023 by Cameron Richardson

Ten more races to go in the 2023 season, which means the start of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs with one of the most iconic venues on the circuit in the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.

Before the race for this year’s crown begins, check out analysis within the Round of 16 participants, trends to watch ahead of Sunday evening’s event (6 p.m. ET, USA, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App) and interactive ways to catch all the action from “The Lady in Black.”

ANALYZING THE ROUND OF 16 🔬

This year’s Cup playoff field is arguably the deepest and least predictable since the current format was introduced in 2017. Co-No. 1 seeds William Byron and Martin Truex Jr. have the least amount of playoff points ever for top seeds in the playoff era, and half of the playoff field has less than 11 playoff points.

What makes the point situation for Byron and Truex is that five of the six drivers seeded first in Cup playoff history went on to race for a championship (all but Kevin Harvick in 2020).

It’s no surprise to see the likes of Byron, Truex and Denny Hamlin within the top-four seeds entering the postseason, but Chris Buescher has been the surprise of the 2023 season and is the No. 4 seed in the Round of 16. This could bode well for Buescher as 18 of the 24 drivers who have reached the Championship 4 were seeded in the top four entering the first race of the playoffs.

Last year, Christopher Bell was the deepest-seeded driver to compete for a championship (10th). Among drivers 10th or lower entering the 2023 postseason are defending champ Joey Logano (11th), Ryan Blaney (12th) and 2014 champion Kevin Harvick (15th). The trends don’t bode well for Logano to repeat as Cup champ as a driver has never made the Champ 4 with less than 11 playoff points. (Logano enters 2023 with eight.) However, Logano did set the mark for the deepest-seeded driver to win a championship when he came from sixth to win his first title in 2018.

(Via Racing Insights)

MORE: Meet the 16-driver playoff field

📉 TRENDS TO WATCH 📈

— Three of the last four Darlington winners got their first win of the season.

— The driver who led the most laps won only twice in the last seven Darlington races.

— All Round of 16 races in the Next Gen era have been won by non-playoff drivers.

— The last six Darlington races were won by six different drivers.

(Via Racing Insights)

CLASSIC SOUTHERN 500 RACES 🎥

1985: “Million Dollar Bill” is born | WATCH

2011: Regan Smith scores underdog win amid tempers flaring | WATCH

2022: Erik Jones wins Southern 500 full of playoff twists | WATCH

ON-TRACK SCHEDULE 🗓️

Saturday, September 2

— 12:35 p.m. ET: Practice (USA, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App)

— 1:20 p.m. ET: Qualifying (USA, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App)

Sunday, September 3

— 6 p.m., ET: Southern 500 (USA, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App)

MORE: Full weekend schedule at Darlington

RULE CHANGES/GOODYEAR TIRE NOTES 🛞

The GEICO Restart Zone returned to its 2022 dimensions after being extended for this season’s first five races.

NASCAR teams will run the same Goodyear tire setup that was used in the spring race. Each team will be allotted one set of tires for practice, one set for qualifying and an additional 12 sets for Sunday night’s race.

NASCAR implemented safety updates to the Next Gen car.

Along the right-side door bars and extending toward the rear clip, teams are mandated to run a steel plate in addition to the chassis adjustments made for the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The right-side door bar gussets and the removal of the front clip V-brace are changes that remain, in addition to the removal of other front-clip components, to create a softer and larger crush zone for frontal impacts.

Also included in the updates are front bumper strut softening (modifications to existing parts), the requirement of an empty front ballast box and a modified cross brace. NASCAR incurs the cost of all these updates.

In the event of a lost wheel that is contained to pit road, the offending team will be subject to a pass-through penalty under green-flag conditions. If the infraction occurs during a caution period, the offending team will restart at the tail end of the field.

If the wheel breaks free outside of pit road, the new rules guidelines mandate a two-lap penalty plus a two-race suspension for two crew members. Each penalty is series-specific: Violations in one series will not impact those crew members’ eligibility to participate in other series.

RELATED: See rules changes for 2023

FAN REWARDS 🫵

Fans can get in on the action all season long with NASCAR Fan Rewards, a free program that rewards fans for participating in the action when they watch races and play NASCAR Fantasy.

There’s no cost to join. Fans must be 18 years or older to participate in the program.

Earn points by checking into a race from home or at the track, setting your Fantasy Live lineup, making purchases on the NASCAR.com shop and more. Points can be redeemed for race tickets, merchandise and VIP experiences at the track, including pace car rides and waving the green flag at qualifying.

JOIN TODAY

FOLLOW THE RACE 📲

NASCAR Mobile has now added support for fans to “Follow the Race” and access live leaderboard and race information from Live Activities in the current app release (v13.2.0), available now. Android users, we didn’t forget you — the same functionality has been custom-built for Android devices, as well.

How to access Live Activities on iPhones:

Make sure your iOS device has been updated to 16.1 or higher.
Available on the leaderboard of all NASCAR Series races.
Click on the three-dot menu near the top right of screen.
Select “Follow the Race.”
Swipe up to access the home screen and you will see the Live Activities at the top.
Lock the device and you will see Live Activities on the Lock Screen.
To turn off, simply visit the leaderboard, click the three-dot menu and “Unfollow the Race.”

FANTASY LIVE 🏆

Want to manage a team and race your way to the top of the leaderboards? Check out NASCAR Fantasy Live, which resets for the playoffs. The free-to-play game lets you choose your drivers each week and show off your crew-chief instincts by garaging a driver by the end of Stage 2, and there is a $10,000 prize for the winner.

How to play: Fantasy Live | Set up a team today!

PLAYOFFS GRID CHALLENGE 🏆

During the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, fans have the opportunity to compete in The Playoffs Grid™ Challenge presented by Ruoff Mortage. Fans can enter by visiting The Playoffs Grid™ Challenge page beginning Tuesday, Aug. 29 and registering for a free NASCAR.com account before filling out a bracket. From there, choose from a list of playoff-eligible drivers round by round, and you’re on your way to compete for prizes!

How to play: Playoffs Grid Challenge | Set your grid today!

ALSO ON NASCAR.COM 💻

Get additional camera views by logging on to NASCAR Drive, where each week a select number of in-car cameras will be available — as well as a battle cam and an overhead look.

NASCAR has partnered with LiveLike to add fan engagement to the NASCAR Mobile App. Log in to the mobile app during the race for polls, quizzes, the cheer meter and more — and see instant results from NASCAR fans like you.

Posted on August 30, 2023 by Adam Fenwick

One of New York’s top racing institutions, Oswego Speedway is the next stop on the 2023 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour schedule this Saturday night.

Saturday’s Toyota Mod Classic 150 marks the 16th trip to Oswego Speedway for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour. The series visited the track for the first time in 1988 when four races were scheduled at the five-eighths-mile paved oval. Brian Ross won the first two events, with Mike McLaughlin and George Kent Jr. taking the other two.

Four more visits to Oswego followed in 1989, but the series didn’t return again until 2016, when Doug Coby powered to a dominant victory ahead of Timmy Solomito. Other Oswego winners have included Tony Hirschman, Mike Stefanik, Ryan Preece, Matt Hirschman, Justin Bonsignore and Ron Silk.

Tickets to Saturday’s Toyota Mod Classic 150 are available here. Below is everything you need to know about the 13th race of the 2023 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season.

Toyota Mod Classic 150 at Oswego Speedway

What to watch for:

The champ is back.

Jon McKennedy, the defending NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion, hasn’t been in action with the series since early June after parting ways with his previous team owners. That changes Saturday when the Modified Tour heads to Oswego Speedway for the running of the Toyota Mod Classic 150.

McKennedy will team up with Mike Curb and Gary Putnam to pilot the No. 77 entry that has been driven by Max McLaughlin in multiple events this year. He’ll look to challenge for his third career series victory alongside several other capable contenders.

They include Kyle Bonsignore, who is riding a wave of momentum after netting his second career NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour victory one weekend ago at Langley Speedway. His cousin, three-time series champion and defending Oswego winner Justin Bonsignore, will also be one to watch Saturday.

MORE OSWEGO: Watch live on FloRacing

Current NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship points leader Ron Silk heads to Oswego with a one-point advantage on Justin Bonsignore as he pursues his Oswego win. The Catalano family will have not one, but two competitors in the field as series veteran Tommy Catalano is joined by his younger brother Tyler Catalano, who will be making his series debut.

Bobby Santos III will be back in action aboard the No. 14 Advantage Motorsports entry that Patrick Emerling piloted during the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing at New Smyrna Speedway in February. Austin Beers will chase his third win of the year in the No. 64 KLM Motorsports ride and Tyler Rypkema will continue his pursuit of his first series win.

Other notable entries include Craig Lutz, Anthony Sesely, Bryan Narducci and Tim Connolly.

The complete entry list for the Toyota Mod Classic 150 is available here.

A NASCAR official waves the green flag during the Toyota Bud Mod Classic 150 for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour at Oswego Speedway in Oswego, New York on September 3, 2022. (Photo: Bryan Bennett/NASCAR)

RACE FACTS

Race	Toyota Mod Classic 150
Date	Saturday, Sept 2, 2023
Track	Oswego Speedway
Layout	Five-eighths-mile paved oval
Location	Oswego, New York
Start Time	7:30 p.m. ET
Laps	150
Posted awards	$90,995
Live stream	FloRacing (Live)

Schedule: Saturday, Sept. 2 … Final practice from 2-3 p.m. ET … Qualifying at 5 p.m. ET … Toyota Mod Classic 150 at 7:30 p.m. ET (FloRacing).

Qualifying: Two consecutive qualifying laps. Faster lap determines qualifying position. Adjustments or repairs may not be made on the vehicle after the vehicle has taken the green flag at the start/finish line. NASCAR reserves the right to have more than one vehicle engage in qualifying runs at the same time. Starting field for the Toyota Mod Classic 150 is limited to 28 starters including Provisional Positions.

Tire allotment: The maximum tire allotment available for this event is eleven (11) tires per team. All tires used for qualifying and the race must be purchased at the track and scanned by Hoosier, unless otherwise approved in advance by the Series Director. Four (4) tires must be used for qualifying and to begin the race. All qualifying tires must remain in impound until released by NASCAR Officials. The remaining tire allotment may be used for practice and/or change tires during the event. The tire change rule is three (3) tires, any position.

Posted on August 30, 2023August 31, 2023 by Staff Report

Toyota Mod Classic 150

Oswego Speedway

Entry list

Posted on August 30, 2023February 8, 2024 by Staff Report

As the saying goes, the cream rises to the top, and that has been mostly true about the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs since it went to its current format in 2017. According to Racing Insights, a driver seeded seventh or better entering the playoffs has never been eliminated in Round 1.

PLAYOFFS: Playoffs hub page | Playoffs Grid Challenge game

Round 1, of course, gets underway with the toughest of tests, Sunday’s Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway (6 p.m. ET, USA, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App). The average time of the four Darlington playoff races is four hours and one minute, and a lot can happen to a driver’s concentration or equipment during such a demanding race.

Even this week’s early favorite, Martin Truex Jr., has seen his share of trouble lately at the track respectfully known as “The Lady in Black.” MTJ has failed to finish all three races at Darlington in the Next Gen car (twice for accidents and once for a water pump). He entered the race as the projected winner through the Racing Insights model, but that changed after Saturday’s practice and qualifying sessions.

Welcome another familiar face to the top of the projected list: Denny Hamlin, a Darlington savant who won Saturday’s Xfinity Series race at The Track Too Tough To Tame. Hamlin, looking for the weekend sweep, starts second behind teammate Christopher Bell and finished eighth in practice.

Both Hamlin and Truex, who is now projected to finish second, have plenty going for them, including the stat that 75% of the drivers seeded in the top four entering the playoffs have made it to the Championship 4.

Let’s look at some of the other drivers who are carrying momentum into the postseason, as well as some who need to snap out of their funk before it’s too late.

PLAYOFF PICTURE

BRAD KESELOWSKI: The driver/co-owner of RFK Racing is coming in hot, having seen his team take flight in the second year of his ownership. And although he hasn’t been able to break through with a win himself, he’s finished in the top six in five of the last eight races, including a runner-up last week at Daytona. Keselowski’s projected finish improved two spots following Saturday, and he now sits inside the top 10 in the table below.

CHRIS BUESCHER: If Keselowski is hot, then Buescher is scorching. Buescher has won three of the last five races, an unprecedented streak for him in his career. Learn more about RFK’s resurgence in our feature story and full-length feature video.

TYLER REDDICK: Reddick is among the biggest movers, improving his projection by three positions. No one rides the rail quite like Reddick, which can lead to incredible movement toward the front — or a few of the famed Darlington stripes.

ROSS CHASTAIN: On the flip side, Chastain comes to Darlington as cold as a frozen watermelon, with only three top-10 finishes in his last 14 races (Sonoma, Nashville, Michigan).

KYLE BUSCH: Busch also hasn’t done such a bang-up job of late, with only two finishes of better than 14th in the last seven races (Richmond, Daytona). He sports a fast Chevrolet, but will drop to the rear of the field after the team made an unapproved adjustment.

Projections as of Sunday, Sept. 3

RACING INSIGHTS’ PROJECTIONS FOR THE COOK OUT SOUTHERN 500

Racing Insights’ advanced statistical formula includes current track, current track type, recent performance, team data and pit-crew data to arrive at a projected winner and full race results.

Rank	Driver	Cutoff
9	Ryan Blaney	16
10	Ross Chastain	13
11	Joey Logano	3
12	Christopher Bell	1
	ELIMINATION LINE
13	Bubba Wallace	-1
14	Kevin Harvick	-2
15	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	-4
16	Michael McDowell	-19