See where drivers will pit for Sunday’s Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway (3 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
RELATED: View starting lineup
Martin Truex Jr. will lead the NASCAR Cup Series field to the green flag for Sunday’s Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway (3 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) after winning the pole in Saturday’s qualifying session with a hot lap of 169.409 mph.
It’s Truex’s first pole at the South Carolina race track and the 21st in his Cup Series career.
RELATED: Sunday’s starting lineup | At-track photos
Truex said his crew made adjustments to his No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota that improved the car for the final round.
“We just made the balance really good,” said Truex, who scored a pole on his 15th different race track. “We felt good about our car in Round 1, and I knew one specific thing, if we could get it better, we’d have a shot at it. It’s been a long time, I guess, since we’ve had a pole (last year at New Hampshire Motor Speedway).
“Last year, we never really qualified all that great. We’ve been working on that a lot and really getting a lot better on that here lately.”
Bubba Wallace will join Truex on the front row after a 169.339 mph lap. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., William Byron and Ross Chastain made up the top five. Daniel Suárez, Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, Tyler Reddick and Brad Keselowski rounded out the top 10 in the starting lineup for Sunday.
“Just got me,” Wallace said after Truex knocked him out of the top spot late in the round. “But all in all, a solid start to our weekend on the Cup side. I had some fun last night in the Truck Series. I forgot how crazy those guys are—guys and gals, I’m sorry.
“I learned a little bit. We were just on the tight side last night. Definitely not tight this go-around on the Cup side. All in all, our Camry is fast. Martin’s really good here, obviously… It’s good to start up front. I’ve just got to maintain it all race. That’s going to be a big task for me.”
PRACTICE
Four of the five fastest laps in the two 20-minute practice sessions came from Chevrolet with Chase Elliott topping the charts with a 168.232 mph lap. Erik Jones, William Byron, the lone non-Chevy Tyler Reddick and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. completed the top five.
The quick single laps translated to long-run pace for Byron (163.704 mph), Elliott (163.587 mph) and Stenhouse (163.206 mph) as they also found themselves in the top five of 10 consecutive lap averages.
Last year’s spring Darlington winner Joey Logano struggled to find pace Saturday as he was 19th in single-lap speed (164.904 mph) and 20th in 10 consecutive lap averages (162.263 mph).
Contributing: Reid Spencer | NASCAR Wire Service
After five weeks of frustration, Christian Eckes got the rebound he needed on Friday night at Darlington Raceway.
Leading a race-high 82 of 158 laps, Eckes scored a convincing double-overtime victory in the Buckle Up South Carolina 200, the ninth event on the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series schedule.
MORE: Race results | At-track photos: Darlington
The win was Eckes’ second of the season and third of his career. It followed a string of five races in which the driver of the No. 19 McAnally-Hilgemann Racing Chevrolet — dressed Friday in a throwback tribute to new NASCAR Hall-of-Famer Hershel McGriff — had finished 30th three times and 15th twice.
“I don’t really feel that excited, because the truck was so good it drove itself,” said Eckes, who won the race under caution after Grant Enfinger and Nick Sanchez tangled in the second overtime. “It’s been a really, really rough couple of weeks.
“To come back and win shows the resilience of this team, and how we had to win it just shows the fight in this team … I was really determined. It’s really, really fun to be here, man, and when you have a truck like this, you’ve just got to finish it out.”
A late charge and an excellent restart in the first overtime vaulted Stewart Friesen into second place at the finish. Tanner Gray ran third, followed by full-time NASCAR Cup Series driver William Byron and Carson Hocevar.
HOCEVAR: Driver reflects on karma, earning respect
A spin by Timmy Hill through Turn 4 at Lap 146 sent the race into NASCAR Overtime. On the first attempt, rookie contender Jake Garcia washed high at the exit of Turn 2 and into the outside wall. His slowed momentum resulted in contact from behind, spinning his No. 35 Chevrolet backward into the inside SAFER barrier.
Eckes was at the head of the field when the caution flag was displayed just after taking the white flag to signify the final lap. Grant Enfinger’s contact with the outside wall brought out the eighth and final yellow of the evening.
The early stages of the race rapidly evolved into a contest between Eckes, Byron and pole winner Corey Heim, who led the first 26 laps before Eckes passed him for the Stage 1 victory and led 35 laps in Stage 2 before Byron passed him for the stage win with three laps left in the segment.
The first two stages ran caution-free to the breaks, but the complexion of the race changed markedly during the final stage and overtimes, which produced six cautions. Byron would have preferred longer green-flag runs.
“We needed a little bit longer runs, I think,” said Byron, who was driving the No. 51 Kyle Busch Motorsports entry and seeking the 100th victory for that organization. “Our truck was strong on longer runs — we just had too many medium to short runs, and it was hard to get track position there to advance forward. …
“Hopefully, we learned some stuff for the Cup race (on Sunday, 3 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). We usually run really good here, so it’s just a matter of trying to put it all together and learn some nuances with the race track, so hopefully we did that.”
Heim led four times for 66 laps but took himself out of contention by failing to pit with the rest of the lead cars on Lap 116. He led the field to the restart on Lap 119 of a scheduled 147 but quickly fell back through the field.
Heim, however, pitted for fresh tires before the first overtime and recovered to finish eighth on the new rubber.
Reigning series champion Zane Smith, who was part of a three-car accident on Lap 101 and finished 22nd, retained the series lead by nine points over Ty Majeski, who came home 35 laps down in 31st after his crew changed the steering box in his ThorSport Racing Ford.
WATCH: Zane Smith crashes, collects others
The series returns to the historic North Wilkesboro Speedway for its 10th race of the season on Saturday, May 20 (FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Note: Post-race technical inspection concluded with no issues, confirming Eckes as the race winner.
Contributing: Staff reports
DARLINGTON, S.C. – Two NASCAR Cup Series teams – the No. 45 Toyota for Tyler Reddick and the No. 54 Camry of rookie Ty Gibbs – failed pre-race inspection twice Friday at Darlington Raceway. Both teams lost pit-stall selection for Sunday’s Goodyear 400 (3 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) and had a crew member ejected.
MORE: Darlington schedule | At-track photos
In the case of the 23XI Racing No. 45 team, NASCAR officials opted to bar crew chief Billy Scott for the remainder of the race weekend. Veteran Dave Rogers — 23XI’s performance director — was listed as the interim crew chief for Reddick on an updated Cup Series entry list Friday evening.
For Reddick’s group, it marks the second consecutive week that the No. 45 team failed twice in pre-race inspection. Michael Hobson, the No. 45 car chief, was ejected before last weekend’s Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway.
Car chief Nate Bellows was ejected from the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 54 team.
Sunday’s 400-miler is the 13th race of the year for the NASCAR Cup Series, which will mark the halfway point of the regular season by day’s end. Reddick is listed as a 17-2 choice in the latest odds for Sunday’s event, and Gibbs is a 70-1 shot.
RELATED: Early odds for Throwback Weekend | More key story lines, info
There is no fan base in the world more passionate about what they love than NASCAR. Fans tune in every week to see their heroes go to battle, hoping they will do anything to capture the checkered flag. Favorite and least favorite drivers are chosen, naturally, due to watching the actions of the drivers on the track. Sometimes it happens instantly and sometimes that love or hatred builds over time.
The same can be said for all of the competitors on the track. Reputations grow with every pass, every bump and every word. Every driver ticks a different way. You have mild-mannered drivers who have the respect of the entire field and come back with their car as clean as it was when it came out of the hauler. There are drivers who will fight back — but only if they are pushed around.
Then there are those who will move anyone out of the way in an instant if it means they can advance a position on the leaderboard. Those who get on the radio and TV and back up their actions on the track. These are the drivers who gain a reputation for doing anything and not caring about anybody else but themselves and winning.
On Throwback Weekend at a track in Darlington Raceway where we’ve seen legends made, we look back at the instigators of NASCAR.
DALE EARNHARDT
“The Man in Black.” “The Intimidator.” You don’t earn those nicknames by driving clean and without ruffling some feathers. Dale Earnhardt is looked at by many as being one of if not the best, the most intimidating and often the biggest instigator of all time.
Earnhardt gained his driving style from watching his father Ralph race while he was just a kid. It seemed like during the 1980s that the more races Earnhardt won and the more titles he captured, the angrier the entire field was at the rising star from Kannapolis, North Carolina.
Earnhardt was fined $10,000 for moving Darrell Waltrip out of the lead at Richmond. Race leader Sterling Marlin’s chance at his first career victory ended after Earnhardt put him into the wall at Bristol. Bill Elliott and Geoff Bodine were both furious with the way Earnhardt drove them at the end of the 1987 All-Star race at Charlotte.
Waltrip said Earnhardt on the track was like watching a Boston Celtics vs Los Angeles Lakers basketball game but with no referees. Marlin vowed revenge exclaiming “His day is coming, and he’ll get it too.” Elliott compared Earnhardt’s driving style to “a bull in a China closet.” All three drivers went on to talk about how they’d never even think about doing the things Earnhardt did to them to anyone else.
Earnhardt and Bodine’s rivalry was triggered by that incident in the All-Star race and led to a handful of other battles between the two. Bodine got payback for that race during an Xfinity Series race at Charlotte the following week. Earnhardt then returned the favor at Charlotte the next season and then again, the following day during the Cup Series race. This led to NASCAR issuing a five-lap penalty to Earnhardt. The two drivers were later gathered together off the track to settle the issue.
His aggression with everyone on the track continued, as the 1995 night race at Bristol ended with Earnhardt spinning Terry Labonte across the start/finish line to a chorus of boos. Earnhardt pulled into the garage and was met by a water bottle thrown at him by Rusty Wallace, who spun out early on after contact with Earnhardt.
It wasn’t just the way he drove on the track but how he backed his driving style up off it, with a plethora of moments defending himself.
“I’ve seen guys trying to spin me and they don’t. They run second. If I wanted to wreck someone, I could tell you what hole in the fence I was going to put ‘em in. I do what I see fit when I’m on that track.
“I don’t do anything unjust. If beating ‘em’s unjust, they’re just going to have to get beat. If it’s not, I do what I have to do.”
Earnhardt, forever instigating both on — and off — the track.
RELATED: Earnhardt spins Terry Labonte at Bristol | Rusty Wallace, Dale Earnhardt fight at Bristol
ERNIE IRVAN
California’s Ernie Irvan burst onto the scene in 1990 with both speed and aggression that left a sour taste in the mouths of most of his competitors and fans. The biggest incident of his young career came at Darlington in 1990. Irvan, who was 10 laps down at the time, raced the leader Ken Schrader hard for one of his laps back but ended up causing a 14-car incident that sidelined Neil Bonnett for a significant amount of time.
Schrader said Irvan needed to calm down. Dale Earnhardt called his driving disrespectful. Irvan, on the other hand, was surprised Schrader was racing him hard and blamed the incident on just “racing.” The following season, Irvan was involved in an incident at Talladega that left Kyle Petty with a broken leg. He caused a huge pileup at Pocono too.
This all led to Irvan standing up and apologizing to the entire field at the drivers’ meeting when the series returned to Talladega later that season. “I’ve driven a little over-aggressive at times this season and I’ve lost the respect of a lot of drivers and car owners in the garage area. That really hurts me. I hope you’ll give me the chance to prove it and gain that respect back.”
The 1996 season saw contact from Irvan send Dale Earnhardt to the hospital and Sterling Marlin furious with Irvan. Marlin was so heated that during a press conference at Indianapolis the following Wednesday, Marlin waved his glasses at Irvan and suggested he get a pair. Marlin did it a second time and the two drivers had to be separated.
TONY STEWART
Throughout Tony Stewart’s first few years in the Cup Series, he had run-ins with Kenny Irwin Jr., Robby Gordon and Jeff Gordon just to name a few; setting an early precedent that he was not somebody that you wanted to mess with.
Stewart’s passion for winning didn’t take a backseat to anything. As Stewart put it after his incident with Irwin Jr. at Martinsville in 1999, “It’s the same thing when we ran sprint cars. He didn’t like to be behind me then either.”
His issues weren’t all just on the track either. He was fined in 2002 and placed on probation following a post-race incident with a cameraman. Stewart’s driving during the 2004 season left NASCAR on FOX’s Darrell Waltrip to be highly critical of the driver, prompting a handful of tense pre-race exchanges on TV between the two Hall of Famers. That same season an on-track incident between Stewart and Kasey Kahne started a fight on pit road during the race between the two teams.
He blasted David Gilliland in 2006 after a handful of incidents in a colorful interview. He also had run-ins with Matt Kenseth, Kurt Busch, Kevin Harvick and, most famously, Joey Logano, calling him a “scared little kid” after a pit-road altercation.
MORE: Stewart chucks helmet at Kenseth’s car | Stewart, Kurt Busch exchange unpleasantries after Richmond
KEVIN HARVICK
Since he broke onto the scene, Kevin Harvick had a way of getting under just about everyone’s skin. The fiery antics of the driver were first put into the spotlight during his rookie Cup season in 2001. A late-race incident with Bobby Hamilton got Harvick sent into the NASCAR hauler. He didn’t back down in his post-race interview, exclaiming, “an eye for an eye, that’s how we race.”
The following season, Harvick was turned by Greg Biffle in an Xfinity Series race at Bristol. Harvick responded by hopping over Biffle’s car after the race and grabbing Biffle around the collar. Later that season, NASCAR suspended him after wrecking Coy Gibbs in a Truck Series event at Martinsville.
The 2003 season saw a heated incident between Harvick and the gritty veteran Ricky Rudd, who made contact with Harvick during the race at Richmond. Once the checkered flag waved, Harvick raced around the pits trying to find Rudd, before parking against the side of Rudd’s car on pit road. Harvick climbed out of his car but then stomped on the hood of Rudd’s car, setting off an altercation between the two teams.
He had on-track disagreements that led to heated conversations with Matt Kenseth, Kasey Kahne, Juan Pablo Montoya, Joe Nemechek, Ty Dillon, Joey Logano and Chase Elliott, just to name a few.
You could make a case that his biggest rival was Kyle Busch — the pair are still battling for wins and are currently ninth and 10th all-time on the NASCAR Cup Series wins list. The 2005 Xfinity season saw the two tangle at Dover in the midst of Harvick racing for the owners’ championship. Their relationship through the years has been full of hard racing on the track, colorful interviews and many heated moments — though they remain friendly today.
RELATED: Harvick, Elliott argue after Bristol | Biffle, Harvick fight in Victory Lane at Bristol
KYLE BUSCH
Kyle Busch started his career as a driver with the tough task of following his brother Kurt’s success. “Rowdy” not only matched that but also seemingly followed with his temper and aggressive driving.
Xfinity Series veteran Jason Keller’s crew had to be held back from Busch after Busch wrecked Keller off a restart at New Hampshire. Busch was promptly given a black flag for aggressive driving. Later that season, Busch dumped Ron Hornaday Jr. at Darlington, setting the tone for a rivalry that ended in Busch being suspended for intentionally wrecking Hornaday Jr. in a 2011 Truck race.
He threw his HANS device at Casey Mears car during the 2006 Coca-Cola 600. Busch even feuded with his brother Kurt at Charlotte the following season. If Busch wasn’t looked at as an instigator already, he moved Dale Earnhardt Jr. out of the lead at Richmond in 2008 after the two had already been entangled a few times in the past.
Busch had high-profile feuds with Kevin Harvick and Brad Keselowski, and those rivalries included countless amounts of incidents. A 2017 incident at Las Vegas between Busch and Keselowski’s then-teammate Joey Logano led to Busch taking a swing at Logano post-race.
MORE: Busch spins Dale Jr. at Richmond | Busch, Logano fight post-Las Vegas
JOEY LOGANO
Quite possibly the most polarizing driver in the Cup Series in a long time, Joey Logano has had his fair share of rivalries and intense moments through the years.
Throughout his career, he has had physical altercations with Denny Hamlin at both Bristol and Martinsville, Tony Stewart at Fontana, Kevin Harvick at Pocono, Ryan Newman at Michigan and Kyle Busch at Las Vegas.
He caught heat in 2012 when he moved Mark Martin out of the lead at Pocono, en-route to the win. His aggressive, do-anything-for-a-victory style of driving has triggered an infinite amount of drivers, most notably on superspeedways, where he has four victories.
His most notable feud came in 2015. Logano was battling Matt Kenseth for the win when Kenseth threw a huge block on Logano, who did not lift and sent Kenseth around. To add salt to Kenseth’s wounds, Logano ended the race in Victory Lane.
Fast forward to Martinsville next week. Kenseth, still angry with Logano from Kansas, sent Logano into the wall while the No. 22 was leading and ruined his chance at victory and the championship. Kenseth was promptly parked for the day and suspended.
RELATED: Logano, Hamlin fight post-Martinsville | Stewart, Logano fight post-Auto Club
BRAD KESELOWSKI
Brad Keselowski’s first full-time Xfinity Series season came in 2008 and it wasn’t a quiet one for the Michigan driver. Keselowski made contact with Denny Hamlin a handful of times during a race at Charlotte, ending in an altercation between the two teams. A few weeks later Kevin Harvick threatened to dump him at Watkins Glen due to the way Keselowski was racing him hard.
His first Cup Series win came in dramatic fashion, taking the checkered flag at Talladega after contact between Carl Edwards and himself left the No. 99 of Edwards airborne. This inadvertently set off a long-standing rivalry between the two drivers. Later that season, Keselowski made contact with Edwards in an Xfinity Series race at Memphis. This culminated in a 2010 incident at Atlanta that made this new rivalry explode.
Keselowski’s No. 12 car bumped Edwards early in the running, sending Edwards into the wall and to the garage. Edwards returned to the race about 100 laps later seemingly with payback on his mind, sending Keselowski around before being parked by NASCAR for aggressive driving.
The following season the two battled for the Xfinity Series win at Gateway and Keselowski moved Edwards out of the way before racing side by side for the win on the backstretch. The race ended with Keselowski in the wall and both drivers being placed on probation by NASCAR.
The rivalry with Hamlin was still ongoing at the time as the two had altercations at Phoenix, which left Hamlin spinning and fuming at Keselowski. The following week Hamlin got his revenge at Homestead, spinning Keselowski out early in the race.
Keselowski’s aggressive driving at Richmond in 2014 left both Hamlin and Matt Kenseth angry with the driver. As Hamlin was being held back from confronting Keselowski later in the year at Charlotte, Kenseth appeared out of nowhere and attacked Keselowski between the haulers.
MORE: Keselowski, Gordon fight at Texas | Kenseth finds Keselowski in garage
JIMMY SPENCER
It wouldn’t be a complete list of instigators without mentioning the man they call “Mr. Excitement.” Jimmy Spencer only visited Victory Lane twice in his Cup Series career but he gave everything he had every single week on the race track.
An Xfinity Series incident at Hickory in 1989 with Dale Jarrett left Jarrett in the wall and Spencer in Victory Lane. Spencer was fined and suspended for the remainder of the 1993 Xfinity Series season after a post-race brawl between Spencer and Joe Bessey’s team.
In 1994, Spencer was penalized five laps at North Wilkesboro for retaliating under yellow against Ken Schrader. Two years later, he had to be restrained by NASCAR officials after sprinting toward Wally Dallenbach Jr.’s car after being involved in an incident. Spencer stomped away, screaming at the NASCAR officials in the process.
After a 1997 incident at Bristol, Geoff Bodine took a stand against Spencer. “It’s about time somebody told the truth. He’s wild out there. He’s crazy, ridiculous.”
The most notable rivalry of Spencer’s time behind the wheel was with rising star Kurt Busch. Spencer turned Busch during the 2001 fall race at Phoenix and the following season Busch paid Spencer back at Bristol, moving the veteran driver out of the way en route to his first career victory.
A few weeks later, Spencer paid Busch back in the Brickyard 400. Fast forward to 2003 and their rivalry finally came to blows at Michigan. The two raced hard throughout the event and after the race, the 46-year-old Spencer punched the 25-year-old Busch in the face while Busch was still inside his car in the garage. Busch was left with a broken tooth and bloody nose.
Spencer was suspended one race for the incident and fined $25,000 but that didn’t change his attitude.
“I will always protect myself and my race team,” Spencer said.
BUCKSHOT JONES
Buckshot Jones made a name for himself in the Xfinity Series by not only winning but ruffling tons of feathers on the way.
Jones’ hard battle with Joe Bessey for the win at Dover in 1997 ended in the No. 00 of Jones in the wall and Jones’ pit crew attempting to block the race-winning car of Bessey from entering Victory Lane.
The 1997 season also saw Jones tangle with Dale Shaw, prompting a brawl on pit road between the teams and fines to both drivers.
His well-documented rivalry with Randy LaJoie also started in 1997 at Talladega when the two got together. Jones was upset with LaJoie after the race and ran into LaJoie on the cool-down lap. LaJoie, who was already unbuckled, spun across the track and collected another innocent car. This left Jones with a $2,000 fine from NASCAR. A few months later, the night race at Bristol was highlighted by Jones moving LaJoie out of the lead late in the going before LaJoie returned the favor and put Jones in the wall. Jones then tried to retaliate against LaJoie and was parked by NASCAR.
Fireworks between the two drivers continued the following season as Jones made contact with LaLoie on the eighth lap at Nazareth, destroying the No. 74 of LaJoie. “I might have to take a trip somewhere and see what his problem is,” LaJoie said on the incident.
CURTIS TURNER
One of NASCAR’s earliest instigators, Curtis Turner was not shy when it came to laying the bumper to his competitors. Turner, who ran moonshine for his Dad as a child and later served in the Navy during World War II, seemed to always get under the skin of anyone he raced against.
He was most famously involved in a post-race incident with Lee Petty. Turner and Petty had been racing hard the entire race and that did not sit well with Petty, who approached Turner following the race and hit him with a tire iron. Another incident saw Turner being approached by Bobby Myers, was holding a billy club.
Turner’s reputation even once led to an incident where police needed to intervene. During a 1966 race at Bowman Gray Stadium, Turner and Bobby Allison took turns running into each other early on during the event. It got to the point where Turner would come to an all-but stop on the track and wait to get his revenge on Allison. Both drivers were disqualified from the race by just around the halfway point.
BOBBY ALLISON
If you ever needed proof that Bobby Allison was an instigator, look no further than the start of his career. As a 28-year-old, he had Bill France sticking his head inside of his car during a pit stop, threatening him that if he didn’t stop his antics with Curtis Turner, he’d be banned from NASCAR. How did Allison take that? He simply drove back onto the track, eventually getting disqualified from the race for the way he continued to drive.
The infamous fight at the conclusion of the 1979 Daytona 500 was a helmet-throwing, blood-dripping brawl that saw Cale Yarborough, Bobby Allison and Allison’s brother Donnie all fined for their antics.
Allison feuded with a multitudenumber of drivers during his career including Yarborough, Richard Petty, Darrell Waltrip and anybody who would try to get in the way between his hands and the race-winning trophy. The Hall of Fame driver even once feuded with his car owner at the time, Junior Johnson, with Allison claiming Johnson gave him a bad engine in retaliation for the fact he was leaving the team at the end of the season.
RELATED: Yarbrough, Allison fight after last lap crash in 1979 Daytona 500
Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway
(⏰ 3 p.m. ET | 📺 FS1, FOX Sports App | 📻 MRN, SiriusXM)
Everything you need to know for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race in Darlington, the 13th regular season race of the 2023 Cup Series campaign.
Weekend schedule | TV schedule | Weather tracker | Darlington 101
🗳️ Fan Vote: Pick your Open driver for the All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro
📍 Location: Darlington, South Carolina
📐 Track length: 1.366 miles
🎟️ Buy tickets: Find weekend passes, seats for the race
💰 Cup Series race purse: $7,722,261
📏 Race distance: 293 laps | 400.2 miles
🔢 Stages: 90 | 185 | 293
—
🚪 Entry list: Drivers, teams heading to race
📋 Starting lineup: Truex Jr. on pole
🚗 Pit stall assignments: See where drivers will pit
🏆 Most recent winner: Erik Jones
🔬Inspection: No. 45 crew chief ejected after pre-race
➡️ To the rear: The 7 and 15 for unapproved adjustments
Key things to watch 🔑
Top story line
Will feuds boil over in the South Carolina heat? Ross Chastain vs. Noah Gragson, Denny Hamlin vs. Kyle Larson and likely others that are beginning to flare up as we head toward the summer months. Gragson hinted that his beef with Chastain wasn’t over after their fight on pit road at Kansas Speedway, suggesting payback could be in the cards — in whatever form he deems necessary. But in an appearance on the Pat McAfee Show, Chastain said the two have moved on completely. And then on Saturday at Darlington, Chastain reiterated that the two have moved on.
In the other battle from the weekend, the No. 5 team voiced its displeasure with Hamlin’s aggressive finish to the race on the radio after their incredible last-lap duel. With the season in full swing and the playoffs creeping closer, these on- and off-track battles are something worth keeping an eye on. And we may not have seen the last of them.
🕰️ Special feature: Has Ross Chastain joined this list of NASCAR’s all-time agitators? Check it out.
History tells us…
Experience rules. Thirteen of the last 15 winners at Darlington have been 30 or older, highlighting an exceptional trend that favors the veteran drivers in the field. And outside of Erik Jones’ pair of victories for Chevrolet, it has mostly been Toyota and Ford drivers enjoying successful attempts to conquer the “Lady in Black.” Toyota has won seven of the last 12, led by Denny Hamlin’s three wins in that span. For Ford, Brad Keselowski, Kevin Harvick (twice) and Joey Logano have each won, too — each a relatively-routine winner. Darlington’s track record is not one that lends itself to new winners or even the youthful stars of the sport.
He may not be the betting favorite to win, but watch out for…
Erik Jones. No matter how his season is trending, Jones routinely seems to find magic around this grueling circuit. He is the most recent winner at the track and has led laps in five of his last eight starts here. Under the radar this weekend, Jones presented incredible opening odds at 65-1 (he was listed at 55-1 on Sunday), with two track victories and seven top 10s in 10 career starts. Outside of last season’s win, his results in the Next Gen era have definitely been hit or miss. But at his odds, he is a solid underdog pick since he has proven he can outperform expectations at the “Track Too Tough to Tame.”
Saturday’s sessions
Former Southern 500 winner — not to mention 2021 Goodyear 400 winner — Martin Truex Jr. landed his first Busch Light Pole Award since last summer, putting down a blazing-fast lap of 169.409 mph in Saturday’s qualifying session. He’ll be joined on the front row by Toyota mate Bubba Wallace, followed by a slew of Chevrolets — including Daytona 500 winner Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who notably qualified third. Wallace appears to have a car built for the long run as well, as he turned in the second-best 20-lap average in practice, a figure topped by another driver looking for his first win of 2023 — Chase Elliott. | Read full practice, qualifying recap | No. 45 crew chief ejected
Inside the Race 🔍
NBC’s Kyle Petty and MRN’s Todd Gordon break down the important factors to winning a race at Darlington Raceway.
Familiar favorites ⭐️
Our biggest pieces of the week — get covered for race day from all angles.
• Paint Scheme Preview: Blast from the past with new throwback schemes | Pick a favorite | History behind tributes
• Fantasy Fastlane: Throwback lineup for Throwback Weekend at Darlington | Top Fantasy Live Plays, sleepers | Fantasy Update
• Power Rankings: Can Kyle Larson tame ‘the Lady in Black’ for the first time? | Latest driver rankings
• Betting odds: See which driver is the favorite for Sunday | Top bets, underdog picks (UPDATED SUNDAY)
• At-track photos: Early scenes from Darlington, including a special Goodyear tire | See them here
• Stacking Pennies: Breaking down the fight, BJ McLeod joins the show | Listen to the podcast
💎 NASCAR 75: Honoring NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers … then revealing 25 more | Check out the list
Hot off the press 📰
Key stories and breaking news from the week leading up to the race.
• Vintage clothing challenge: Kyle Petty judges throwback outfits for Darlington | Watch video
• Fight: Elton Sawyer comments on Gragson-Chastain incident | Read more
• ICYMI: Noah Gragson, Ross Chastain fight on pit road | Read more
• Kyle Petty: Former driver defends Chastain, compares him to legend | Watch video
• Penalty: No. 2 Team Penske Ford team penalized following Kansas | Read more
• NASCAR Salutes: History of military appreciation in the sport | Read more
• Matt Kenseth: Hall of Fame driver lands on 75 Greatest Drivers list | Read more
• Photo Memories: Chase Briscoe remembers loss, win on same day | Watch video
• Pit-road stats: Speedy stops at Kansas benefitted Bubba Wallace, others | Read more
• Stage points: See the updated list for the 2023 Cup Series season | Read more
• North Wilkesboro: Exclusive report from open house | Read more | See photos
Get in on the action 💰
Think you know NASCAR? Put your mettle to the test with gaming, fantasy and Fan Rewards.
• Fan Rewards: New in 2023, get rewarded for your participation | Learn more
• Fantasy Live: Still time to get on the leaderboard and win big this season | Tips for 2023
• NASCAR BetCenter: Don’t miss your chance to make picks each week | Visit the BetCenter
• Going the distance: 2023 Cup Series championship odds | See them here
• The Action Network: Don’t overlook AJ Allmendinger in juicy driver matchup | Expert analysis
• The Action Network: Why Bubba is a strong play on Sunday at Darlington | Expert analysis
Down in Darlington 🗺️
Learn the history behind NASCAR’s first ‘superspeedway,’ including recent winners and race highlights.
• 1963: The track experiment that featured a doubleheader, math and a standing start | Read more
• Oldest ‘superspeedway:’ Darlington is steeped in history and tradition | Read more
• Paint-scheme tradition: Check out which drivers, teams are paying tribute | See them here
• Race Rewind: Best moments from the 2022 Darlington playoff race | Relive them
• Vintage view: Exclusive camera shots from 2022 Throwback Weekend | See them here
Take some notes 📝
Five hard-hitting, race-relevant statistics, brought to you by the experts at Racing Insights.
• There has been a green-flag stretch of more than 70 laps in each of the previous five Darlington races.
• The Darlington winner started in the top 10 in four of the previous five races.
• Five drivers won the last five races at Darlington.
• Erik Jones is the only driver under 30 to win at Darlington in the last 15 races.
• The last three Darlington winners got their first win of the season.
🔮 Predicting the winner: Using data to set a projected finishing order (UPDATED SUNDAY)
When Jack McNelly started the CARS Tour back in 2015, there was no way of knowing his vision of a premier Late Model Stock series would one day take him to North Wilkesboro Speedway.
The iconic track was still sitting abandoned in the mountains of North Carolina when the series ran its first race, but a perfect storm of circumstances brought North Wilkesboro back to life in August of 2022 with the CARS Tour serving as the grand finale for the month-long festivities.
A talented field of 30 drivers and a crowd exceeding 22,000 spectators converged at North Wilkesboro on the night of Aug. 31. McNelly considered the scene one of the most vibrant short-track atmospheres he’s witnessed through multiple decades in the sport.
After watching North Wilkesboro gradually decay, the thought of even holding one race there remains surreal for McNelly as he prepares for the CARS Tour’s second trip to the historic facility on Wednesday.
“It still feels like a dream,” McNelly said. “The first emotion was surprise, and the second emotion was unbelief over being able to perform in front of such a large audience on such a big stage.”
STREAMING: Watch Late Model features at North Wilkesboro live on FloRacing
The main person McNelly credited for making that dream a reality was Dale Earnhardt Jr., who took over ownership of the CARS Tour just a few months after North Wilkesboro.
In 2019, Earnhardt Jr. spearheaded the effort to clear the abandoned track of weeds and debris so it could be properly scanned for iRacing. North Wilkesboro made its formal iRacing debut that May as part of the eNASCAR Pro Invitational Series, bolstering growing interest in the long-dormant facility.
The COVID-19 pandemic became the catalyst that sparked North Wilkesboro’s revival. North Carolina governor Roy Cooper allocated $18 million in federal pandemic relief funds toward modernizing North Wilkesboro’s infrastructure with the goal of bringing auto racing back to Wilkes County.
Once McNelly was certain the CARS Tour would be a part of the Racetrack Revival, he worked diligently to ensure North Wilkesboro met the necessary standards to put on a race that harkened back to the facility’s prime before its closure in 1996.
McNelly never expressed overt concern about the on-track product in the months leading up to the Racetrack Revival, but he was worried about what kind of amenities fans and drivers would have at their disposal with urban decay stemming from over two decades of dereliction.
“I had gone up for a site visit [before August], and I was concerned about the retaining wall, which had deteriorated in Turn 1,” McNelly said. “That was taken care of, but I was also concerned about whether they would put up enough lights for our fellas to be safe out there.
“There were a lot of ifs. I wasn’t worried about how the race would go, but more so the facilities like restrooms. I honestly didn’t know if they would have one port-o-potty or a hundred of those things.”
No matter the state of North Wilkesboro and its facilities come race day, three-time CARS Tour champion Bobby McCarty was one of the most eager to finally compete at a track that meant so much to NASCAR and short track competitors in the southeast.
McCarty for years had heard the persistent rumors surrounding a potential reopening of North Wilkesboro, but he never imagined any would come to fruition. The reality of an operational North Wilkesboro did not set in for McCarty until he entered the property for the first time.
“It was kind of surreal,” McCarty said. “I was born in 1992, so I don’t remember much of the racing [at North Wilkesboro] but heard it was really good. It was a hell of a party at the same time, so going in there was a lot like being at Martinsville or Bristol. The greats cut their teeth there, and it’s a different kind of feeling when you go to one of those places.”
Like everyone else who showed up for the Racetrack Revival, McCarty had plenty of questions about how North Wilkesboro would race for 125 laps. But he did expect drivers to ride around and conserve tires during the opening stages on such an abrasive surface.
After drivers had time to get acclimated to North Wilkesboro in practice and qualifying, McNelly sensed a great deal of optimism in the infield and was confident all the hard work put in by himself, the series, promoters and Earnhardt Jr. would result in a once in a lifetime short track event.
The optimism was still prevalent during pre-race festivities that included a Q&A session hosted by Earnhardt Jr., but McNelly wanted to provide drivers and crew members one last reminder of the prestige and significance behind racing at North Wilkesboro before the green flag.
“At the driver’s meeting, I told everyone to do themselves a favor and take a few minutes before everything got going to soak in the atmosphere,” McNelly said. “I told them to not think about anything else except this moment, because these don’t come that often at our level of racing.
“For some, they may never see something like this again.”
Anticipation only grew as the sold-out crowd began filing into North Wilkesboro, backing up traffic on the Wilkes County backroads for miles. Those who did get inside were able to converse with drivers during a prolonged fan fest before entertaining themselves by doing the wave and shining the flashlights on their cell phones as cars rolled off for pace laps.
Seeing such a vibrant crowd at a short track was simultaneously a jarring and enthralling experience for defending CARS Tour champion Carson Kvapil, who knew all eyes would be on him as led the 30-car field to the green flag.
Despite feeling some natural intimidation, Kvapil admitted leaning on his boss in Earnhardt Jr., giving him a sense of comfort heading into the race.
“There were definitely a few things [Earnhardt Jr.] remembered from when he ran Late Models [at North Wilkesboro],” Kvapil said. “For the most part, all of us were kind of on our own. These cars changed so much since he ran them last, so there wasn’t a whole lot to compare. Fortunately, we got a little bit of practice and tuned our stuff in the best we could.”
Kvapil gave the North Wilkesboro faithful a glimpse into NASCAR’s future by leading a race-high 88 laps to score a win at the historic track, all while Earnhardt Jr. celebrated with the exuberant crowd with a Polish victory lap following a third-place finish.
Although Kvapil was elated by his accomplishment, he admitted the journey to just get to North Wilkesboro’s elevated Victory Lane was more unnerving than anything he experienced out on track.
“That lift was pretty sketchy,” Kvapil said. “It was scary, and I hope they worked on it, because it was not to be trusted by me, but at the time I didn’t really care. I was on cloud nine going up that lift even though that was its own experience.”
Since taking the checkered flag on that fateful August evening, Kvapil has been looking forward to returning to North Wilkesboro, especially since Earnhardt Jr., Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski and Ross Chastain are among the names on the entry list.
ENTRY LIST: Here are the Cup Series drivers racing at North Wilkesboro
For McCarty, who ended his first trip to North Wilkesboro with a fifth-place finish, the presence of the Cup Series drivers on Wednesday will be a perfect opportunity to showcase the amount of talent in Late Model Stock racing — and why Earnhardt Jr., Harvick and others are investing so much into the CARS Tour.
Being able to defeat some of NASCAR’s best at a facility like North Wilkesboro would be a career highlight for McCarty and further validate the commitment he has maintained to the CARS Tour since the end of 2017.
“I want to do better than we did last year,” McCarty said. “We had a good run, and we put on a hell of a show with [Earnhardt Jr.], but now I want to go back and put on a bigger show. I would put a lot of these guys up against anybody in the Top 3 [NASCAR divisions], so it’s cool we get to showcase what we’re about.
“I’m hoping one of us, hopefully me, sends these guys back to the Cup Series with their tail between their legs.”
As McCarty, Kvapil and the rest of the drivers make final preparations ahead of Wednesday evening, McNelly cannot help but be proud of everything the CARS Tour accomplished in its first venture to North Wilkesboro.
Despite dealing with a few issues regarding scheduling and traffic, McNelly departed Wilkes County in 2022 completely satisfied with how the event turned out. With improved amenities and two CARS Tour divisions on the docket for next week, McNelly has every reason to believe another great outing at North Wilkesboro is in store for the series.
Closing out the Racetrack Revival with an efficient show in 2022 was a top priority for McNelly, who knew all eyes in the motorsports world would be watching to see if all the hard work toward restoring North Wilkesboro could indeed translate into a sustainable future for the track.
Now that the NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race is at North Wilkesboro along with a week-long schedule of racing, McNelly feels honored that the CARS Tour got to play a role at reviving a key part of stock car history while also hopefully building upon a solid foundation for the series and short tracks going forward.
“For me, [the Racetrack Revival] meant a lot,” McNelly said. “There were 22,000 people there, and I would go out on a limb and say at least half, if not more, hadn’t been to a short-track race in 15 years. They came, they saw great racing, so no matter where they came from, they’ll go back to that area with a good taste in their mouths.
“Hopefully they’ll all go support their local short tracks.”
Jimmie Johnson, one of stock-car racing’s all-time greats and the most recent member of the elite club of seven-time Cup Series champions, was named as the final addition to the list of NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers on Thursday.
Johnson has won 83 times in NASCAR’s top division and assembled an unprecedented streak of five consecutive Cup Series titles from 2006-10. He retired from full-time competition after the 2020 season but has returned to drive a limited schedule for Legacy Motor Club, an organization where he holds a partial ownership stake.
RELATED: Full list of NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers
Given Johnson’s accomplishments, his inclusion in the 75 Greatest list for NASCAR’s diamond anniversary is among the least surprising. He was presented with the honor during testing for the Garage 56 Le Mans project last month by Chad Knaus, Hendrick Motorsports’ VP of Competition and his longtime crew chief for all seven of his Cup Series titles.
Johnson made a quick rise to the Cup Series after attracting interest from team owner Rick Hendrick and his eventual teammate Jeff Gordon. He broke through for his first win in just his 13th Cup Series start, celebrating at Auto Club Speedway in his home state of California. From there, the victories accumulated.
Johnson’s win total ties him for sixth on NASCAR’s all-time win list with Hall of Famer Cale Yarborough, and his portfolio is rife with crown-jewel prizes. The 47-year-old driver has won the Coca-Cola 600 and Brickyard 400 four times each and the Daytona 500 and Southern 500 each twice. Johnson also has a career record of dominance at Dover Motor Speedway (11 wins) and Martinsville Speedway (nine wins).
Johnson’s recognition completes the unveiling of 25 new names added to the original 50 Greatest Drivers list to create the 75th-anniversary roster. The full list comes one day before the start of NASCAR’s Throwback Weekend at Darlington Raceway, where members of the 75 Greatest Drivers will be honored leading up to Sunday’s Goodyear 400 (3 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Ross Chastain said in a Thursday interview that he has moved on from Sunday’s post-race altercation between him and Noah Gragson at Kansas Speedway.
The duo found themselves in a post-race scrum that began with Gragson confronting Chastain and grabbing hold of his fire suit and ended after Chastain landed a punch to Gragson’s face. On the latest episode of “The Pat McAfee Show,” Chastain explained where things stand between him and the rookie driver after the fist-to-face confrontation.
RELATED: Sawyer reacts to scuffle | Exclusive audio from Kansas
“Noah and I have known each other for several years. We train together, we prepare together,” Chastain said. “We’ve been in separate series for a little bit. Now, we’re both in the Cup Series, exactly where we want to be. So we’re both trying to prove ourselves. We’re both trying to get to where we want to be and stay here in the Cup Series. It’s not easy. There’s only 36 seats. So we’re good.
“We talked on Monday on the phone, and then we were together testing some micro sprint cars Monday night. We worked out together this week. It’s good. It’s done and over with, and we’ve been able to move on and laugh about it now. But we weren’t exactly laughing on Sunday.”
Chastain detailed his surprise at how the situation unfolded in his first public comments since addressing reporters post-race at Kansas. While he wasn’t taken aback by Gragson’s decision to approach him after their near-run-in that saw Gragson contact the outside SAFER barrier exiting Turn 4, Chastain was caught off-guard by Gragson’s intensity.
“When he came down, I saw him coming and stopped the interview I was doing and let him approach, and I could tell by his face he was mad,” Chastain said. “He had the crazy eyes going, and when he grabbed a hold of me, I just tried to stop it. I told him to stop, and I tried to stop both of his arms in case he did swing, and then I had to defend myself, man.”
Swinging first was never Chastain’s first intention, recalling lessons learned from his father. But self-defense, he thought, became a priority.
“Look, my dad told me for as long as I can remember, ‘Never punch first. We’re not gonna go fight anybody. We’re not fighters,'” Chastain said. “But if they come down at the race track at 12 years old or 14 years old when I was growing up to our pit, we’re gonna defend ourselves, and we’re allowed to do that. So that’s what went through my mind, and we handled it.”
The fiery nature of the confrontation was an exclamation point on the rising tensions not just surrounding Chastain but all of its drivers, a product of the long, grueling schedule that teams face for 38 races a year — 36 of which pay points toward a championship run.
That fight took over the internet on Sunday @RossChastain…#PMSLive pic.twitter.com/cmS9iRK55v
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) May 11, 2023
“We go up against each other every week. We don’t have weeks or months at a time to not see each other and forget about what happened in the last race. Every week, we go back, and we race again,” Chastain said. “So that’s why you see stuff tend to get fired up more because it’s not just one or two games or races a year. So they (NASCAR) didn’t love it. I had to have some tough conversations after Sunday. There was a lot within the team at Trackhouse; there was a lot of tough conversations with NASCAR and with my family, man.
“Look, I don’t want my Meemaw and my Mimi, my grandmothers, to see me fighting. But ultimately, they understand that I had to handle myself, defend myself.”
MORE: Why Kyle Petty defends Chastain
Ultimately, one punch was all that landed between Gragson and Chastain, the latter of whom landed the solo right hook before security intervened.
“The two guys you see on the video is their full-time security that travel with us, and they help us handle situations out in public and then also on pit road between each other,” Chastain said. “And they let us talk, and you see them come up in the background here, and once any physical stuff happens, they jump in. So I know Noah — we talked about — he wanted to have a fair shot back. I would like that, too, that way he doesn’t have any more ill will. But he’s good with it, and those guys, they’re professionals and jumped in.”
The NASCAR Xfinity Series returns to competition at Darlington Raceway with Saturday’s Shriners Children’s 200 (1:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) after a rare week off.
Unquestionably the team to beat this week is JR Motorsports, which has won the last four Xfinity Series races at the notoriously tough 1.366-mile oval.
Veteran Justin Allgaier, driver of the No. 7 JRM Chevrolet, is the defending race winner – holding off his then-teammate Noah Gragson by a slight 0.259-seconds in this race last year to hoist his second Darlington trophy in as many years. Allgaier is the only two-time race winner in the field on Saturday and a victory – which would be his first of 2023 – would certainly be huge for him toward his championship run.
Among the title contenders, his two wins, six top-five and 11 top-10 efforts in 15 Darlington starts are easily tops. He’s currently ranked fifth in the standings, 49 points behind leader Austin Hill.
Hill, driver of the No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, leads the Xfinity Series with three wins and holds a slight four-point edge over Joe Gibbs Racing’s John Hunter Nemechek atop the driver standings.
MORE: Full entry list for Darlington | Xfinity Series standings
Darlington has been a solid venue for both Hill and his closest competitor in the standings, Nemechek. Both drivers finished inside the top 10 in both races there last year, although neither has won at the track. They are also the only two multiple-time winners in 2023. And Nemechek’s 340 laps led this season is best by more than 100 laps over the next closest — Hill.
There are three former Darlington winners in Saturday’s field, including the only multi-time winner Allgaier and his first-year JRM teammate Brandon Jones (2020) and Stewart-Haas Racing’s Cole Custer (2019).
RCR driver Sheldon Creed finished runner-up in the fall race at Darlington and has back-to-back NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victories at the track and should be considered a favorite as well.
A handful of NASCAR Cup Series drivers are entered this week, including 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson, who will drive the No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet. Current Cup Series driver standings leader Ross Chastain will drive the No. 91 DGM Racing Chevrolet and Ty Dillon will steer the famed No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet.
Several teams will be participating in Darlington’s famed Throwback Weekend.
RELATED: Check out the throwback schemes | See full weekend schedule
Both Hill’s and his RCR teammate Creed’s Chevrolets will honor former two-time Xfinity Series champion Kevin Harvick with paint schemes reminiscent of Harvick’s 2001 and 2006 title-winning seasons. Custer’s No. 00 Ford will pay tribute to the late driver Jason Leffler and his Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Riley Herbst’s No. 98 Ford will do the same for the late rally driver Ken Block.
Brett Moffitt’s No. 25 AM Racing Ford will honor the late Tim Richmond’s famous “Folger’s Coffee” car.
Jeffrey Earnhardt’s No. 45 Alpha Prime Racing Chevrolet will carry a paint scheme honoring his late grandfather Dale Earnhardt’s 1997 All-Star Race car.
Fittingly, for the throwback theme, it’s a NASCAR Hall of Famer that boasts all the most important Xfinity Series records at Darlington. Mark Martin holds the top mark for wins (eight), pole positions (eight), top fives (14), top 10s (18) and laps led (972).
The green flag for practice waves at 5:05 p.m. ET on Friday, followed immediately by qualifying. Both sessions will be aired live on FS1.