Race Central

DARLINGTON, S.C. -- Martin Truex Jr. put on a strong drive in the Bojangles' Southern 500 and had the race in check as the laps wound down, but the defending race winner blew a tire in Turn 3, costing him the win, and nursed his damaged car around to an eighth-place finish.

DARLINGTON, S.C. -- Denny Hamlin overcame a botched pit road entry, resulting in him missing the pits entirely, and took advantage of Martin Truex Jr. collecting the wall with three laps to go to win the Bojangles' Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series came to Canadian Tire Motorsports Park on a Sunday afternoon for the fifth year in a row and it sure did not disappoin

Denny Hamlin took the lead on the final restart, passing Joey Logano with a last lap inside crossover move to win the Sport Clips Haircuts VFW 200 Saturday at Darlington Raceway. It was his fifth XFINITY win at Darlington.

Kevin Harvick topped qualifying in all three rounds for the Bojangles’ Southern 500 in his No. 4 Busch Beer Throwback Ford winning his fourth Coors Light Pole Award this season with a speed of 177.730 mph. It’s his third pole at Darlington Raceway and his 21st career pole. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver also captured one win in 2014 after starting from the pole.

Propelling his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota at 173.320 mph, Kyle Busch put his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota atop the speed charts in Friday’s final Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Darlington Raceway despite an earlier spin.

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads to Darlington Raceway this Labor Day weekend for the Bojangles’ Southern 500. This is the third straight year of Darlington’s throwback campaign and this edition will focus on the 1985-89 era. There are 40 drivers on the entry list and 32 will run retro paint schemes to honor the rich history of the sport.

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and the XFINITY Series head to Darlington Raceway as the Camping World Truck Series travels to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Darlington will close out the “The Official Throwback Weekend of NASCAR” with The Bojangles’ Southern 500 Sunday at 6 p.m.

It came down to a breathtaking showdown between Clements and Matt Tifft in the closing laps. Clements gave up the lead with nine laps remaining after trying to stretch out his fuel with the hopes of catching a late-race caution, relinquishing the lead to Tifft.

Australian racer James Davison led final NASCAR XFINITY Series practice Saturday afternoon at Road America.