Darlington Raceway will celebrate its 75th Anniversary with a special Throwback Weekend on April 4-5. This year’s Goodyear 400 will be Darlington’s 125th Cup Series race.
The first Throwback Weekend at Darlington was held in 2015. Carl Edwards won the Cup Series race and will be back Sunday afternoon as the honorary starter for the Goodyear 400. Brad Keselowski is the returning race winner.
Wood Brothers Racing will serve as Grand Marshals for Sunday’s Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway.
“As we celebrate 75 years of racing at The Lady in Black, its only right we also recognize the same achievement for one of the most storied teams in our sport’s history with the Wood Brothers,” said Darlington Raceway President Josh Harris.
“Few organizations have garnered as much success throughout NASCAR, and particularly at Darlington Raceway. We’re grateful to celebrate each other and fire off the Goodyear 400 with a family of legends.”
The Craftsman Truck Series is off and will return to competition at Bristol Motor Speedway on April 11.
NASCAR Cup Series Notes
Richard Petty leads the Cup Series with 65 starts at Darlington Raceway, followed by Buddy Baker (58), Dave Marcis (58), Ricky Rudd (58), and Darrell Waltrip (55). Kyle Busch leads all active Cup Series drivers with 26 starts.
Darlington Raceway has been ahead of its time in many aspects. The track hosted the first 500-mile race in NASCAR history, the first on an oval track longer than a mile and the first on asphalt.
A total of 55 different NASCAR Cup Series drivers have won at Darlington Raceway. David Pearson leads all drivers with 10 victories at the 1.366-mile track and also holds the record for most consecutive Cup Series poles at Darlington Raceway with five straight from 1975 – 1977.
Winning the pole is considered an advantage at any venue. However, at the track Too Tough To Tame, while 83.46% of the previous Cup Series races were won from a top-10 starting position, only 16.54% have been won from the pole.
The Craftsman Truck Series is off and will return to competition at Bristol Motor Speedway on April 11.
NASCAR Xfinity Series Notes
Saturday’s Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help A Hero 200 will mark the 70th Xfinity Series race (1982-2025) held at the 1.366-mile track.
Four of the drivers competing in the Xfinity Series race at Darlington are past winners. Justin Allgaier has three victories at the track while Chase Elliott, Christopher Bell and Brandon Jones have collected one win each.
The winner of Stage 1 has won four of the last five Xfinity events at Darlington, and five different drivers have won the previous five races. Four of the last eight Darlington Xfinity races have finished in overtime.
JR Motorsports (5) and Joe Gibbs Racing (3) have won eight of the last nine Xfinity Series races at Darlington.
Saturday, April 5 – Xfinity Series Practice and Qualifying at Darlington
10:05 a.m.: Xfinity Series Practice – CW App
2 Groups, 25 minutes each, 5-minute break between groups
1:10 p.m.: Xfinity Series Qualifying – CW App
Impound, All Entries, Single Vehicle, 1 Lap
Saturday, April 5 – Cup Series Practice and Qualifying at Darlington
12:35 p.m.: Cup Series Practice – Prime
Practice, 2 Groups, 25 minutes each, 5-minute break between groups
1:40 p.m.: Cup Series Qualifying – Prime
Impound, All Entries, Single Vehicle, 1 Lap
Post Cup Series Qualifying: NASCAR Press Pass
Saturday, April 5 – Xfinity Series Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help A Hero 200
3:30 p.m.: Xfinity Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help A Hero 200 at Darlington Raceway
Stages: 45/90/147 Laps, 200.8 Miles
CW/MRN/SiriusXM Purse: $1,651,939
Post Xfinity Series race: NASCAR Press Pass
Sunday, April 6 – Cup Series Goodyear 400
3 p.m.: Cup Series Goodyear 400
Stages 90/185/293 Laps = 400.2 Miles
FS1/Max/MRN/SiriusXM
Purse: $11,055,250
Post Cup Series race: NASCAR Press Pass
All times are Eastern.
