Good news, bad news for NASCAR Cup teams ahead of Darlington weekend
NASCAR celebrates Throwback Weekend at Darlington Raceway. While the past is honored, it is the present and future that will be on the mind of competitors.
Sunday's race is the eighth of the season and also can provide teams with data to prepare for the Southern 500, which will be the opening race of the playoffs on Labor Day weekend.
The last nine Darlington races have been won by nine different drivers. The last three spring races at Darlington have had a lead change in the final 10 laps.
Here is a look at the good news and bad news for Cup teams heading to Darlington.
23XI Racing — Good news: Bubba Wallace has scored back-to-back third-place finishes. … Tyler Reddick has three top-three finishes at Darlington in the Next Gen car. … Rookie Riley Herbst has finished in the top 20 in four of the season's seven races. Bad news: Reddick has three finishes of 14th or worse in the last four races this season.
Front Row Motorsports — Good news: Todd Gilliland is coming off a 10th-place finish last weekend at Martinsville. … 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 has improved his average finish by a series-high 9.7 spots to 19.3 from this time a year ago. … Bad news: Smith is one of four full-time Cup drivers yet to score stage points, joining Cody Ware, Justin Haley and Riley Herbst.
Haas Factory Team — Good news: Cole Custer scored two stage points last weekend at Martinsville, his first stage points of the season. Bad News: Custer has finished 26th or worse in each of the last four races this year.
Hendrick Motorsports — Good news: William Byron has the best average running position (6.32) at Darlington in the Next Gen car. … Kyle Larson has finished in the top 10 in the last four races this season. … Larson and Alex Bowman each has five top 10s in the first seven races of the season. … Chase Elliott also is entered in the Xfinity Series race this weekend. Bad news: Elliott has started in the top 15 once in the last six races at Darlington. … William Byron has had back-to-back finishes outside the top 10, his only consecutive finishes outside the top 10 in the last 14 races. … Bowman has been penalized for speeding on pit road in two of the last three races this season.
Hyak Motorsports — Good news: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. has five top-20 finishes in seven starts this season after placing 20th at Martinsville last 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 to finish in the top 10 at both Darlington races last year. … Briscoe, who won last year's Southern 500, was the only driver to finish in the top five in both Darlington races last year. … Hamlin has led in each of the last 10 Cup races at Darlington. … Hamlin has an average finish of 8.2 at Darlington, the best all-time by a driver with more than two starts there. … All three of Christopher Bell's top 10s at Darlington have come in the past six races there. … Bell also is entered in the Xfinity race there this weekend. Bad news: Joe Gibbs Racing has had more DNFs (six) than 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.
Dustin Long,
Kaulig Racing — Good news: AJ Allmendinger has placed in the top 10 in two of the last three races this year. Bad news: Allmendinger has never finished better than 13th in 13 career Cup starts at Darlington. … Ty Dillon has never finished better than 12th in 10 career Cup starts at Darlington.
Legacy Motor Club — Good news: Erik Jones has two Darlington wins. … Jones has eight top 10s in 14 Darlington starts. Bad news: John Hunter Nemechek finished a season-worst 25th last weekend at Martinsville. … Jones' car was disqualified for failing inspection after last weekend's race at Martinsville. His car did not meet minimum weight requirement.
Richard Childress Racing — Good news: Kyle Busch finished second at Darlington in last year's Southern 500. … Austin Dillon has three top-20 finishes in the last four races this year. … Austin Hill will make his season debut in the No. 33 Cup car this weekend at Darlington. It is one of five announced Cup starts for him this year. Bad news: Busch's lone Cup win at Darlington happened in May 2008.
Rick Ware Racing — Good news: Cody Ware finished 19th at Darlington in May 2022, his best finish at the track. Bad news: Ware has finished 30th or worse in each of the last three races.
RFK Racing — Good news: Ryan Preece has had three consecutive top 10s heading into Darlington. … Brad Keselowski's last win came at Darlington in May 2024. … Keselowski has placed in the top 10 in four of the last five Darlington races. … Chris Buescher has finished in the top 10 in five of the last eight races at Darlington. Bad news: Keselowski has no top 10s in the first seven races of the season, the first time that's happened to him since 2011. … Keselowski's average finish of 25.1 is the worst in his Cup career through the first seven races of the season.
Spire Motorsports — Good news: Justin Haley has finished in the top 10 in three of the last six Darlington races. … Michael McDowell has three top 10s in his last six starts at Darlington. Bad news: McDowell has had three finishes of 28th or worse in his last six starts at Darlington. … Carson Hocevar has three finishes of 30th or worse in the last four races this year.
Team Penske — Good news: Ryan Blaney will be making his 350th career Cup start this weekend. … Blaney ranks first in stage points scored this season with 74. … Joey Logano scored his first top-10 finish of the season last weekend at Martinsville, placing eighth. Bad news: Blaney has three top 10s in 16 Cup starts at Darlington. … Blaney finished 36th and 37th at Darlington last year. … Team Penske has one top-five finish in the first seven races, its fewest total since 2011. … Austin Cindric has finished 19th or worse in five of the last six races this season. … Logano has yet to finish a race better than he's started this year.
Trackhouse Racing — Good news: Ross Chastain has two top-five finishes in his last three Darlington starts. … Chastain also is entered in the Xfinity race this weekend, driving the No. 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 win so far. … Berry finished third in the spring Darlington race last year. Bad news: Since his Las Vegas win, Berry has finished 17th (Homestead) and 32nd (Martinsville).
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