NASCAR Cup Series
Next Race: Goodyear 400
The Place: Darlington Raceway
The Date: Sunday, May 9
The Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
TV: FS1, 2 p.m. ET
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 400.2 miles (293 laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 90),
Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 185), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 293)
What To Watch For:
Darlington Raceway is the perfect stage for Throwback Weekend. The historic 1.366-mile egg-shaped paved oval has hosted 119 NASCAR Cup Series races dating back to 1950. …
The raceway was built as a 1.25-mile paved superspeedway in 1949-1950 and hosted the first 500-mile race in NASCAR history and the first on asphalt on Sept. 4, 1950. A total of 75 cars competed in the inaugural event and Curtis Turner won the pole at 82.034 mph, and the race was won by Johnny Mantz (Plymouth, 75.250 mph). The race took 6 hours, 38 minutes, and 40 seconds to complete.
Since then, Darlington Raceway has undergone some changes through the years. In 1953, the track was re-measured to 1.375 miles. Then in 1970, the track was re-configured to 1.366 miles following the spring race of that season. The track was repaved in 1995 and then again prior to the 2008 season.
In total, the 119 NASCAR Cup Series races has produced 51 different pole winners and 51 different race winners. Six of the 51 NASCAR Cup Series pole winners at Darlington Raceway are active this weekend – Kevin Harvick (two poles), Kurt Busch (two), Brad Keselowski, Ryan Newman, Denny Hamlin and William Byron (each have one pole).
NASCAR Hall of Famer David Pearson leads the series in poles at Darlington with 12 (1967, ’70, ’72, ’73 sweep, ’75 sweep, ’76 sweep, ’77, ’78 and ’82). Kurt Busch (2001, 2013) and Kevin Harvick (2014, 2017) lead all active drivers in poles at Darlington with two each.
Of the 51 Cup winners at Darlington Raceway, six are active this weekend – Kevin Harvick (2014, 2020 twice), Denny Hamlin (2010, 2017, 2020), Erik Jones (2019), Brad Keselowski (2018), Martin Truex Jr. (2016) and Kyle Busch (2008).
NASCAR Hall of Famer David Pearson leads the series in victories at Darlington with 10 wins (1968, ’70, ’72, ’73, ’74, ’76 sweep, ’77, ’79, 80); followed by Dale Earnhardt with nine and Jeff Gordon with seven. … Kevin Harvick (2020, 2020, 2014) and Denny Hamlin (2020, 2017, 2010) lead all active drivers in victories at Darlington with three wins each.
The youngest Cup Series winner at Darlington is Kyle Busch (05/10/2008 – 23 years, 0 months, 8 days) and the oldest winner is Harry Gant (09/01/1991 – 51 years, 7 months, 22 days).
20 of the 119 NASCAR Cup Series races have been won from the pole or first starting position – the most proficient starting position in the field.
The most recent driver to win from the pole at Darlington was Kevin Harvick in 2014.
TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!
