The NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) heads to Darlington Raceway for the Cook Out Southern 500 on August 31st at 6 p.m. ET on the USA Network for the first race of the 10-race Cup Series Playoffs. The 2025 season also marks the fifth year the NCS Playoffs opened at Darlington.
Bubba Wallace captured the 2024 Cook Out Southern 500 pole with a speed of 167.146 mph (29.421 secs.) and Chase Briscoe crossed the finish line first in his No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford to win the race.
NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Standings Outlook
| Rank | Driver | Points | Behind | Next | Wins | Top-5 | Top-10 | Poles | PLayoof Pts | +/- Cutoff |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kyle Larson | 2,032 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 16 | 1 | 32 | 26 |
| 2 | William Byron | 2,032 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 13 | 2 | 32 | 26 |
| 3 | Denny Hamlin | 2,029 | -3 | -3 | 4 | 11 | 13 | 1 | 29 | 23 |
| 4 | Ryan Blaney | 2,026 | -6 | -3 | 2 | 10 | 14 | 3 | 26 | 20 |
| 5 | Christopher Bell | 2,023 | -9 | -3 | 3 | 9 | 14 | 1 | 23 | 17 |
| 6 | Shane Van Gisbergen | 2,022 | -10 | -1 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 22 | 16 |
| 7 | Chase Elliott | 2,013 | -19 | -9 | 1 | 7 | 13 | 1 | 13 | 7 |
| 8 | Chase Briscoe | 2,010 | -22 | -3 | 1 | 10 | 12 | 6 | 10 | 4 |
| 9 | Bubba Wallace | 2,008 | -24 | -2 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 0 | 8 | 2 |
| 10 | Austin Cindric | 2,008 | -24 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 2 |
| 11 | Ross Chastain | 2,007 | -25 | -1 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 0 | 7 | 1 |
| 12 | Joey Logano | 2,007 | -25 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 7 | 1 |
| 13 | Josh Berry | 2,006 | -26 | -1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 6 | -1 |
| 14 | Tyler Reddick | 2,006 | -26 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 9 | 1 | 6 | -1 |
| 15 | Austin Dillon | 2,005 | -27 | -1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 5 | -2 |
| 16 | Alex Bowman | 2,002 | -30 | -3 | 0 | 6 | 14 | 2 | 2 | -5 |
Five times the winner of the opening race of the NCS 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).
Track & Race Information for the Cook Out Southern 500
Track Length: 1.366-Mile
Degree of Banking in Corners: 25 degrees – Turns 1 & 2 and 23 degrees – Turns 3 & 4
Degree of Banking on Straights: 6 degrees
Frontstretch Length: 1,229 feet
Backstretch Length: 1,229 feet
Season Race: #27 of 36 (August 31, 2025)
The Purse: $10,447,135
Race Length: 501.32 Miles (367 laps)
Time
August 31 at 6 p.m. ET on the USA Network, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Stages
Stage 1 & 2 Length: 115 Laps (each)
Final Stage Length: 137 Laps
Who and what should you look out for at Darlington Raceway?
- Joey Logano (2022 sweep) and William Byron (2019, 2025) lead all active NCS drivers in poles with two each. Joey Logano has two poles, one win, six top fives, 11 top 10s, and an Average finish of 13.304. Byron has two poles, one win, five top fives, seven top 10s, and an average finish of 15.000.
- Kyle Busch leads all active NASCAR Cup Series drivers in starts at Darlington Raceway with 27 starts.
- Denny Hamlin has one pole, five wins, 14 top fives, 19 top 10s, and the series-best average finish of 7.923. Hamlin also leads all active NCS drivers in average starting position at 8.731 in 26 starts. Hamlin (2010, 2017, 2020-2, 2021-2) leads all active NCS drivers in wins with four.
- Tyler Reddick has one pole, four top fives, six top 10s, and an average finish of 12.333.
- Kyle Larson has one win, seven top fives, nine top 10s, and an average finish of 12.533.
Eight of the 55 NCS Darlington race winners are active this weekend:
| Active Darlington Race Winners | Wins | Seasons |
|---|---|---|
| Denny Hamlin | 5 | 2025, 2021, 2020, 2017, 2010 |
| Brad Keselowski | 2 | 2024, 2018 |
| Erik Jones | 2 | 2022, 2019 |
| Chase Briscoe | 1 | 2024 |
| Kyle Larson | 1 | 2023 |
| William Byron | 1 | 2023 |
| Joey Logano | 1 | 2022 |
| Kyle Busch | 1 | 2008 |
Logano is the only active driver to win from the pole in the NCS at Darlington (2022).
