3 days agoFor the first time since the 2021 season, Brad Keselowski can call himself a winner. A wild ending to the Goodyear 400 on Sunday helped Keselowski get to victory lane, as issues between race-winning contenders, Chris Buescher and Tyler Reddick, opened the door for Brad to capitalize late and get the win. This victory locks Keselowski into the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs, and marks his second-ever win at Darlington (and first victory since becoming part owner of Roush-Fenway Keselowski Racing). This also ends Ford's winless streak in the Cup Series, and marks the first victory for the new Mustang Dark Horse car.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Speedway Digest
4 days agoHeading into the Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway this past weekend, Bubba Wallace was in need of a good run. The previous three races of the season all ended with the No. 23 Toyota outside of the top 15, and the 23XI Racing driver had just two top-10 results in the previous ten races. A seventh-place run at Darlington is exactly what the doctor ordered for Bubba Wallace. He ranked 11th-fastest in Green Flag Speed during the race but was able to maintain track position all day, as Wallace was eighth-best in average running position. Still, Bubba now sits six points below the cutline for this year's Playoffs. When asked about that following the Darlington race, he replied, "This is where we lit the wick last year, at this point in the season, so it's time to do it again."
--Jordan McAbeeSource: FOX Sports
4 days agoMost NASCAR Cup Series drivers would consider a fourth-place finish at Darlington Raceway a great run. Not Denny Hamlin. Despite notching his fifth top-five finish of the season, Hamlin remarked after the race, "Below average day for the Yahoo! Camry, but to finish fourth on a below average day--that's alright." Hamlin had the sixth-best average running position during the race and ranked eighth-fastest in Green Flag Speed. For him to call that a below average day, it shows just how fast that No. 11 Toyota has been this season. With his good run at Darlington, Denny now sits third in the points standings, just 39 points behind leader, Kyle Larson.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Speedway Digest
4 days agoJustin Haley walked away with a ninth-place finish after this weekend's Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway, his first top-10 result of the 2024 season. And while Haley was never a contender for the race win, this run is still extremely noteworthy, as it marks the first-ever non-superspeedway top-10 finish for Rick Ware Racing. Many people questioned Haley's decision to move over to Rick Ware Racing this season, but races like this show that it was probably the right move, as the Kaulig Chevrolets struggled once again at Darlington.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Frontstretch
4 days agoKyle Larson started sixth at Darlington before being taken out in a lap 252 crash, relegating him to a 34th-place finish. Larson had great speed, especially in Stage 1 when he beat Tyler Reddick out of the pits before passing Ty Gibbs to take the Stage win. However, after Reddick retook the lead in the pits, Larson could never retake the lead and spent most of the race running between third and fifth. Shortly after Byron passed him for third in Stage 3, Larson hit the wall and needed to pit stop for tires slightly early. He damaged his car and toe link in that wall contact, because shortly after he pitted, he popped a tire while running sixth, resulting in a crash. He still ranked fourth in average speed and significantly closed his deficit in speed percentile to the leader Martin Truex, Jr. Larson also retainen his points lead.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
4 days agoAlthough Todd Gilliland finished 15th in this weekend's race at Darlington while his teammate Michael McDowell finished 10th, that does not reflect how well he ran, as Gilliland consistently had more speed, particularly in Stage 1 when he drove from 15th to 6th, finishing the Stage as the second-highest Ford driver behind only eventual race winner, Brad Keselowski. Unfortunately, Gilliland lost many spots in the pits and could not work his way back to the top 10. Gilliland was generally the faster Front Row Motorsports driver in the race as he ranked 12th in speed while McDowell was 17th.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
4 days agoChris Buescher delivered an electrifying performance for the second straight week at Darlington before a cut tire dropped him to 30th. Although his owner-teammate and eventual winner, Brad Keselowski, outran him, Buescher short-pitted to join the leaders' battle. While Keselowski and Tyler Reddick ran side-by-side for several laps, Buescher caught them sleeping and made a daring three-wide pass for the lead one week after his five-wide pass for second at Kansas. However, Reddick made a failed slide job on Buescher several laps later, cutting both drivers' tires and handing Keselowski the win. Buescher confronted Reddick after the race, incensed that Reddick took him out when he was locked into the Playoffs while Buescher was not. However, Buescher's increased aggression is paying dividends as he arguably drove too conservatively before. It's hard to imagine him not winning before the Playoffs, particularly since he is the fastest Ford driver for the second consecutive year.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
4 days agoRyan Blaney is not particularly known as a great Darlington driver, as he's never finished better than eighth and has only led laps in two races. However, this past weekend in the Goodyear 400, he was on pace for one of his best-ever runs there before being eliminated in a lap 129 crash. Blaney started 17th but pitted long on the green-flag pit cycle during Stage 1, which enabled him to make a series of passes and finish eighth in the Stage. He was in a three-wide battle for fourth with William Byron and Martin Truex, Jr. when Byron touched Truex, which sent Truex into Blaney and Blaney into the wall. Although he had minimal cosmetic damage, a broken toe link took him out due to the damaged vehicle policy and he finished last, but his good run prior to that indicates that Blaney will likely have better runs at Darlington in the future.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
4 days agoOn Sunday afternoon Michael McDowell finished with his second top-10 finish in as many weeks as he placed 10th in the Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway. While earning his fourth top-10 finish of the season is noteworthy, the biggest news story of the week related to the No.
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4 days agoChase Briscoe finished fifth in Sunday's Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway, marking his fifth top-10 finish of the season. Heading into the weekend, there was little buzz for the Stewart-Haas star, likely due to the fact that he was averaging 18.16 for his finishing position in his previous six Cup starts at the famed South Carolina track. Despite the limited interest in the 29-year-old for this race, he delivered a tremendous return on value for the 10.24% that rostered him on DraftKings, scoring 48.35 points on a $6,800 salary. While he did not lead any laps in Sunday's contest, he was incredibly consistent, running 76.5% of the race in the top 15 and even recording three fastest laps. Although he does not have a win this season, the No. 14 enters all-star weekend ranked 14th in the playoff standings, a favorable position to be in as we enter the second half of the regular season.
--Adam Erhardt - RotoBallerSource: Jayski.com
4 days agoTyler Reddick ended the Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway in the 32nd position, two laps down after he dominated much of the race. Starting from the pole, Reddick commanded the race for 37 laps before losing ground during green flag pit stops and finishing the first stage in
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4 days agoIn this week's Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway, Noah Gragson had a quiet but solid performance as he placed 14th. Starting from the last position, 36th, Gragson steadily progressed through the pack and reached the Top 25 by the end of stage one. During the second stage, Gragson continued to ascend through the field, reaching 15th by lap 185. In the final stage, Gragson competed for a top-10 finish and raced close among his teammates, Josh Berry and Chase Briscoe, before he faded to 14th. This is a new career-best finish for Gragson at Darlington in the Cup Series and his fourth consecutive top-15 finish in the past four races this year. While scoring the second-most positive Place Differential this week, Gragson was the sixth-highest scoring driver overall on DraftKings and the eighth-highest on FanDuel. With the NASCAR Cup Series heading to North Wilkesboro for All-Star weekend, Gragson will look to make the All-Star race for the second year in a row.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com
4 days agoJosh Berry did not start off the best at Darlington Raceway. However, when the race was over, Berry had his best result with Stewart-Haas Racing. The Ford driver came all the way back from 33rd to end up third on Sunday evening. Berry was not in the Top 10 after the first two stages but battled his way up to the front during the final laps. He got a bigger boost when Tyler Reddick and Chris Buescher had their encounter. Berry nearly caught up to Ty Gibbs for second place but came up a couple tenths of a second short. This could potentially be a springboard for bigger and better things for Berry and Stewart-Haas Racing.
--Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com
4 days agoTy Gibbs benefitted when Tyler Reddick and Chris Buescher had their run-in. Gibbs stayed the course and held off Josh Berry to finish second on Sunday evening. It was Gibbs' best finish in the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. The No. 54 car ended up 1.2 seconds behind winner Brad Keselowski. Gibbs also racked up 17 stage points on Sunday behind a second in Stage 2 and third in Stage 1. He keeps coming closer and closer to a win. When will it be the week? The All-Star event is next Sunday so Gibbs will have to wait until Memorial Day weekend at the Coca Cola 600.
--Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com
5 days agoDenny Hamlin is a four-time winner at Darlington Raceway and has a good chance of grabbing a fifth win at "The Lady in Black" in this weekend's Goodyear 400. Among active drivers, Hamlin leads the series in wins, average finish (8.4) and laps led (978) at this track, and with the way that his No. 11 Toyota has been running this season, it's hard to imagine the Joe Gibbs Racing driver having a bad race on Sunday. In practice for the Goodyear 400 this weekend, Hamlin didn't rank very high in 15-lap average, but it's likely that something happened during that run that caused Denny to have a slow lap time, which ruined the average. He qualified seventh for this weekend's race and is a prime contender to not only challenge for the win, but also put up a big score on DraftKings. He's worth the gamble at his $11,500 salary on the DFS platform.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: DriverAverages
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