This weekend, the NASCAR Cup Series returns to the oldest superspeedway on the schedule, Darlington Raceway, for their second visit of the year to start the playoffs. Coverage of the Cook Out Southern 500 can be seen on USA with Countdown to Green at 5 p.m. ET. The green flag is scheduled to drop around 6:16 p.m. The race can also be heard on MRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90).
Records and facts
Last year's Cook Out Southern 500 was dominated by Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson, who combined to lead 302 of 367 laps. Hamlin came to the forefront during the long green flag run as Hamlin took the lead on lap 299 from Larson. From there, Hamlin held on to win the race and lock into the Round of 12.
Hamlin was .212 seconds ahead of Larson at the finish. Ross Chastain was third, then Martin Truex Jr. and Kevin Harvick.
All-time, David Pearson has the most wins at the "Track Too Tough to Tame" with 10, the most recent of the wins coming in the CRC Chemicals Rebel 500 in 1980. Dale
Earnhardt has nine wins, including season sweeps in 1987 and 1990. Jeff Gordon is third with seven career wins, while four different drivers (Bobby Allison, Bill Elliott, Darrell Walrip and Cale Yarborough) have five each.
Among active drivers, Denny Hamlin is the winningest driver with four career victories. Kevin Harvick has three victories. Martin Truex Jr. has two wins, while no other active driver on the circuit has more than one.
Track Facts
Track / Race Length: 1.366-mile egg-shaped oval, 367 laps (501.322 miles)
Banking: 25 degrees in Turns 1-2, 23 degrees in Turns 3-4
Frontstretch: 1,229 ft., banked 3 degrees
Backstretch: 1,229 ft., banked 3
degrees
Grandstand Seating: 58,000
Pit Road Speed: 45 mph
Pace Car Speed: 50 mph
Opened: 1950
Website: http://www.darlingtonraceway.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DarlingtonRaceway
Twitter: http://twitter.com/TooToughToTame
Pre-Race Schedule:
Practice: Saturday, Sept. 3, 12:05 - 12:40 p.m. on NBCSports.com/NBC Sports App. Coverage is joined in progress on USA at 12:30 p.m.
Qualifying: Saturday, Sept. 3, 12:50 p.m. on USA
"Darlington [Raceway] is the beginning of a long road ahead. A lot can happen in 10 weeks. A lot can happen in one race weekend, much less 10. So, you know, it’s baby steps and one weekend at a time. Darlington is that first
stop and you want to try to get off on a good note and see where it takes you. We’re happy to have those 15 bonus points. We’ve never been in a position to have many bonus points going into the final 10. Hopefully, we can take those points we’ve accumulated and help us get through these rounds. Hopefully, we don’t need them, but if you do have a bad day, you have a little bit of something to fall back on which is always nice. I’m looking forward to getting going and seeing where we stack up this
first week and where we need to go from there." - Chase Elliott
"I’ve always loved Darlington Raceway. It’s a historic track and a lot of drivers and teams circle it at the beginning of the year as a place they would love to win at, myself included. We finished second at Darlington a
couple of years ago. It’s a demanding track. Darlington is a place that falls off, so tire management becomes important, and I really like that. It’s nice that we’re going to place that long run speed matters a bit." - Austin Dillon
"Anywhere we go where there isn’t a lot of grip,
these cars are really hard to drive. And you add in the tire fall-off and that makes it worse. It was for sure a wreckfest when we were there in May, so it’ll be interesting. I think we know a little more about what to expect this time, but I don’t know what that means for how the cars will race. I hope we don’t have the same situation. We really can’t eliminate ourselves, and getting through that first race at Darlington will be important." - Chase Briscoe
Phil Allaway is the Newsletter Manager for Frontstretch. He can be reached via e-mail at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com. Photo is courtesy of Nigel Kinrade
Photography.
