NASCAR Cup Series

In his 700th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career start, Jeff Gordon took the lead for Team Chevy by scoring a third-place finish at the Bojangles’ Southern 500 in his No. 24 Cromax Pro Chevrolet SS. A seven-time winner at Darlington, this marked Gordon’s 300th top-five finish in the sport; which recognizes him as becoming the fourth driver to accomplish this feat (joining David Pearson, Bobby Allison and Richard Petty).

DAVID RAGAN – No. 34 Peanut Patch Boiled Peanuts Ford Fusion – “It looked like we got some trash on our grille, so we came down and we knew we were gonna lose a lap or two, but we were fortunate and we caught a caution so our penalty wasn’t gonna be that bad."

Matt Kenseth won the 64th annual Bojangles’ Southern 500, taking the lead from Kyle Busch in the final moments of the event. It is his 27th victory in 483 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races and his third win this season.

Denny Hamlin is scheduled to return to racing full time Saturday evening at Darlington Raceway. He has no backup plan for the Bojangles’ Southern 500 and is determined to run the entire race.

Darlington Raceway needs no introduction this week. Its the 64th annual Bojangles' Southern 500 and there's a reason why the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series has continued to come back to the track Too Tough To Tame year after year.

Camry driver Kyle Busch (first) captured the checkered flag in Friday night's NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) race at Darlington Raceway.

Kurt Busch won the Coors Light Pole Award with a qualifying lap of 181.918 mph. His time set the track record previously held by Kasey Kahne in 2011 with a lap speed of 181.254. It is his 16th pole in 446 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races.

KURT BUSCH, NO. 78 FURNITURE ROW RACING/SERTA CHEVROLET SS – POLE WINNER - YOU JUST CUT A NEW TRACK RECORD. DID IT FEEL LIKE IT? “It did and it didn’t. There is still maybe a little bit more time out there. I might have to hold my breath for 27 more seconds for a couple more other guys"

ARIC ALMIROLA – No. 43 Smithfield Ford Fusion – “The draw hurts us. It’s not ideal for us at all, but it is what it is. We can’t do anything about that. It’s supposedly a random draw, so we just do the best we can with what we’ve got. It’s not a great lap there for us. I messed up a little bit and the car was a little bit tight, so that’s OK. We’ll go race them.”

This weekend, NASCAR heads to the track nicknamed "too tough to tame" and rightly so. Darlington Raceway is a 1 mile egg-shaped oval nestled in a small town in South Carolina and once a year, NASCAR awakens this legendary speedway and will adorn the lady with her signature black walls before the race is done.