Martin Truex Jr.
Darlington Advance
No. 19 Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota Camry TRD for Joe Gibbs Racing

Event Overview

● Event: Goodyear 400 (Round 13 of 36)

● Time/Date: 3 p.m. EDT on Sunday, May 14

● Location: Darlington (S.C.) Raceway

● Layout: 1.366-mile, egg-shaped oval

● Laps/Miles: 293 laps/400.2 miles

● Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 90 laps / Stage 2: 95 laps / Final Stage: 108 laps

● TV/Radio: FS1 / MRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Notes of Interest

● 75 Greatest: On the heels of his May 1 victory at Dover (Del.) Motor Speedway, Truex got a surprise phone call from NASCAR CEO Jim France to let him know that he was chosen by NASCAR as one of the 75 Greatest Drivers in NASCAR history. NASCAR will be honoring the 75 greatest drivers this weekend Darlington (S.C.) Raceway as part of its annual throwback weekend at the track.

● 32 and Counting: Truex’s win at Dover was his 32nd career Cup Series victory, putting him 29th on the series’ all-time wins list.

● Party like it’s 2017: With Auto-Owners Insurance as primary sponsor at Darlington this weekend, Truex’s throwback paint scheme will take him back to years past with Auto-Owners Insurance scheme, which includes his Cup Series championship season in 2017. The matte black Auto-Owners Insurance scheme also has a pop of blue to pay tribute to a similar scheme he ran with Auto-Owners Insurance years ago.

● For a Great Cause: Auto-Owners Insurance will continue its ongoing support of the Martin Truex Jr. Foundation through a special diecast featuring the Darlington scheme this weekend. Fans can purchase the diecast starting at 6 p.m. Tuesday (May 9) at www.shopmtjf.org. There are a limited number of diecasts available and all cars will be signed by the 2017 Cup Series Champion. All proceeds from the diecast sales will benefit the MTJ Foundation.

● Truex and the No. 19 team for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) set the tone for the season right out of the gate by winning the 150-lap feature in the non-points Clash at the Coliseum on Feb. 5 in Los Angeles. Truex won his heat race, then went on to lead the final 25 laps of the feature en route to a victory that gave him and the team much-needed momentum heading into the 2023 season. While the team had been knocking on the door over the next 10 races, the breakthrough points-paying win finally came at Dover.

● Truex has two wins, four top-five finishes and 10 top-10s and has led a total of 769 laps in 21 career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Darlington. Truex’s average Darlington finish is 15.7.

● Truex notched his most recent Darlington win in May 2021, when he dominated the race and led 248 laps en route to his second victory at the 1.366-mile, egg-shaped oval.

● While he doesn’t like to play favorites, Truex certainly excels at tracks with worn-out surfaces, where driver skill is key to managing the tires and the racecar over the course of a long race. At four such tracks, Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, Darlington, and Homestead-Miami Speedway, Truex has six career wins, 23 top-five finishes and 45 top-10s, and has led 2,209 laps. So no surprise that Truex is looking forward to this weekend’s race at Darlington.

● With his eighth-place finish at Kansas last weekend, Truex heads to Darlington third in the standings with 368 points, 36 out of the lead.

Martin Truex Jr., Driver of the No. 19 Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota Camry TRD

What kind of an afternoon is 400 miles at Darlington?

“It’s quite the challenge. I love going there. I’m still mad about the Southern 500 last year, leading late and having the engine issues, so a little bit of redemption, hopefully, this weekend. It’s been so good to us and we’ve only been able to win there twice. I feel like we should have won there seven or eight times over the years. You’ve got to race the racetrack, but somehow with these cars you’ve got to find a way to get track position, as well. It’s very difficult to do but I’m really looking forward to the challenge. I can’t thank our friends at Auto-Owners Insurance enough for being along with us this weekend and helping us sell diecasts of our paint scheme to benefit the MTJ Foundation. It’s going to be a fun weekend, for sure.”

Does it take a driver a long time to get used to how to drive Darlington and get used to its nuances?

“I think it just suits some guys, and others it doesn’t. For me, I feel like it’s about how I like to drive my car and the feel I need for the long run. It’s always going back to for as long as I remember, because I don’t really know what I do differently than everyone else, and I don’t know if my team does, either, it’s just the way that it happens. Even with all the technology today, sometimes you just can’t pinpoint exactly what it is that makes us good there. You can see the SMT and see exactly what a driver is doing, but there’s more to connecting that feel and those inputs than you can imagine. It just suits me, and I really enjoy it. Looking forward to this weekend with our Auto-Owners Insurance Camry.”

Some drivers say they love Darlington and others say they just can’t get a grasp on it. Is it just tires, or much more to be good at Darlington?

“It’s very unique, I love it. It’s really hard on tires and hard to get your car working good. For me, I’ve had a lot of really good runs there and have won a bunch of races and have been really strong in the last four years, so I really enjoy it. I’ve had bad cars there years ago and I can see how that could be just miserable if you don’t have a good car. Fun track and a place I really like.”

How technical of a track is Darlington?

“It’s definitely really technical. It’s a track that is really fast but the two ends of the track are completely different, which makes the crew chiefs scratch their heads. It’s hard to get your car working right on both ends, so you have to compromise. It’s never going to be perfect. It’s never going to be comfortable, but you’ve got to figure out a way to be comfortable with it and that’s what I love about Darlington. You are on the ragged edge so much and the tires wear off the car so bad on the long run that you are just on ice. You are sliding and trying to keep the right rear from dragging against the wall and you are just sliding everywhere. I just think it’s so much fun. It’s been a great track for me, I think just because I like it so much. Hoping we can have a great run there this weekend with our Auto-Owners Insurance Camry and pick up where we left off in the fall there with having such a strong car.”

How important is qualifying these days with track position at a premium?

“I think these days qualifying is important everywhere we go. The whole field is closer together than they’ve ever been. It makes passing more difficult and you definitely want to get a good pit stall, which is also important at a lot of the places we go. Track position is a big deal and, with this car so far, that seems to be magnified a bit more, as well. It’s all part of it, though, and you take what you have and make the best of it each week.”

No. 19 Auto-Owners Insurance Team Roster

Primary Team Members

Driver: Martin Truex Jr.

Hometown: Mayetta, New Jersey

Crew Chief: James Small

Hometown: Melbourne, Australia

Car Chief: Chris Jones

Hometown: Smith Mountain Lake, Virginia

Engineer: Nick Burton

Hometown: Arvada, California

Engineer: Jeff Curtis

Hometown: Fairfax Station, Virginia

Spotter: Drew Herring

Hometown: Benson, North Carolina

Road Crew Members

Underneath Mechanic: Ryan Martin

Hometown: Mechanicsburg, Virgina

Mechanic: Todd Carmichael

Hometown: Redding, California

Interior/Tire Specialist: Tommy DiBlasi

Hometown: Annapolis, Maryland

Engine Tuner: Gregg Huls

Hometown: Beatrice, Nebraska

Transporter Driver: Kyle Bazzell

Hometown: Fairbury, Illinois

Transporter Driver: Eddie DeGroot

Hometown: Baldwinsville, New York

Over-The-Wall Crew Members

Gas Man: Matt Tyrrell

Hometown: Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Jackman: Kellen Mills

Hometown: Mesa, Arizona

Tire Carrier: CJ Bailey

Hometown: Outer Banks, North Carolina

Front Tire Changer: Lee Cunningham

Hometown: Leaf River, Illinois

Rear Tire Changer: Danny Olszowy

Hometown: Lexington, Kentucky

ARIC ALMIROLA
Darlington Advance
No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing

Event Overview

● Event: Goodyear 400 (Round 13 of 36)

● Time/Date: 3 p.m. ET on Sunday, May 14

● Location: Darlington (S.C.) Raceway

● Layout: 1.366-mile oval

● Laps/Miles: 293 laps/400.2 miles

● Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 90 laps / Stage 2: 95 laps / Final Stage: 108 laps

● TV/Radio: FS1 / MRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Notes of Interest

● Every year since 2015, Darlington (S.C) Raceway has hosted the Official Throwback Weekend of NASCAR, during which teams and drivers pay homage to the legacy and heritage of the sport using unique paint schemes on the racecars and other notable accents in the garage and pit lane. For this weekend’s renewal of the annual tradition at Darlington, Stewart-Haas Racing asked driver Aric Almirola to choose his own throwback paint scheme. It took just seconds for Almirola to say the most memorable and unique paint scheme he remembers is Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s 2001 “baseball car,” which Earnhardt drove to victory at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway on July 7 of that year – just five months removed from his father and NASCAR icon Dale Earnhardt Sr.’s fatal accident at the conclusion of the season-opening Daytona 500.

● Almirola remembers where he was when he watched “Junior” cross the finish line first and fellow Dale Earnhardt Incorporated (DEI) driver Michael Waltrip just behind in second. Almirola calls Earnhardt’s victory utilizing the baseball car paint scheme one of the sport’s top moments. “I grew up going to every Daytona race, but I wasn’t actually there at the track this time. We took a summer trip to Disney World instead that summer and we were in a cabin watching the race live on TV. I’m a huge baseball fan and I played baseball all the way up through high school, so growing up a baseball fan and being a NASCAR fan, and with Dale Sr., passing away earlier that year after the Daytona 500, to then watch Dale Jr., coming back in this baseball paint scheme and winning is just extremely emotional,” Almirola said. “I remember jumping up and down on the couch of the cabin that we were staying in, just so excited that he had pulled off that win and it was just really emotional. And I remember running around the cabin like a wild man and jumping up and down and just super pumped, and so was the entire NASCAR world, so when they asked me what one of my favorite paint schemes as a kid was growing up, this is the first that came to mind.”

● Just like racing, Almirola’s love for baseball started young with the majority of his family playing baseball and softball. Fast forward to today and the 39-year-old Almirola is passing down the stick-and-ball sport to his 10-year-old son Alex, who is playing his third season of baseball. Most weeknights during baseball season, Almirola can be found on a field as an assistant coach. On Tuesday of last week (May 2), Almirola got to share the field with Alex and his racecar at the minor league Kannapolis (N.C.) Cannon Ballers’ stadium to unveil the No. 10 SHR Ford throwback scheme and to throw the ceremonial first pitch for that night’s game. In true Almirola fashion, father and son both threw strikes from the pitcher’s mound.

● History at Darlington: In 15 NASCAR Cup Series starts at Darlington, Almirola has two top-10 finishes – both coming in 2020. Almirola earned back-to-back 11th-place finishes at Darlington last year.

● Fast Fact: Almirola and Earnhardt Jr., are tied for an impressive record set at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. With his third-place finish in the June 2020 race at Talladega, Almirola tied Earnhardt’s record of eight consecutive Talladega top-10s, first set by Earnhardt from April 2001 to October 2004. Almirola’s Talladega top-10 streak began in October 2016.

● Driver Points: Almirola arrives at Darlington 25th in the driver standings, 199 points out of first.

● Almirola’s career: In 436 career NASCAR Cup Series starts, Almirola has three wins, 28 top-five finishes, 92 top-10s, four poles, and has led 1,018 laps.

● Smithfield has been a sponsor of Almirola’s for the entirety of his fulltime NASCAR Cup Series career – making it one of the longest-lasting partnerships in NASCAR. Smithfield is an American food company with agricultural roots and a global reach. Its 63,000 team members are dedicated to producing “Good food. Responsibly.®” Smithfield is one of the world’s leading vertically integrated protein companies. The company has pioneered sustainability standards for more than two decades, including its industry-leading commitments to become carbon negative in U.S. company-owned operations and reduce GHG emissions 30 percent across its entire U.S. value chain by 2030. Smithfield believes in the power of protein to end food insecurity and has donated hundreds of millions of food servings to local communities.

● Beyond the 10 YouTube Series: In 2023, Almirola is continuing to share his life beyond the No. 10 Ford with season five of his award-winning YouTube series. Fans and media can subscribe on YouTube to see Almirola’s personality on and off the track. Episodes have already featured life as a dad, a husband and an athlete, and the show gives fans a unique perspective on what goes on in the life of a professional NASCAR driver. Fans can also follow Almirola’s social media channels: @Aric_Almirola on Twitter and Instagram, and @AricAlmirola on Facebook.

Aric Almirola, Driver of the No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

What is your relationship like with Dale Earnhardt Jr.?

“I have a great relationship with Dale Jr. He believed in me at a time when I needed somebody to believe in me to give me the opportunity to go drive an Xfinity car, and it started way before that. I met Junior when I was 19 years old when I moved to North Carolina to drive for Joe Gibbs Racing, and when I moved up here I moved into a house and rented a room from Mark McFarland, who was driving Dale Jr.’s Late Model and Hooters Cup car. So we would go over after working at Gibbs at 5 o’clock and I would go over to Junior’s and we would work on Mark’s Hooters Cup car and his Late Model. I spent a lot of time over there hanging out, helping them work on cars, drinking beer, partying, and all sorts of stuff, so I’ve been friends with Junior for a long time. Then, he was my boss when he gave me the opportunity to run his Xfinity car, and that propelled me into an opportunity to go Cup racing with Richard Petty. He was incredibly gracious when I had another year still left on my contract to drive an Xfinity car for him. When I got the phone call from ‘The King,’ I remember being so nervous to make that phone call to Junior, and I was like, ‘I have to do it.’ Richard Petty just got off the phone and said, ‘Hey, I want you to come drive the 43 car,’ so I called Dale and he answered and we talked about it and he said, ‘Absolutely. This is exactly why he started this program – to give guys an opportunity to go Cup racing and so, the fact that you have another year left on your contract, don’t worry about it. I’ll work that out with Kelly (Earnhardt) and our sponsors, but you need to go take this opportunity and you need to go Cup racing.’ And it was to go Cup racing against him. He was still Cup racing at the time. He’s a great person and he’s been incredibly gracious to me from the time I moved to North Carolina, befriending me and letting me be a part of everything. I’m really honored to have this opportunity to run this throwback scheme of his.”

Does this paint scheme mean even more now with your shared love of baseball with your son Alex?

“Absolutely. Having that bond with Alex over a shared passion for baseball certainly does mean more. Alex loves baseball. We’ve dabbled in all these sports, and he’s done a little bit of go-kart racing, as well, but his passion for baseball is superior to everything else, and I love it as well. To see Alex light up going to watch a baseball game, or the fact that a 10-year-old boy can sit on the couch and watch a whole nine-inning baseball game that most adults can’t do, and to share that interest with him is really special. Then you know, for me, to have this opportunity to run a baseball-themed racecar and to have that common bond with him certainly means more.”

Where did your love of baseball come from?

“This comes from my family growing up Hispanic in Tampa, Florida, like if you don’t play baseball there’s something wrong with you. My dad and my uncle played baseball, my stepdad played baseball, and my mom played softball. I had no choice but to play baseball. Everybody in my family and everybody around me played baseball and I loved it. I really enjoyed being at the baseball park. If I wasn’t at the go-kart shop working on my go-karts, I was at the baseball park practicing, or my stepbrother was practicing, or I was playing baseball games, and that’s really all I did. I went to school, I worked on go-karts, I played baseball and I raced. That was my life growing up, and the love that I have for the sport was just integrated into who I was because every single person around me loved the game.”

Do you enjoy racing at Darlington?

“I always enjoy going to Darlington. It is a really tough racetrack – they call it ‘Too Tough Too Tame’ and that’s the slogan for a reason. The technicality of that racetrack is so difficult. It’s not like any other racetrack we go to and I know that each and every racetrack is unique, but Darlington is very unique. It has two corners that are very different and the racing surface is very narrow. We predominately race up against the fence, so we’re at 180 miles an hour and you’re trying to run 1 to 2 inches off the wall with very little room for error. One little slip and one little slide and you’re in the fence, so it’s just a very difficult racetrack, but that’s why we all love it. You’ve got to make sure it stays good on long runs. Darlington is notorious for wearing out tires, so you’ve got to have a car that has good grip and not wearing out the tires. Qualifying is important, too. You’ve got to make sure you have a good day on pit road and make sure you’re not losing spots and just put together solid races on those types of tracks. You can’t really afford to lose any positions because it’s so difficult to make them back up.”

After showing improvement with the intermediate-track package last weekend at Kansas, do you expect improvement this weekend at Darlington?

“This intermediate package definitely improved last weekend at Kansas. I feel like as a team we really found something and we made an OK day out of it. I drove up to 13th and spun out, went a lap down and then drove back to 13th. I felt like we had a good car at Kansas and it was leaps and bounds better than what we saw at Dover. Darlington is obviously a much more unique track with tire fall-off, but we have shown consistent speed at Darlington through the years, so I think we can have a really good shot at it this weekend to bounce back. I feel like we have really been building all year and just haven’t seen the finishes that we deserve. We have had really good runs and gotten into some trouble and made some mistakes. We finished well there last year in both races and have some notes to improve on, as well, so we’re not just going in blind with this NextGen car.

No. 10 Smithfield Ford Team Roster

Primary Team Members

Driver: Aric Almirola

Hometown: Tampa, Florida

Crew Chief: Drew Blickensderfer

Hometown: Decatur, Illinois

Car Chief: Jerry Cook

Hometown: Toledo, Ohio

Engineer: Davin Restivo

Hometown: Asheboro, North Carolina

Engineer: James Kimbrough

Hometown: Pensacola, Florida

Spotter: Joel Edmonds

Hometown: Dobson, North Carolina

Over-The-Wall Members

Front Tire Changer: Ryan Mulder

Hometown: Sioux Center, Iowa

Rear Tire Changer: Trevor White

Hometown: Arlington, Texas

Tire Carrier: Tyler Bullard

Hometown: King, North Carolina

Jack Man: Sean Cotton

Hometown: Mooresville, North Carolina

Fuel Man: James “Ace” Keener

Hometown: Fortuna, California

Road Crew Members

Mechanic: Chris Trickett

Hometown: Grafton, West Virginia

Mechanic: Jacob Cooksey

Hometown: Westbrookville, New York

Engine Tuner: Matt Moeller

Hometown: Monroe, New York

Tire Specialist: Russel Simpson

Hometown: Medford, New York

Transporter Co-Driver: Steven Casper

Hometown: Salisbury, North Carolina

Transporter Co-Driver: Matt Murphy

Hometown: Augusta, Georgia

Darlington I Event Info:
Track Info: Darlington Raceway, 1.366-mile
Date: Sunday, May 14
Time: 3 p.m. ET
Series: NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Location: Darlington, S.C.
Format: 293 laps, 400.2 miles, Stages: 90-95-108
TV: FS1
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90)

Weekend Schedule:
Saturday: 10:35 a.m. ET, Practice (FS2, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Saturday: 11:20 a.m. ET, Qualifying (FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Sunday: 3 p.m. ET, Race (FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

6 Team Info:
Crew Chief: Matt McCall
Partner: Castrol Edge

• The No. 6 will pay homage this weekend to the Castrol heritage brand with a classic GTX scheme for Darlington.

17 Team Info:
Crew Chief: Scott Graves
Partner: Fifth Third Bank

• While the No. 17 is not officially a throwback scheme, the car will feature the No. 17 font that Hall of Famer Matt Kenseth ran during his years at Roush.

Pace Laps:

• The NASCAR schedule heads to the ‘Lady in Black’ this weekend as Darlington hosts the 13th points race of the season, and first of three-straight close to home.
• Jack Roush has 20 wins all-time at Darlington including five in the Cup Series.

Keselowski at Darlington
Starts: 18
Wins: 1 (2018)
Top-10s: 9
Poles: 3 (2015, 2020, 2021)

• Keselowski makes his 19th Cup start at Darlington on Sunday. He has nine top-10s and five top-five finishes in 18 starts with a 12.1 overall average finish.
• Keselowski won the fall race back in 2018, one of his five top fives overall at the track Too Tough to Tame. He’s coming off two-straight P7 finishes in the last two fall races, and finished 34th in this race last spring after a crash just over halfway through the race.
• Keselowski does have three poles at Darlington – 2015, 2020, 2021 – with a 11.1 average starting position and 11 starts inside the top-10.
• He also made seven Xfinity Series starts with one win (2018) and three top-10s.

Buescher at Darlington
Starts: 11
Wins: —
Top-10s: 2
Poles: —

• Buescher is set for his 12th Cup start from Darlington where he is coming off two top-10s in the last four starts. He ran ninth in both of the 2021 events and has a 18.2 average finish.
• Prior to 2021, Buescher’s top finish stood as 12th (2019 fall race). Last spring he finished 16th.
• He carries a 23.2 average starting position with a best starting spot of 11th which came in the 2021 spring race.
• Buescher also made four Xfinity starts at Darlington with a fifth-place run in 2015.

RFK Historically at Kansas
Cup Wins: 5 (Mark Martin, 1993; Jeff Burton, 1999, 1999; Greg Biffle, 2005, 2006)

Darlington Two-Step: RFK has twice won consecutive NCS races at Darlington, including a season sweep in 1999 with former driver Jeff Burton. RFK also earned victories in consecutive seasons at the egg-shaped oval in 2005 and 2006 with Biffle.

Tale of the Tape: In 256 all-time NASCAR starts at ‘The Lady in Black,’ Jack Roush’s Fords have 20 wins, 69 top-five and 119 top-10 finishes, along with 20 poles. Over the years RFK has led 4,500+ laps across the Cup, Xfinity and Truck series, with more than 89,000 miles logged at the 1.366-mile track. In NCS action alone, RFK has finished top-10 in 43 percent (72-of-170) of the races with 35 top-five results and five wins.

Kickin’ it Old School: Legendary RFK drivers Mark Martin, Jeff Burton and Greg Biffle are responsible for the five Cup wins for Jack Roush at Darlington. Martin earned Roush’s first Cup win back in 1993 after leading 178 laps. Burton swept the 1999 events as the dominant car, and Biffle earned the two most recent victories in 2005 and 2006.

Most All Time: It’s no secret that when Roush has dominated in the Xfinity Series at Darlington. In 79 starts, the organization has 15 wins, 33 top-five and 44 top-10s. Mark Martin is responsible for eight of the victories, second-most for him among any track, after winning five of the first seven races at the track for Roush from 1993-96. He also went on to win in 1999 and swept again in 2000. Jeff Burton got in on the fun with wins in 1997, 2001 and 2002, while Biffle earned a win in 2004. Most recently, Kenseth drove to victory lane in 2005 and 2009.

RFK Darlington Wins

1993-2 Martin Cup

1999-1 Burton Cup

1999-2 Burton Cup

2005 Biffle Cup

2006 Biffle Cup

1993-2 Martin NXS

1994-1 Martin NXS

1994-2 Martin NXS

1995-2 Martin NXS

1996-1 Martin NXS

1997-2 Burton NXS

1999-2 Martin NXS

2000-1 Martin NXS

2000-2 Martin NXS

2001-2 Burton NXS

2002-1 Burton NXS

2002-2 Burton NXS

2004-1 Biffle NXS

2005 Kenseth NXS

2009 Kenseth NXS

Last Time Out & Where They Stand
Kansas: Chris Buescher earned stage points in stage two and went on to finish 17th at Kansas, while Keselowski finished 19th Sunday afternoon.

Points Standings (6: 10th, 17: 13th): Keselowski enters the weekend in 10th in points, while Buescher sits 13th.

By the Numbers at Darlington

Race      Win       T5           T10         Pole       Laps       Led        AvSt      AvFn     Miles

172         5              35           73           7              54789    2735       17.1        16.2        74841.7
79           15           33           44           12           10616    1856       9.9          12.9        14501.4
7              0              1              3              1              944         9              16.0        15.9        1289.50
258         20           69           120         20           66349    4600       14.7        15.2        90632.6

DARLINGTON RACEWAY NOTES

Friday, May 12 – NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, 7:30 p.m. ET (FS1)
Saturday, May 13 – NASCAR XFINITY Series, 1:30 p.m. ET (FOX)
Sunday, May 14 – NASCAR Cup Series, 3 p.m. ET (FS1)

The three major NASCAR series schedules converge for the first time in nearly a month at one of its most storied and long-standing racetracks as Darlington Raceway hosts its annual Throwback Weekend. Darlington debuted in the Cup Series in 1950, and Ford has been deeply rooted in the 70-plus year relationship, earning its first victory in 1956 and, most recently, during Joey Logano’s 2022 championship season.

Joey Logano: “It’s one of the best races of the year. It’s the environment of the throwback and all the cool cars that come out, which I think is fun for the fans and really competitors as well to see that. But the race itself, it’s just fun. You get a lot of tire wear, slipping and sliding hard, you’re up against the wall. It’s one of the best races we have all year.”

Kevin Harvick: “Well, Darlington is just a unique racetrack because of its shape and how narrow it is. You add in the element of racing the racetrack, that’s a real statement there. A lot of times if you can just keep the car off the wall and stay out of trouble, keeping it on the lead lap, you’re going to put yourself in position for a decent day. It’s a different style of race and much more old school just because of the fact that you have to be aware of keeping yourself out of trouble and just making laps. Darlington has been one of those tracks that’s been a part of our sport for a long time. It’s unique because it has the same shape and width of how the sport was for 50-60 years – to be able to be relevant to how they used to race there.”

Ryan Blaney: “When we started doing that a handful of years ago, it was pretty unique to see what everyone rolls out and some special schemes. I kind of wish no one put out what they were going to unload until the weekend. I think that would be kind of cool if you got the surprise when everyone rolls in with their trailers. It’s really sweet to have dad’s nineties car from the [World of] Outlaws deal on our car this year. But I like walking down and seeing all the schemes, and it’s cool to see what people come up with. Everything is unique about Darlington. It’s super narrow, the bends are way different – especially now, with it repaved in Turns 1 and 2. It’s a place when you look at it, you’re like, ‘How the heck are we going to race on this thing?’ It’s two lanes wide, and you figure out a way. Just a lot of history there, and I’d say it’s up there for one of the most unique places we go to.”

Todd Gilliland: “I think it’s really cool. I just like the whole throwback style weekend. I think it fits Darlington so well, and especially for us, to have Serial 1 on-board for the Elton Sawyer throwback is really cool to me. Getting to know Elton more and more the last couple years in the Cup series – that’s the best part, getting to know all these people in NASCAR. To be able to honor him this year is really cool.”

LOGANO LOOKING TO REPEAT

Joey Logano passed William Byron with two laps to go to win last year’s Goodyear 400 for his first NASCAR Cup Series victory of the season and first at Darlington Raceway. Logano dominated the Throwback Weekend, capturing the pole on Saturday and then winning the first stage before green flag pit stops and race strategy took over. He ended up leading eight times for 107 laps, most among all drivers, and dueled with Byron for the win over the final 26 laps.

 HARVICK CELEBRATES RETURN TO RACING IN STYLE

Nobody enjoyed a return to Darlington in 2020 more than Kevin Harvick, who celebrated the sport’s return to competition by winning his 50th career series race in what turned out to be the first of three NASCAR Cup Series races held at the track dubbed ‘Too Tough to Tame.’ Harvick led 159-of-293 laps and once he passed fellow Ford driver Brad Keselowski on lap 216, he never trailed again. That marked the first of two Darlington wins on the season for Harvick, who captured the annual Southern 500 in the fall.

KESELOWSKI SPARKS BACK-TO-BACK 1-2 FINISHES

Brad Keselowski was at the forefront of consecutive 1-2 Ford finishes when he swept the NASCAR XFINITY and NASCAR Cup Series fall Darlington weekend in 2018. Keselowski led the final 33 laps and won Saturday’s NXS event after Ross Chastain and Kevin Harvick made contact while battling for the lead. Cole Custer finished second to Keselowski, who registered his first win at Darlington. One night later Keselowski got his second after the No. 2 pit crew got him the lead on the final round of stops. Keselowski took off on the restart and beat Penske teammate Joey Logano to the finish line for Ford’s first Cup win at Darlington since Greg Biffle in 2006.

WOOD BROTHERS LEAD THE WAY

It comes as no surprise that the Wood Brothers are Ford’s all-time winningest team at Darlington Raceway, posting eight career victories. All but one of those triumphs came in a Mercury, which the team ran in the 1960’s and 70’s. David Pearson, who holds the record with 10 career Darlington Cup victories, led the way with six while Cale Yarborough captured the team’s first in 1968. The last Darlington win for Wood Brothers Racing came in 1981 when Neil Bonnett took the Southern 500 in 1981 behind the wheel of a Ford.

DARLINGTON MASTER

David Pearson holds the record for most NASCAR Cup Series wins at Darlington Raceway with 10 and eight of those came in Ford Motor Co. products. He won six times driving the famed No. 21 Wood Brothers Mercury (1972,’74,’76-2,’77), winning the Southern 500 twice in that span (1976-77), and two more times in a Holman-Moody Ford (1968 and ’70). Pearson won three Southern 500 titles overall, capturing his third in 1979.

FIELD OF 70

The first time Ford won a NASCAR Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway was when Curtis Turner took the Southern 500 on Sept. 3, 1956. Unlike today, where the field is set at a maximum of 40 cars, there were 70 vehicles in the race that saw Turner lead 224 of the 400 laps. He beat Speedy Thompson to the finish line by more than two laps, and did it in record fashion with an average race speed of 95.167 mph.

MARTIN ALL-TIME DARLINGTON NXS WINNER

Mark Martin is Darlington’s all-time winningest driver in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, having won eight times during his Hall of Fame career. He won 8-of-15 series races from 1993-2000, which included a pair of three-race winning streaks (1993-94, 1999-2000) and consecutive triumphs in 1995-96. Overall, Ford has won 19 times at the Track Too Tough to Tame, including a stretch where Martin (3), Jeff Burton (3) and Jeff Green (1) combined to win seven straight.

TIE AT THE TOP

Zane Smith and Ty Majeski share the top spot in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series standings with 323 points, although Smith is technically the leader because of his two victories. Regardless, both Ford drivers continue to set the pace as each has five top-5 finishes in eight starts this season. Ben Rhodes continues to hold down third place, making this the fifth straight race in which Ford drivers have filled the top three spots in the standings.

RHODES WINS OT THRILLER

Ford has one NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series win at Darlington and it came when Ben Rhodes won the South Carolina Education Lottery 200 on Sept. 6, 2020. Even though he led only four laps, Rhodes took advantage of a late-race caution that resulted in an overtime finish. Running fourth at the time, he stayed out on the track while the top three trucks pitted for tires. Despite being on old tires, Rhodes was able to hold off Dennis Kraus on the final lap and snapped a 48-race winless streak.

FORD NASCAR CUP SERIES WINNERS AT DARLINGTON

1956 – Curtis Turner

1960 – Joe Weatherly (1)

1961 – Fred Lorenzen and Nelson Stacy

1962 – Nelson Stacy and Larry Frank

1963 – Fireball Roberts (2)

1964 – Fred Lorenzen

1965 – Junior Johnson and Ned Jarrett

1968 – David Pearson (1)

1969 – Lee Roy Yarbrough (2)

1970 – David Pearson (1)

1981 – Neil Bonnett (2)

1982 – Dale Earnhardt (1)

1985 – Bill Elliott (Sweep)

1988 – Bill Elliott (2)

1992 – Bill Elliott (1)

1993 – Mark Martin (2)

1994 – Bill Elliott (2)

1997 – Dale Jarrett (1)

1998 – Dale Jarrett (1)

1999 – Jeff Burton (Sweep)

2001 – Dale Jarrett (1)

2005 – Greg Biffle

2006 – Greg Biffle

2018 – Brad Keselowski

2020 – Kevin Harvick (1) and (3)

2022 – Joey Logano (1)

FORD NASCAR XFINITY SERIES WINNERS AT DARLINGTON

1993 – Mark Martin (2)

1994 – Mark Martin (Sweep)

1995 – Mark Martin (2)

1996 – Mark Martin (1) and Terry Labonte (2)

1997 – Jeff Burton (2)

1999 – Mark Martin (2)

2000 – Mark Martin (Sweep)

2001 – Jeff Green (1) and Jeff Burton (2)

2002 – Jeff Burton (Sweep)

2004 – Greg Biffle

2005 – Matt Kenseth

2009 – Matt Kenseth

2018 – Brad Keselowski

2019 – Cole Custer

2020 – Chase Briscoe (1)

FORD NASCAR CRAFTSMAN TRUCK SERIES WINNERS

2020 – Ben Rhodes