NASCAR spends Labor Day weekend in Darlington

(NASCAR NEWSWIRE) – This weekend marks the 129th running of a NASCAR Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway, and the 76th running of the Southern 500.

• This is the sixth time Darlington hosted a Playoff race, and the fifth-time it has hosted the opening race (2020-2023, 2025).
• Darlington Raceway is one of five different tracks to open the postseason for the NASCAR Cup Series alongside New Hampshire (2004-2010), Chicagoland (2011-2017), Las Vegas (2018-2019) and Atlanta (2024).
• Five times the winner of the opening race of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs has gone on to win the championship – 2004 (Kurt Busch), 2011 (Tony Stewart), 2012 (Brad Keselowski), 2017 (Martin Truex Jr.) and 2024 (Joey Logano).
• The last seven Darlington Cup races were won by seven different drivers.
• Denny Hamlin, with three wins, is the only repeat winner in the last 11 Darlington races.
• This weekend. eight of the 55 NASCAR Cup Series Darlington race winners are active this weekend.

• The final green flag stretch was less than 17 laps in only two of the last 10 Darlington races.
• The driver who led the most laps finished 22nd or worse in three of the last five Southern 500s.
• Last year’s Southern 500 had 26 lead changes, the most for a race at Darlington since 2008.  By contrast, last April’s race at Darlington featured only four lead changes, the fewest for a Cup race at Darlington since the inaugural Southern 500 in 1950.
• William Byron led the opening 243 laps at Darlington in April; the most laps led from the start in the track’s history. He won both stages but finished second in the race.
• A driver swept the stages at Darlington seven times, but only once went on to win (Martin Truex Jr – 05/2021).
• Eight of the 14 stage winners at Darlington in the Next Gen car finished 25th or worse.
• Every winner since 2006 at Darlington had a minimum of 100 career Cup starts.
• Six drivers earned their first Cup Series win at Darlington, four of them got their only Cup victory.
• Nine drivers snapped 50+ race winless streaks at Darlington including both 2024 races; tied for the most among non-drafting tracks with Phoenix.
• Denny Hamlin led in the last 11 Darlington races, the longest streak at the track since Darrell Waltrip’s 17 straight races from 1976-1984.
• Ross Chastain is set to make his 250th Cup start this weekend, six drivers won their 250th Cup start (most recently Chris Buescher at Bristol in September 2022) and two did so at Darlington.
• Ryan Blaney finished in the top-10 in the last six races, his longest ever Cup top-10 streak.
• 2025 is the fifth straight season that a Hendrick Motorsports driver entered the Playoffs seeded #1.
• The average time for the Southern 500 is 4:15:50, the average time for the Coke 600 is 4:26:55.
• Th eventual winner of the Southern 500 didn’t lead for the first time until Lap 158 in eight of the last nine Darlington races.
• The Southern 500 hasn’t ended in overtime since 2014.

NCS Clinch Scenarios For Darlington Raceway (Playoff Race #1):

Already Clinched

• No drivers have clinched a spot in the 12-driver field of the next round.

Can Clinch Via Win

• The following drivers would clinch on their win alone: Kyle Larson, William Byron, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, Christopher Bell, Shane Van Gisbergen, Chase Elliott, Chase Briscoe, Austin Cindric, Bubba Wallace, Joey Logano, Ross Chastain, Josh Berry, Tyler Reddick, Austin Dillon, Alex Bowman

NASCAR Xfinity Series

Portland International Raceway Storylines and Insights:

• This weekend marks the fourth running of a NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Portland International Raceway, since the inaugural race in 2022.
• Connor Zilisch won his series-leading seventh race of the season at Daytona last weekend, after relief driver Parker Kligerman got in the car on Lap 13. The first time a relief driver has won since 2007 (Aric Almirola & Denny Hamlin).
• Connor Zilisch’s seven wins this season tied Christopher Bell for most by a rookie all-time in the series.
• Connor Zilisch has won five of the last six races this season.
• Connor Zilisch’s 12 straight top fives since returning from back injury is the third-longest top-five streak all- time; Zilisch is the youngest driver with more than five straight top fives.
• Connor Zilisch won 30% of his starts, the best all-time among drivers with more than three starts.
• Sam Mayer finished top-five in the last four races, his longest ever top-five streak is five races.
• Justin Allgaier, Connor Zilisch and Sam Mayer are separated by 26 points in the Xfinity Series regular season standings; with Allgaier leading the standings by three.
• There are two races left in the 2025 Xfinity Series regular season: Portland and St. Louis.
• Four Playoff spots remain open.
• Carson Kvapil is the highest in standings without a win.
• Carson Kvapil, Sheldon Creed and Taylor Gray could clinch Playoff spots on points if they leave Portland 57 points ahead of 12th place in Playoff Standings.
• Harrison Burton gained six points to the Playoff cut line with a 16th-place finish at Daytona and now sits +36, the largest bubble gap of the season.
• Jeb Burton lost six points to the Playoff cut line at Daytona and now sits -36.
• JR Motorsports had at least one car finish inside the top-5 in a record 26 straight races.
• JR Motorsports won 14 races this season with a series-record six different drivers, all six drivers won in the last 15 races (does not include Parker Kligerman who won in relief role at Daytona).
• JR Motorsports won nine of the last 11 races this season with four different drivers.
• Portland is the sixth of seven road course races this season.
• Connor Zilisch has won four of the last seven road course races.
• Connor Zilisch’s 67% win percentage and 1.83 average finish on road courses are both best all-time.
• Connor Zilisch won four of last seven poles on road courses and won three of those races.
• Four active drivers won on road courses: Connor Zilisch (4), Sam Mayer (4), Justin Allgaier (3), Jeremy Clements (1).
• JR Motorsports won all five road course races this season with three different drivers, they also won all five poles in 2025.
• JR Motorsports won the last seven road course races dating back to last year, the longest ever streak of road course races won by a team.
• Chevrolet won the last 13 straight road course races, the longest streak of road course races won by a manufacturer.
• No past Portland Xfinity Series winner will be in the race this weekend: AJ Allmendinger, Cole Custer, Shane van Gisbergen.
• Justin Allgaier is the only driver to finish inside the top-10 in all three Portland races.
• The pass for the win occurred on a restart in the final four laps in all three Portland races.
• Justin Allgaier was passed for the win in each of the last two Portland races.
• 2024 Supercars champion Will Brown will make Xfinity Series debut in Kaulig Racing #11, he has two Cup starts.
• Supercars veteran Jack Perkins will make second career start in Joe Gibbs Racing’s #19, he finished 32nd in his debut at Chicago in July.
•  Rolex 24 at Daytona winner Joey Hand will make his Xfinity Series debut in RSS Racing #28.
• Connor Zilisch leads the series with seven wins, 13 top fives, a 9.1 average finish and five poles this season.
• Justin Allgaier leads the series with 695 laps led this season.
• Jesse Love leads the series with 16 top 10s this season.
• Justin Allgaier won the Fastest Lap Award five times this season, no other driver has more than two.
• Justin Allgaier’s 28 career wins are ninth on the all-time wins list and one away from tying Matt Kenseth.
• Chevrolet led 2,868 of 3,763 laps this season (76%).
• Chevrolet won 21 of 24 races, the most all time by a manufacturer through 24 races in series history.
• Toyota is winless in the last 16 races, their longest winless streak since the first NXS win in 2007.
• JR Motorsports passed Richard Childress Racing at Daytona with 102^nd career win, both teams reached 100 this season.
• Five crew chiefs got their first NXS win in 2025: Chad Haney at Atlanta, Sam McAulay at Darlington, Adam Wall at Bristol, Cory Shea at Mexico City & Dale Earnhardt Jr. at Pocono.
• Daytona snapped a streak of ten straight races without an overtime finish, the longest streak without an OT since Aug-Oct 2020.
• Five races this year ended with a last lap pass.
• O’Reilly Auto Parts will replace Xfinity as title sponsor starting in 2026 becoming the fifth different title sponsor of the series.

Xfinity Series Pit Stop Procedure at Portland:

• Field will be frozen at time of caution and all cautions will be quickie yellows.
• Fuel may only be added during stage breaks
• Tires may be changed at any time
• Stage breaks will consist of a three-minute break. Three minutes will start after the last vehicle stopped in their pit stall.
• No crew members on pit road until all cars are stopped
• Cannot change tires and fuel at the same time. Tires must be changed first, then fuel may be added
• If tires are changed on green flag pit stops, must not complete stop faster than the minimum time allotted from yellow line to yellow line, 63 seconds
• If tires are clearly flat entering pit road, they may be changed without being subject to minimum time

NXS Clinch Scenarios Following Daytona International Speedway:

Already Clinched

• The following eight drivers have clinched a spot in the 12-driver postseason field: Justin Allgaier, Connor Zilisch, Sam Mayer, Jesse Love, Austin Hill, Brandon Jones, Sammy Smith, Nicholas Sanchez.

Can Clinch Via Points

• If there is a repeat winner or a win by a driver who cannot advance to the playoffs, the following drivers could clinch by being 57 points above the 4th winless driver in the standings.  The same point requirements listed below would hold true if a new win comes from among Carson Kvapil, Sheldon Creed or Taylor Gray.
• Carson Kvapil: Would clinch with 29 points
• Sheldon Creed: Could only clinch with help
• Taylor Gray: Could only clinch with help
•  If there is a new winner from Harrison Burton or another winless driver lower in the standings but still eligible to advance to the playoffs, the following drivers could clinch by being 57 points above the 3rd winless driver in the standings.
• Carson Kvapil: Would clinch with 56 points
• Sheldon Creed: Could only clinch with help

Can Clinch Via Win

• The following drivers would clinch on their win alone: Carson Kvapil, Sheldon Creed, Taylor Gray, Harrison Burton, Jeb Burton, Ryan Sieg, Dean Thompson, Christian Eckes, Brennan Poole, Daniel Dye, William Sawalich, Jeremy Clements, Matt DiBenedetto, Anthony Alfredo, Parker Retzlaff, Blaine Perkins, Kyle Sieg, Ryan Ellis

Can Clinch Regular Season Championship

• Additionally, the Regular Season Championship could be clinched by the following drivers:
• Justin Allgaier: Could only clinch with help

NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series

Darlington Raceway Storylines and Insights:

• This weekend marks the 13th running of a NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race at Darlington Raceway, and the first time as a Playoff race during the track’s traditional Labor Day Weekend since 2021.
• Darlington has hosted at least one Truck Race since 2020, after previous annual stints from 2001-04 and 2010-11.
• 2025 is the 10th season of Playoffs in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series (2016-2025).
• Darlington serves as the first track of the seven-race NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Playoffs and the first race of the Round of 10: Darlington, Bristol and New Hampshire, two drivers will be eliminated after New Hampshire.
• The following drivers make up the NCTS Playoff Field: Corey Heim, Layne Riggs, Chandler Smith, Daniel Hemric, Tyler Ankrum, Ty Majeski, Grant Enfinger, Rajah Caruth, Kaden Honeycutt, and Jake Garcia.
• Grant Enfinger (+4) and Rajah Caruth (+2) sit as the last two drivers over the cutline, whereas Kaden Honeycutt (-2) and Jake Garcia (-3) are the first two below it.
• This is the first time Darlington is the opening race of the Playoffs; it is the seventh different track to open the Playoffs.
• This is only the second time Darlington was part of the Playoffs (2021 and 2025).
• The opening race of the Playoffs was won by a Playoff driver in seven of the previous nine seasons, all but 2021 when Sam Mayer won and 2024 when Layne Riggs won.
• The eventual Champion won the opening race of the Playoffs once (Christopher Bell, 2017).
• Ben Rhodes is the only former Truck Series Darlington winner entered this weekend.
• Corey Heim’s seven wins in 2025 are tied with Ron Hornaday Jr. (1997) for the most through 18 races all-time (a driver has never won eight times through 19 races in a season).
• Corey Heim (three) and Layne Riggs (two) combined have won the last five races of 2025.
• Corey Heim’s average finish at Darlington is 20.5, his worst among all tracks.
• The last four races with qualifying were won from pole.
• The driver leading the most laps won nine of the 18 races this season.
• The gap between first place Heim and second place Riggs (39 points) is greater than the gap from second to 10^th (24 points)

NCTS Clinch Scenarios Following Richmond Raceway:

Already Clinched

• No drivers have clinched a spot in the 8-driver field of the next round.

Can Clinch Via Points

• If there is a win by a driver who cannot advance to the next round, the following drivers could clinch by being 123 points above the 7th winless driver in the standings.  The same point requirements listed below would hold true if a new win comes from Layne Riggs, Chandler Smith, Daniel Hemric, Ty Majeski or Tyler Ankrum.
• Corey Heim: Could only clinch with help
•  If there is a new winner from Grant Enfinger or another winless driver lower in the standings but still eligible to advance to the next round, the following drivers could clinch by being 123 points above the 6th winless driver in the standings.
• Corey Heim: Could only clinch with help

Can Clinch Via Win

• The following drivers would clinch on their win alone: Corey Heim, Layne Riggs, Chandler Smith, Daniel Hemric, Ty Majeski, Tyler Ankrum, Grant Enfinger, Rajah Caruth, Kaden Honeycutt, Jake Garcia.