Darlington Raceway Tag

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Darlington, March 1988. Proving that persistence pays off, Lake Speed finally made good on his last name that seemed destined for a racing greatness by dominating at one of the toughest tracks on the NASCAR Cup Series circuit to capture what would be his one and only win at NASCAR’s highest level. Before getting his start in NASCAR in 1980, Speed’s greatest claim to fame was winning the World Karting Championship in LeMans, France two years prior, defeating a future three-time Formula 1 champion, the lateRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service New tracks, road courses and a dirt race—NASCAR fulfilled its mission of expanding its sphere of influence with the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series schedule, announced Wednesday afternoon. With the addition of road course races at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course, Circuit of The Americas (COTA) in Austin, Tex., and Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis., NASCAR has doubled the number of road-course events on the schedule—retaining the races at Sonoma Raceway, Watkins Glen International and the Charlotte Roval. For the first time sinceRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer The most anticipated day in NASCAR history has been tremendously spoiled, but it doesn’t mean the excitement and disappointment levels have waned. It’s the exact opposite because the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series calendar looks drastically different. There’s so much to digest with various announcements involving multiple tracks over the past 24 hours have left not just NASCAR, but also the NTT IndyCar Series community buzzing. SCHEDULE: 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Depending on who you are, you’re either thrilled with the drastic changes on next season’s calendarRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service Kevin Harvick was in the right place at the right time to take the lead, then put on an impressive show of tenacity to hold off a hard-charging Austin Dillon to earn his second career Cook Out Southern 500 win at Darlington Raceway in Sunday night’s NASCAR Cup Series Playoff opener. It may have been his series best eighth victory of the season, but the veteran Harvick was emotional on the team radio, letting out a loud congratulatory yell as he crossed the finish lineRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer A battle for the win between the two best drivers turned into real disappointing results due to late-race fender bender dashed Chase Elliott and Martin Truex, Jr.’s bid of a Cook Out Southern 500 triumph Sunday. Truex ended up winning the first two stages, but Elliott was the only one who responded effectively to his dominance as the duo led a combined total of 310 of 367 laps. With pit stops out of the way, the bout began to unravel and with 15 laps to go,Read More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Austin Dillon had a strong points night in Sunday’s Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, even coming up close of getting his second NASCAR Cup Series victory of the year. Dillon’s 367-lap odyssey began with a low note due to the fact he had to start the race from the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments, relinquishing the 12th starting position. During Sunday’s post-race video conference, Dillon went into detail on the pre-race hiccup that was a direct result of his tires beingRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Derek Kraus scored his best career finish in Sunday’s South Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Darlington Raceway, reducing the playoff cutoff gap on Todd Gilliland down to 10 points. Kraus, who drove a throwback of Ron Hornaday’s NAPA scheme, appeared was going to have a modest 147-lap race, battling his former Bill McAnally Racing teammate for the seventh spot. Up to that point, Kraus said his afternoon wasn’t great as track position was hard to come by up until the final stage when his McAnally-Hilgemann RacingRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service With the three drivers in front of him opting to pit just before an overtime restart, Ben Rhodes chose to stay on track in the fourth position and held off rookie Derek Kraus, winning Sunday’s South Carolina Education Lottery 200. It was the third NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series win of the 23-year old Kentucky native’s career; the first since 2018. He is the seventh different winner of 2020. “Gosh, that was such a tough win,’’ Rhodes said. “We weren’t the best truck allRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer What can be best described as another classic Xfinity Series duel at Darlington Raceway, both Ross Chastain and Denny Hamlin put on an absolute barn burner. In the closing laps of Saturday’s Sport Clips Haircuts VFW 200, two aggressive drivers gave it their all. Neither were giving up an inch if it meant a win was on the horizon as both were hungry for redemption in “The Lady in Black.” Hamlin haven’t won an Xfinity race since Darlington in 2017 as a result of him beingRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service  It was a fitting race finish for a track known as being “Too Tough To Tough.” The two front-running cars tangled with two laps remaining and Brandon Jones dove low to take the lead and the victory in Saturday’s Sports Clips Haircuts VFW 200 Xfinity Series race at Darlington Raceway. An intense, exciting and suspenseful battle for the lead in the final 10 laps between Xfinity Series regular Ross Chastain and this year’s Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin gave NASCAR fans all they couldRead More