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Nascar celebrates Throwback Weekend at Darlington Raceway. While the past is honored, it is the present and future that will be in the mind of competitors.
Sunday’s race is the eighth of the season and can also provide teams to prepare for the Southern 500, which will be the opening match of the play -off match on the Labor Day weekend.
The last nine Darlington races were won by nine different drivers. The last three spring races at Darlington had an lead in the last 10 laps.
Here’s a look at the good news and bad news for Cup teams heading to Darlington.
23xi Racing – Good news: Bubba Wallace achieved a back-to-back-third place. … Tyler Reddick has three top three finishes at Darlington in the next Gen car. … Riley Herbst finished in the top -20 in four of the seven races of the season. Bad news: Reddick has three finishes of 14th or worse in the last four races this season.
Pre -drive Motorport – Good News: Todd Gilliland is in Martinsville this past weekend with a 10th place. … Noah Gragson is a two-time Xfinity winner Darlington. … Zane Smith has three finishes of 16th or better in the last four races this year. … Smith improved its average finish with a series of 9.7 places to 19.3 from this time a year ago. … Bad news: Smith is one of the four full -time cup managers who still score stage points and joined Cody Ware, Justin Haley and Riley Herbst.
Haas Factory Team – Good News: Cole Custer scored two stage points this weekend at Martinsville, his first phase points of the season. Bad news: Custer finished 26th or worse this year in each of the last four races.
Hendrick Motorsports – Good News: William Byron has the best average running position (6.32) at Darlington in the next Gen Car. … Kyle Larson finished in the top 10 this season in the last four races. … Larson and Alex Bowman each have five top -10s in the first seven races of the season. … Chase Elliott will also be entered into the XFinity Series race this weekend. Bad news: Elliott started in the top 15 once in the last six races in Darlington. … William Byron had back-to-back finishes outside the top 10, his only consecutive finishes outside the top 10 in the last 14 races. … Bowman was punished for the velocity of Pit Road in two of the last three races this season.
Hyak Motorsports – Good News: Ricky Stenhouse jr. Started five top 20 finishes in seven this season, after placing 20th on Martinsville this past weekend. Bad news: Stenhouse’s average start of 28.7 is the worst of his career through the first seven races of a season.
Joe Gibbs Racing – Good News: Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe were the only two drivers who ended in the top -10 last year at both Darlington races. … Briscoe, who won last year’s Southern 500, was the only driver to end in the top five in both Darlington races last year. … Hamlin led in each of the last 10 cup races in Darlington. … Hamlin has an average finish of 8.2 at Darlington, the best of all time by a driver with more than two starts there. … all three top -10s from Christopher Bell in Darlington have come there in the last six races. … Bell is also entered in the Xfinity race this weekend. Bad news: Joe Gibbs Racing had more DNFs (six) than the top five finishes (five) at Darlington in the next Gen car. … Ty Gibbs’ average finish this season is 23.9 after it was 9.0 at this time a year ago. The change of 14.9 is the worst in the series.
Christopher Bell won two of the five cup races in March and finished second in another race.
Kaulig Racing – Good News: AJ All Control has put in the top -10 in two of the last three races this year. Bad news: Allmender has never finished better than 13th in 13 Career Cup at Darlington. … Ty Dillon has never started better than 12th place in 10 Career Cup at Darlington.
Legacy Motor Club – Good News: Erik Jones has two Darlington victories. … Jones started eight top -10s in 14 Darlington. Bad news: John Hunter Nemechek ended last weekend in Martinsville. … Jones’ car was disqualified for failing to inspect after last weekend’s race in Martinsville. His car did not meet the minimum weight requirement.
Richard Childress Racing – Good News: Kyle Busch finished second at Darlington in the Southern 500 last year … Austin Dillon has three top 20 finals in the last four races this year. … Austin Hill makes his seasonal debut in the number 33 -cup car in Darlington this weekend. This is one of the five announced Cup starts for him this year. Bad news: Busch’s Lone Cup victory in Darlington happened in May 2008.
Austin Hill also claims the $ 100,000 Dash 4 -CONTANTBONUS on Saturday at Martinsville Speedway.
Rick True Racing – Good News: Cody real finished 19th in May 2022 at Darlington, his best endpoint on the track. Bad news: Ware has finished 30th or worse in each of the last three races.
RFK Racing – Good News: Ryan Preece had three consecutive top -10s in Darlington. … Brad Keselowski’s last win came in May 2024 in Darlington. … Keselowski has placed in the top -10 in four of the last five Darlington races. … Chris Buescher finished in the top -10 in five of the last eight races in Darlington. Bad news: Keselowski has no top -10s in the first seven races of the season, the first time it has happened to him since 2011 … Keselowski’s average endpoint of 25.1 is the worst in his cup career through the first seven races of the season.
Spire Motorsports – Good News: Justin Haley finished in three of the last six Darlington races in the top -10. … Michael McDowell started three top -10s in his last six at Darlington. Bad news: McDowell had three finishes of 28th or worse in his last six started at Darlington. … Carson Hcevar has three finishes of the 30th or worse in the last four races this year.
Team Penske – Good News: Ryan Blaney will start his 350th career cup this weekend. … Blaney is the first time in the stage points scored by 74 this season … Joey Logano scored his first top 10 final of the season in Martinsville this weekend and placed eighth. Bad news: Blaney started three top -10s in 16 cups at Darlington. … Blaney finished 36th and 37th at Darlington last year. … Team Penske has a top five final in the first seven races, its least total since 2011 … Austin Cindric finished 19th or worse in five of the last six races this season. … Logano has to complete another race better than he started this year.
Trackhouse Racing – Good News: Ross Chastain has two top five finals in his last three Darlington. … Chastain will also be entered in the XFinity race over the weekend and run the number 9 car for JR Motorsports. Bad news: Daniel Suarez has two DNFs in the last four Darlington races. … Shane van Gisbergen has placed outside the top 30 in each of the last four races this year.
Wood Brothers Racing – Good News: Josh Berry has two of Ford’s five top five finishes this season and Ford’s only cup victory so far. … Berry finished third last year in the Spring Darlington race. Bad news: Since his Las Vegas victory, Berry has finished 17th (Homestead) and 32nd (Martinsville).
