Darlington Event Info:
Date: Sunday, September 6, 2026
Time: 5 p.m. ET
Series: NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Location: Darlington, South Carolina
Format: 367 Laps, 501.3 miles, Stages: 115-230-367
TV: USA Sports
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90)
Weekend Schedule:
Saturday: 4 p.m. ET, Cup Practice (TruTV, HBO Max, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Saturday: 5 p.m. ET, Cup Qualifying (TruTV, HBO Max, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Sunday: 5 p.m. ET, Cup Race (USA Sports, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
STORYLINES:
- Double Threat – As the Chase begins, two RFK Racing teams will be vying for NASCAR’s 2026 crown. Chris Buescher (10th) and Ryan Preece (16th) are both eying their first Cup Series championship. Buescher’s steady finishes and Preece’s breakthrough Daytona win have propelled them into the postseason, validating RFK Racing’s resurgence and potential for a championship run.
- Brad Keselowski – With an extremely competitive run in the spring, where he led 142 laps, won the first two stages, and finished the race second, Brad Keselowski is eager to return to Darlington. While many have been stymied by the ‘Track Too Tough to Tame’ Keselowski has thrived, winning twice including his most recent career win. While begin their quest for the 2026 title, Keselowski aims to play spoiler in the Chase opener.
- Chris Buescher – Chris Buescher may be this year’s stealth contender. A Chase driver who can quietly sneak up on the competition, and that could make him one of the more intriguing drivers to watch. Sitting 10th in the standings, Buescher has consistently put together a season that suggests he can be much more than just a participant in the title fight. He has 10 top-10 finishes this year and has shown the ability to run at the front, including at Darlington in the spring, where he led 41 laps.
- Ryan Preece – Few drivers enter the Chase with more momentum than Ryan Preece. The hard-core New Englander and self-described “fighter” broke through for his first career Cup win in dramatic fashion at Daytona, punching his ticket to the postseason and sending his confidence soaring. With that breakthrough win behind him and a mentality built around fighting for everything he gets, Preece enters the Chase believing he can make a serious run at the title.
Pace Laps:
- Recent Strength- In the Spring of this year, Brad Keselowski and Chris Buescher combined to lead 183 of the race’s 293 laps.
- Let the Chase Begin – Sunday’s race waves the green flag on the 2026 Chase, with Chris Buescher (10 seed) and Ryan Preece (16 seed) beginning their quest for the Cup Series Championship.
- Crown Jewel – Darlington hosts its annual Labor Day weekend race “The Southern 500” a NASCAR Crown Jewel event as the Cup Series embarks on the 27th points race of the 2026 campaign.
- Been There, Done That – Darlington is a track where Jack Roush has had much success, including six wins, with four different drivers, in the Cup Series alone.
6 Team Info:
Driver: Brad Keselowski
Crew Chief: Jeremy Bullins
Partner: BuildSubmarines.com
17 Team Info:
Driver: Chris Buescher
Crew Chief: Scott Graves
Partner: Kroger / Gold Peak
60 Team Info:
Driver: Ryan Preece
Crew Chief: Derrick Finley
Partner: Consumer Cellular
Keselowski at Darlington Raceway
Starts: 25
Wins: 2 (2018, 2024)
Top-10s: 13
Poles: 3 (2015, 2020, 2021)
- Darlington is the track where Keselowski scored his most recent win (2024).
- Keselowski led 142 laps at Darlington in the Spring, finishing 2nd. – Best finish this season
- He has led a total of 574 laps in his 25 starts at the track.
- Keselowski is a two-time winner at Darlington Raceway, one of 12 tracks he has multiple wins at on the circuit. Overall, he has a 1.7 average finish and 8 top-5s, and 13 top-10s.
- The Michigan native has an average starting position of 11.4 with three poles (2015, 2020, 2021), and overall, he has fifteen top-10 qualifying efforts.
Buescher at Darlington Raceway
Starts: 18
Wins: —
Top-10s: 8
Poles: —
- Of the 81 laps he’s led this season, 41 came at Darlington in the spring – almost as many as all of 2025 (47)
- Has finished among the top-10 in six of his last seven Darlington races – four straight
- Buescher makes his 19th Cup start at Darlington this weekend, where he carries an average finish of 15.2 and eight top-10s.
- His best qualifying effort stands as the P3 starting spot in the 2024 spring race. Overall, he has a 18.8 average starting position.
Preece at Darlington Raceway
Starts: 13
Wins: —
Top-10s: —
Poles: 1
- Preece makes his 14th Cup start at Darlington this weekend, where he holds an average finish of 20.2.
- Watch for Preece in qualifying. He has started on the front row twice at Darlington including the pole in 2020.
- The Connecticut native’s best qualifying effort is the P1 starting spot in the spring race of 2020. Overall, he has a 22.8 average starting position.
RFK Historically at Darlington Raceway
Cup Wins: 6 (Mark Martin, 1993; Jeff Burton, back-to-back in 1999, Biffle, 2005 & 2006, Keselowski, 2024)
- Chasing the Lady in Black: RFK Racing has never shied away from the track Too Tough to Tame, scoring six Cup Series wins at Darlington thanks to legends like Mark Martin (1993), Jeff Burton’s back‑to‑back triumphs (1999–2000), Greg Biffle’s double victories (2005 & 2006), and Brad Keselowski’s 2024 victory—a tradition of toughness that defines RFK’s legacy. RFK has repeatedly stacked the board at Darlington through the years, proving that when the Lady in Black comes calling, RFK shows up ready to battle.
- Tradition of Toughness: From Martin’s early dominance to Burton’s relentless pace and Biffle’s mid‑2000s muscle, RFK built a reputation for taming what others fear—an identity that still fuels today’s RFK lineup.
- Legacy Lives On: Brad Keselowski’s 2024 win added a fresh chapter to RFK’s Darlington legacy, proving the organization still knows how to fight the Lady in Black and come out on top.
- Back-to-Back at Darlington: RFK won back-to-back Cup races at Darlington Raceway back in 1999 with Jeff Burton.
RFK Darlington Raceway Wins
1993 Martin Cup
1999 Burton Cup
1999 Burton Cup
2005 Biffle Cup
2006 Biffle Cup
2024 Keselowski Cup
1993 Martin NOAPS
1994 Martin NOAPS
1994 Martin NOAPS
1995 Martin NOAPS
1996 Martin NOAPS
1997 Burton NOAPS
1999 Martin NOAPS
2000 Martin NOAPS
2000 Martin NOAPS
2001 Burton NOAPS
2002 Burton NOAPS
2002 Burton NOAPS
2004 Biffle NOAPS
2005 Kenseth NOAPS
2009 Kenseth NOAPS
Last Time Out & Where They Stand
Daytona: It could not have been more of a Cinderella story for Ryan Preece last weekend as he came through with a clutch victory for Roush Fenway Keselowski (RFK) Racing. Preece overcame a Stage One spin to rally for the win. The victory, the first points paying win of his career, came on the hallowed grounds of Daytona in the regular season finale’, and launched him into the Chase. Co-owner Brad Keselowski celebrated with Preece in victory lane after leading 10 laps and finishing 14th. Chris Buescher, who clinched his own Chase berth in New Hampshire the week before, led 6 laps but was spun in Stage One, and damage sustained there relegated one of the race’s fastest cars to an extremely misleading 40th place finish.
Point Standings:
Buescher: 10th – Chase Contender
Preece: 16th – Chase Contender
Keselowski: 18th
About RFK Racing
RFK Racing, in its 39th season in 2026, features an ownership lineup pairing one of the sport’s most iconic names, Jack Roush, along with NASCAR Champion, Brad Keselowski, and Fenway Sports Group owner John Henry. Roush initially founded the team in 1988 and it has since become one of the most successful racing operations in the world, propelling him to be the first NASCAR owner to amass three hundred wins and capturing eight championships, including back-to-back NASCAR Cup titles in 2003 and 2004. Keselowski, a former owner in the NASCAR Truck Series, is the 2012 NASCAR Cup Series Champion. In 2007, Roush partnered with Henry, who also owns Major League Baseball’s Boston Red Sox, English Premier League’s Liverpool F.C., and the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins, to form Roush Fenway Racing. Off the track, RFK is a leader and proven winner in NASCAR marketing solutions, having produced multiple award-winning social media, digital content and experiential marketing campaigns. Visit https://www.rfkracing.com/ and follow the team on all social platforms @rfkracing.
