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NASCAR practice speeds, lap averages and notes for the 2026 Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway. Use the NASCAR stats and data to build DFS lineups on DraftKings. Erik Jones was fastest.
The NASCAR Cup Series ran a single practice session at Darlington Raceway on Saturday afternoon in preparation for the upcoming Goodyear 400 on Sunday afternoon.
The 37-car field was split into two groups for practice.
Below you will find the two groups, key notes from the practice session, as well as the practice speeds for all drivers.
Important Practice Notes
Group One Speed Advantage - Group One had the clear speed advantage in this split session. Those drivers were the first on track and put up the fastest single lap times.
Penalties - Chase Elliott, Chris Buescher, and Timmy Hill will lose their pit selections this weekend and also have their car chief ejected after failing pre-race inspection twice.
Elliott, Buescher and THill cars failed twice and passed on their third time through. They had their car chief ejected and lost pit selection this weekend. https://t.co/hzsLpHtQ2d
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) March 21, 2026
Timmy Hill - The No. 66 Ford went spinning during the first group's practice time. There was no major damage to Timmy Hill's car.
2026 Goodyear 400 at Darlington Practice Speed Chart
Click here to download the PDF of the practice speed chart.
| Rank | Driver | Time | Speed | Fastest Lap | Laps Ran |
Behind Leader
|
| 1. | Erik Jones | 29.925 | 164.331 | 1 | 29 | ---.--- |
| 2. | Riley Herbst | 29.925 | 164.331 | 2 | 39 | 0.000 |
| 3. | Austin Cindric | 30.017 | 163.827 | 2 | 31 | -0.092 |
| 4. | Daniel Suarez | 30.049 | 163.653 | 1 | 40 | -0.124 |
| 5. | Carson Hocevar | 30.063 | 163.576 | 1 | 25 | -0.138 |
| 6. | Tyler Reddick | 30.080 | 163.484 | 2 | 42 | -0.155 |
| 7. | Connor Zilisch | 30.087 | 163.446 | 1 | 30 | -0.162 |
| 8. | Michael McDowell | 30.110 | 163.321 | 1 | 26 | -0.185 |
| 9. | Kyle Busch | 30.111 | 163.316 | 1 | 37 | -0.186 |
| 10. | Josh Berry | 30.184 | 162.921 | 1 | 28 | -0.259 |
| 11. | Ross Chastain | 30.201 | 162.829 | 1 | 35 | -0.276 |
| 12. | Ty Gibbs | 30.244 | 162.598 | 2 | 42 | -0.319 |
| 13. | AJ Allmendinger | 30.336 | 162.104 | 2 | 22 | -0.411 |
| 14. | Denny Hamlin | 30.344 | 162.062 | 2 | 40 | -0.419 |
| 15. | William Byron | 30.347 | 162.046 | 1 | 31 | -0.422 |
| 16. | Kyle Larson | 30.365 | 161.950 | 2 | 33 | -0.440 |
| 17. | Chase Briscoe | 30.384 | 161.848 | 2 | 42 | -0.459 |
| 18. | Cody Ware | 30.393 | 161.800 | 2 | 29 | -0.468 |
| 19. | Chris Buescher | 30.462 | 161.434 | 1 | 32 | -0.537 |
| 20. | Todd Gilliland | 30.472 | 161.381 | 2 | 20 | -0.547 |
| 21. | Austin Dillon | 30.491 | 161.280 | 1 | 35 | -0.566 |
| 22. | Brad Keselowski | 30.518 | 161.138 | 2 | 25 | -0.593 |
| 23. | John Hunter Nemechek | 30.555 | 160.943 | 1 | 29 | -0.630 |
| 24. | Cole Custer | 30.560 | 160.916 | 1 | 24 | -0.635 |
| 25. | Christopher Bell | 30.567 | 160.879 | 2 | 36 | -0.642 |
| 26. | Noah Gragson | 30.580 | 160.811 | 1 | 27 | -0.655 |
| 27. | Bubba Wallace | 30.647 | 160.459 | 2 | 39 | -0.722 |
| 28. | Ryan Preece | 30.653 | 160.428 | 1 | 28 | -0.728 |
| 29. | Ty Dillon | 30.672 | 160.329 | 2 | 23 | -0.747 |
| 30. | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 30.672 | 160.329 | 2 | 28 | -0.747 |
| 31. | Justin Allgaier | 30.675 | 160.313 | 2 | 22 | -0.750 |
| 32. | Zane Smith | 30.685 | 160.261 | 2 | 35 | -0.760 |
| 33. | Chase Elliott | 30.698 | 160.193 | 2 | 31 | -0.773 |
| 34. | Shane Van Gisbergen | 30.749 | 159.927 | 2 | 24 | -0.824 |
| 35. | Joey Logano | 30.795 | 159.688 | 1 | 33 | -0.870 |
| 36. | Ryan Blaney | 30.830 | 159.507 | 2 | 40 | -0.905 |
| 37. | Timmy Hill | 32.525 | 151.194 | 3 | 5 | -2.600 |
2026 Goodyear 400 at Darlington 10-Lap Average Chart
| Rank | Driver | From Lap | To Lap | Avg Speed |
| 1. | Austin Cindric | 1 | 10 | 160.175 |
| 2. | Carson Hocevar | 1 | 10 | 160.015 |
| 3. | Tyler Reddick | 1 | 10 | 159.990 |
| 4. | Kyle Busch | 1 | 10 | 159.799 |
| 5. | Riley Herbst | 1 | 10 | 159.248 |
| 6. | Erik Jones | 1 | 10 | 159.163 |
| 7. | Josh Berry | 1 | 10 | 159.111 |
| 8. | Connor Zilisch | 1 | 10 | 158.771 |
| 9. | Daniel Suarez | 1 | 10 | 158.760 |
| 10. | Brad Keselowski | 1 | 10 | 158.622 |
| 11. | Ty Gibbs | 1 | 10 | 158.562 |
| 12. | Chase Briscoe | 1 | 10 | 158.553 |
| 13. | Shane Van Gisbergen | 1 | 10 | 158.162 |
| 14. | Chris Buescher | 1 | 10 | 158.068 |
| 15. | Austin Dillon | 1 | 10 | 157.943 |
| 16. | Ryan Preece | 1 | 10 | 157.854 |
| 17. | Ryan Blaney | 1 | 10 | 157.822 |
| 18. | Denny Hamlin | 1 | 10 | 157.799 |
| 19. | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 1 | 10 | 157.750 |
| 20. | John Hunter Nemechek | 1 | 10 | 157.739 |
| 21. | Zane Smith | 1 | 10 | 157.700 |
| 22. | Cole Custer | 1 | 10 | 157.570 |
| 23. | Bubba Wallace | 1 | 10 | 157.435 |
| 24. | Christopher Bell | 1 | 10 | 157.399 |
| 25. | Ross Chastain | 1 | 10 | 157.253 |
| 26. | Cody Ware | 1 | 10 | 156.888 |
| 27. | Kyle Larson | 7 | 16 | 155.970 |
| 28. | Joey Logano | 1 | 10 | 155.754 |
| 29. | Noah Gragson | 5 | 14 | 155.563 |
| 30. | Michael McDowell | 6 | 15 | 155.039 |
| 31. | William Byron | 11 | 20 | 153.903 |
| 32. | Chase Elliott | 10 | 19 | 153.450 |
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