By David Morgan, Associate Editor
DARLINGTON, S.C. – Mother Nature threw a wrench into the plans for the NASCAR Cup Series on Saturday with persistent lightning in and around the area of Darlington Raceway forcing the cancellation of practice and qualifying, setting the starting lineup by the metric.
As a result, Tyler Reddick will start from the pole for Sunday night’s Cook Out Southern 500 – his sixth start from the front of the grid this season. Daniel Suarez will join him on the front row.
Reddick is also the defending winner at Darlington, having won from the pole in the spring, overcoming a myriad of issues to do so.
“Like best case scenario for us. Yeah, it’s pretty sick,” Reddick joked of the weather landing him on the pole.
“It is nice, but after I get through Turn 2, that first time I’ll feel better about it,” Reddick added of the issues that nearly derailed his day in the spring. “Obviously, last year’s race, that is when it decided to fail, that first lap. So, if I get to Turn 2 and my voltage hasn’t dropped out, I’ll be feeling pretty good.”
The remainder of the top-10 starters will be last weekend’s winner Ryan Preece, points leader Denny Hamlin, Michael McDowell, Austin Cindric, Chase Briscoe, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Austin Dillon, and Alex Bowman.
Other Chase drivers further back in the starting lineup include Christopher Bell in 11th, Joey Logano in 13th, Bubba Wallace in 17th, Chase Elliott in 18th, William Byron in 20th, Ryan Blaney in 24th, Kyle Larson in 25th, Ty Gibbs in 28th, Carson Hocevar in 34th, and Chris Buescher in 35th.
The Southern 500 is scheduled for 5:00 pm ET on USA Network.
Briscoe Eyes Southern 500 Three Peat
When it comes to the Southern 500, Chase Briscoe has had the number of the Lady in Black for the last two seasons and will be looking to make it three in a row this season – a feat not accomplished since Jeff Gordon did so en route to four in a row from 1995 to 1998.
Briscoe will start from eighth place on Sunday as he looks to start another run toward the championship and improve on his career best points finish of third from a season ago. He starts the Chase sitting fifth in points, 45 points in arears of his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin.
“It’s definitely on the radar. To do that three times in a row would be something really, really special, and I think Jeff Gordon’s the only person that’s ever been able to do that,” said Briscoe.
“So, definitely it’s on the radar. One of my favorite races of the year, but certainly, also still aware, just the situation. You can’t wreck trying to win this deal, just with the points and the Chase and everything else, but the goal is definitely to try to go score 75, 76 points tomorrow night, and we were able to do that last year and see if we can do it again.”
Why Not Us? Preece Riding Underdog Momentum into Chase
Ryan Preece won his way into the Chase in dramatic fashion a week ago, capturing the victory at Daytona and earning his place into the 16-driver field that is eligible to battle for the championship.
Though he has a 100-point deficit to overcome over the next 10 weeks, Preece explained on Saturday that his No. 60 RFK Racing team can just go for broke in the postseason and let the chips land where they may.
He’ll have a great seat in the house to start that journey, starting from third place at Darlington, where he and the other RFK Fords have been strong in the past.
“Honestly, that’s what I really like about where we’re at right now is because we have nothing to lose,” said Preece. “The guys that are up front, like Denny, he’s had a phenomenal year. He’s had phenomenal years, you know what I mean? When I look at where we’re at, if we’re aggressive and it doesn’t work out, we’re at the bottom, you know what i mean?
“So, we can throw the Hail Mary’s and do the risky things and if we get good results out of it, then that’s great. I told Derrick [Finley, crew chief], I went, ‘Are you going to give the same type of interview that you gave last week?’ He looked at me and said, ‘What do you mean?’ And I said, ‘When you told NASCAR and everybody on pit road that we were gonna qualify on the pole. We were gonna win the stages and win the race. I want that same Derrick.’
“And he looked at me and said, ‘I want that same Ryan.’ I said, ‘Alright. Deal. You hold up your end and I’ll hold up mine.’”
Herbst Cleared to Race at Darlington after Daytona Setback
Riley Herbst spent last Saturday night on the sidelines instead of behind the wheel of his No. 35 23XI Racing Toyota, electing to let Harrison Burton drive as he dealt with lingering concussion symptoms from a crash at New Hampshire the week prior.
Now as the Cup Series rolls into Darlington, Herbst will be back in the cockpit with a clean bill of health.
“No symptoms this week, back to 100%. So, yeah, concussion free,” said Herbst.
“I got diagnosed with a concussion after the wreck in Loudon, and I thought that I was cleared to, to pass. I passed all my tests the week leading up to Daytona. Obviously, I qualified in the race car, and had really fast speed, and then I woke up Saturday morning, feeling really, really rough with trouble with all the symptoms, the worst I’ve had since the wreck. So, I thought it was the best idea for me to step out and let Harrison (Burton) drive the race car, but back to being 100%.”
He added that he has been able to work out and drive in the simulator this week without any other issues, so feels good to go for Sunday.
Herbst also announced mid-week that he will be joining Legacy Motor Club in 2027 to drive the No. 84 Toyota as part of that team’s three-car stable.
“Yeah, it’s been a great, great experience. Obviously, excited to stay in the Toyota camp. Just really looking forward to hitting the ground running next year,” said Herbst.
“Just super grateful to Denny (Hamlin, 23XI Racing ownership), Curtis (Polk, 23XI Racing ownership), to Michael (Jordan, 23XI Racing ownership), for allowing me to live out my dream and getting my first Cup contract and wish them nothing but the best moving forward. It’s been an hour of a lifetime to drive for all three of those guys. But looking forward to next year.”
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