Darlington Raceway Tag

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service DARLINGTON, S.C. – Denny Hamlin made a huge mistake on Sunday night. Then the driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota made an even bigger comeback to win one of NASCAR’s most prestigious races. Running down race leader Martin Truex Jr. from 20 seconds back after missing the entrance to pit road on Lap 313 of 367, Hamlin won the Bojangles’ Southern 500 for the second time, finishing off a sweep of the throwback Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series/NASCAR XFINITY Series weekend atRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Despite suffering a flat right-front tire with two laps to go at Darlington, taking him out of contention for his second straight Southern 500 win, Martin Truex, Jr. will leave the track “Too Tough to Tame” with the consolation prize of the regular season points championship, giving him an all-important 15-point bonus for the playoffs. “It was definitely a bittersweet night for us, to come up just two laps short there, blow a tire at the end after having no issues with tires all nightRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer The Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway was a tale of two races for the 2017 Sunoco Rookie of the Year (ROTY) contenders in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. Of the five of the ROTY contenders, only the two BK Racing drivers have no previous experience at ‘The Track Too Tough to Tame.’ Erik Jones was the best rookie for the third week in a row, finishing fifth in the No. 77 5-hour ENERGY / Rookie Salute Toyota Camry after running inside the top-10Read More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service DARLINGTON, S.C. – On a throwback weekend at Darlington Raceway, with a move he termed “a throwback to Dale Earnhardt,” Denny Hamlin won his fifth NASCAR XFINITY Series event at the Lady in Black—all from the pole. The driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota grabbed the lead from Joey Logano after a restart on Lap 147 of 148—one beyond the scheduled distance—and when Logano got inside position on the final circuit and surged ahead into Turn 3, Hamlin responded with aRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer For the first time since his win at Indianapolis Motor Speedway six races ago, William Byron has scored a top-five finish. Byron was up front for much of the day in his No. 9 Liberty University Throwback Chevrolet Camaro, inspired by the paint-schemes of the late-Ricky Hendrick. Byron was one of four NASCAR Xfinity Series regulars to finish in the top-10 in each stage at Darlington Raceway. The other three Xfinity regulars in the top-10 in stages 1 and 2 were Byron’s JR Motorsports teammateRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer After losing his nearly 50-point cushion over the Playoff cutoff when Jeremy Clements won at Road America, Brendan Gaughan will look to have a more secure position after the VFW Hero a Hero 200 at Darlington Raceway. Gaughan has six previous NASCAR Xfinity Series starts, he has a best finish of 13th in the No. 62 South Point Hotel & Casino Chevrolet Camaro. He also has three starts in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series with a best finish of third, and two Monster EnergyRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer 23 races into the NASCAR Xfinity Series season, only four of the NASCAR Xfinity Series regulars (Jeremy Clements, Justin Allgaier, Ryan Reed, and William Byron three times) have scored victories during the 2017 season. This weekend the NASCAR Xfinity Series travels to Darlington Raceway for the VFW Sports Clips Help a Hero 200, the 24th race of the season. Sadler continues to lead the Championship Point standings, despite not scoring a win. He leads with 107-points over his JR Motorsports teammate, Byron. The last timeRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Before Furniture Row Racing became the juggernaut it is in 2017, the Colorado based team had to scratch and claw for everything single position on the track, especially in their early years. The team which just started a full-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule back in 2008 brought Regan Smith on board starting in 2009 for a part-time schedule before moving back to full-time the next season. Smith came onto the Cup Series scene with Bobby Ginn and Dale Earnhardt, Inc. in 2007, butRead More