The NASCAR Cup Series and the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series head to Darlington Raceway this weekend. The O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Fleetio 200 kicks off the weekend on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET on the CW Network. Then on Sunday, the Cup Series Cook Out Southern 500 begins at 5:00 p.m. on the USA Network.
Cup Series Notes for Darlington Raceway:
This weekend’s race will be the 77th running of the Southern 500, the 131st Cup Series race held at the track, and the seventh time Darlington has hosted a Chase race, and the sixth time it’s hosted the opening race.
In March, the race had four caution flags, the fewest since March of 1999. Also, Tyler Reddick captured the pole with a lap of 169.152 mph, and Reddick also won the race after early brake and electrical issues to lead 77 laps en route to his win.
Denny Hamlin (3) and Chase Briscoe (2) are the only repeat winners in the last 13 races. Briscoe led 309 laps in last year’s race, the most in a race since Dale Earnhardt led 335 laps in April of 1986. If Briscoe wins again, he will join Jeff Gordon (with four straight between 1995-98) as the only drivers to win three consecutive Southern 500s.
NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Notes for Darlington Raceway:
This is the 72nd NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race since the inaugural race in 1982, and Darlington has hosted an O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race every year since 1982.
Justin Allgaier (4) and Brandon Jones (2) are the only past Darlington winners in the field, with Allgaier winning four of the last 10 races. In March, Allgaier made the outside lane work on the final restart of the race and pulled away from Brandon Jones to win the Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200 at Darlington.
Four of the last seven Stage 1 winners went on to win the race, and only two of the 15 Stage 2 winners went on to win the race.
The driver to lead the most laps went on to win four of the last eight races, three of the last 12 Darlington races featured a last-lap pass for the win, and four of the last 10 races went to overtime.
The Weekend Schedule for Darlington Raceway:
Race Length: 501.32 Miles (367 laps)
Stage 1 & 2 Length: 115 Laps (each)
Final Stage Length: 137 Laps
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 5
1:30 PM – 2:20 PM: NOAPS PRACTICE
2:35 PM – 3:30 PM: NOAPS QUALIFYING (IMPOUND)
4:00 PM – 5:00 PM: NCS PRACTICE TRACK HOT
5:10 PM – 6:00 PM: NCS QUALIFYING
7:00 PM: NOAPS FLEETIO 200 DRIVER INTRODUCTIONS ON THE CW NETWORK
7:30 PM: NOAPS FLEETIO 200 RACE (STAGES 45/90/147 LAPS = 200.8 MILES) ON THE CW NETWORK
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 6
4:20 PM: NCS COOK OUT SOUTHERN 500 DRIVER INTRODUCTIONS ON THE USA NETWORK
5:00 PM: NCS COOK OUT SOUTHERN 500 RACE (STAGES 115/230/367 LAPS = 501.32 MILES ) ON THE USA NETWORK
*All times are Eastern. NASCAR Cup Series (NCS), NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series (NOAPS)
