April 7, 2025
Chris Buescher and his Roush-Fenway Keselowski Racing team had yet another solid race weekend at Darlington, as the No. 17 Ford crossed the finish line in sixth place when the Goodyear 400 was all said and done. It was Buescher's fifth top-10 finish through the first eight races this year, and it kept him in 11th place in the points standings. This was also another strong showing for Buescher at Darlington specifically, as he now has four top-10 finishes over the last five races there. After the race was over on Sunday, the driver remarked, "We had a lot of speed today. Once that caution fell, it just trapped us. We spent the rest of the race trying to get that track position back. We got it at the end. We were able to move forward a little more on that final restart, but overall, a good day."
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Speedway Media
April 7, 2025
In Sunday's Goodyear 400 at Darlington, pole-sitter William Byron started the race with 243 consecutive laps led, the most since Jeff Burton led every lap in the second Loudon race of 2000. However, Byron's attempt to lead every lap arguably ended up costing him the race, as the race had several green-flag pit cycles, meaning Byron needed to stay out several laps later to maintain his lead, which meant there was a risk of other drivers who pitted sooner beating him out of the pits by posting substantially faster lap times. Although he was bailed out by the debris caution in the middle of Stage 2, his long-pitting cost him the lead in Stage 3, as both Tyler Reddick and Christopher Bell jumped him before Ryan Blaney passed all of them. Byron did gain several spots in the pits during the final caution preceding the overtime restart, which resulted in a second-place finish and expanded his points lead to 49 points over eventual winner Denny Hamlin.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
April 7, 2025
Christopher Bell finished third at Darlington on Sunday, but that was more because he was lucky than good. Despite the fact that Denny Hamlin won the race and Bell ended up with a third-place finish, all the Joe Gibbs Racing cars seemed to be very slow on long runs as Bell started 17th but shockingly fell as low as 30th and nearly got lapped during Stage 1. However, his crew chief Adam Stevens' decision to long-pit in Stage 2 reaped dividends during the Brad Keselowski debris caution, as he remained on the lead lap while many of the faster cars were trapped behind him. In a race with minimal passing, Bell was then able to retain and even improve his position. Despite being nowhere to be seen in Stage 1, he finished sixth in Stage 2 and ran in most of the top 10 in Stage 3, moving up to third in points but losing 17 points to William Byron.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
April 7, 2025
Kyle Larson had a race to forget at Darlington on Sunday. His race finished nearly before it started, as an unforced error caused him to crash into the inside retaining wall on Lap 4. Although he spent over half the race in the garage, he did return to the track. Shortly after Ryan Blaney passed Tyler Reddick with three laps to go in regulation, Reddick hit the wall and Larson checked up while running behind him, which caused Bubba Wallace to spin him out and led to the chaotic pit-stop reshuffle under caution that ultimately decided the race. After the second crash, Larson did not return to the track and finished next to last in 37th, which caused him to drop from second to sixth in points, losing 55 points to his teammate and points leader William Byron. Nonetheless, this hardly matters, since he's almost certainly locked into the playoffs after his win at Homestead.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
April 7, 2025
Ross Chastain has a history of qualifying poorly at Darlington and getting good finishes, and that continued again in Sunday's race as he started 25th before eventually finishing seventh. He had just worked his way into the top 10 for the first time in the middle of Stage 2 when he got trapped a lap down after pitting right before a caution came out. Although he was able to take the wave-around, he was unable to make much progress because he had older tires than the leaders. However, he slowly advanced from 15th to ninth in Stage 3 before grabbing two positions on the race-ending restart. Despite not scoring any stage points, he still moved from 19 points to 31 points above the playoff cut line and broke his tie for 12th in points with Chase Briscoe.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
April 6, 2025
Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin will start third for Sunday's race at Darlington Raceway, the Goodyear 400. Hamlin is the highest qualifying Toyota driver in the field for this week's race. In 25 races, Hamlin has four wins, 18 top-10 finishes, 1,000 laps led, and an average finish of 8.2, all of which rank first among active drivers, apart from laps led. After seven races so far this season, Hamlin has four top-10 finishes and one win, which came during last week's race at Martinsville. In practice, Hamlin ranked 21st in overall lap averages while ranking as high as 12th in 25 and 30-consecutive lap averages. Despite his practice speeds being a bit underwhelming, Hamlin's track history is better than all drivers and will still be a factor for the win regardless, especially with his JGR equipment.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
April 6, 2025
Chase Elliott of Hendrick Motorsports will start 15th for this week's Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway. Elliott qualified higher than this current position only thrice during the 2025 season so far. In 16 races at Darlington in his Cup career, Elliott has 10 top-15 finishes, including four straight finishes of 12th or better in his last four appearances. With seven races completed so far during the 2025 season, Elliott has four top-10 finishes and is the only driver in the series to place in the top 20 of all races. In practice, Elliott ranked 34th in overall lap averages while displaying top-15 speeds in the 20, 25, and 30 consecutive lap average categories. Overall, Elliott is one of the more trustable drivers to compete for a top-10 finish based on track history, equipment, and practice speeds this week.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
April 6, 2025
23XI Racing's Bubba Wallace will start fifth for Sunday's Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway. This will be the third time ever in his Cup career that he will start inside the top five at the site. In 13 starts at Darlington, Wallace has four top-10 finishes, which he all scored in his last five appearances at the site. Through the first seven races this year, Wallace has had three top-10 finishes, including the last two races of the season. In practice, Wallace ranked 23rd in overall lap averages, while ranking as high as seventh in 20, 25, and 30 consecutive lap averages. Considering his recent track history at Darlington, practice speeds, and recent momentum, Wallace is a suitable option for tournament lineups to maintain a top-10 or even top-5 finish.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
April 6, 2025
Tyler Reddick of 23XI Racing will start seventh for the Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway, continuing a streak of starting every race at the site in the top 10 since 2021. In 11 races at Darlington in his Cup career, Reddick has five top-10 finishes, including four of the last six Cup events at the South Carolina track. After seven races so far this season, Reddick has three top-10 finishes. In practice, Reddick ranked 11th in overall lap averages while ranking among the top 10 fastest in 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 consecutive lap averages. Based on his practice speeds, past history, and equipment, expect Reddick to be one of the top favorites to compete for the win.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
April 6, 2025
Joey Logano finally got his first top-10 finish of the season last week at Martinsville, the latest a defending champion has posted their first top-10 result. He looks to make that two in a row at Darlington, but his 18th-place starting position is actually his second-worst starting position here, behind only his 23rd starting spot in last year's Southern 500. Despite his inconsistency in results, he does seem to have more consistent speed than he did in last year's title season, so he will likely have top-10 speed if nothing bad happens. However, Darlington isn't one of his best tracks. His only win came in the 2022 spring race after he roughed William Byron up to win, and 171 of his career 293 laps led here happened that year, and he has never led or really contended since. While he could get a lot of place-differential points, he primarily seems to be overvalued in terms of DFS salary at $9,300.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
April 6, 2025
Chase Briscoe improbably delivered Stewart-Haas Racing's last win in last year's Southern 500, the last race at Darlington Raceway. Today he starts fourth in the Goodyear 400 with a much faster Joe Gibbs Racing Team and he is coming off from back-to-back top five finishes at the track, even though he had never earned a top ten before. Toyotas have dominated at this track frequently in recent years, although they're often snakebitten in terms of actually winning. The fact that four Toyota drivers qualified in the top seven suggests that Toyotas may likely dominate this race, but Denny Hamlin, Bubba Wallace, and Tyler Reddick are probably all much more likely to since they've been faster all year. Briscoe's starting position is probably much too high for DFS consideration unless you think he's going to lead a lot of the race. That's certainly possible, but it's not one of the more likely outcomes.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
April 6, 2025
Ross Chastain has never won at Darlington, but that does not reflect how well he has run, as he has led 134 laps at the track. Oddly, 119 of those laps led came in two races he crashed out of. More typically, Chastain qualifies poorly and gains numerous positions in the field, as he did in the 2021, 2023, and 2024 Southern 500s, when he qualified worse than 20th every single time and earned top-five finishes. Chastain's 25th-place starting position on Sunday is very commensurate with that, so the odds look good that if he doesn't crash or suffer any kind of bad luck, he's definitely one of the absolute best options to start in this race. The only real argument is that he's never made a charge like that in the spring race, but his Southern 500 performances should likely carry over to the spring race eventually.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
April 6, 2025
Although Carson Hocevar failed to replicate his second-place starting position from last year's Southern 500, his 13th-place starting position on Sunday is still pretty solid, and the speed he had last year suggests there is a chance he will have speed on Sunday, even though he fell off quickly and failed to score any stage points in that race. Although Darlington is a finesse track and Hocevar is not a finesse driver, he usually does get away with his overdriving and has had very impressive runs, especially in the Craftsman Truck Series, where he has a better average finish than he's ever had on any track he's competed at more than once. However, the fact that he qualified 13th raises expectations. Although he'll likely someday lead at the track, it probably won't be until he lands a faster car, and he'll likely finish worse than he starts on Sunday.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
April 6, 2025
Although he couldn't have known it at the time, Chris Buescher's and Tyler Reddick's slight contact while battling for the lead in last year's spring Darlington race arguably knocked Buescher out of the playoffs since he was leading with nine laps left when Reddick cut his tire and was relegated to a 30th-place finish. The 33 points he lost were far greater than his seven-point deficit to Martin Truex Jr. for the last playoff spot, so Buescher will likely be intensely motivated to right last year's wrong. The issue is that even though he remains just as consistent as ever, the RFK Racing cars seem to be significantly slower and hardly factor for the lead at all. However, Buescher's usually mediocre teammate Ryan Preece qualified second, so it wouldn't be shocking if he rivals last year's speed. Whether he has DFS value largely depends on whether he leads or not, but he probably won't.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
April 6, 2025
Ty Gibbs finally stopped the bleeding somewhat in last week's race at Martinsville as he had his best run and finish in an otherwise disastrous season after his crew chief Chris Gayle was replaced by Tyler Allen. Gibbs did earn the only second-place finish of his career in last year's Darlington event, but that came during a relative career hot streak while he is suffering his greatest slump now. The fact that Gayle just dominated with Denny Hamlin and gave him his first win at Martinsville in a decade suggests that Allen might be a substantially worse crew chief and Gibbs may still be in a bit of a funk personally after flipping his High Limit car three weeks ago. It wouldn't be shocking if he led the race since he did last year, but given his current negative momentum and the fact that he only qualified 11th, he likely won't.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
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