September 1, 2025
23XI Racing's Bubba Wallace had another strong performance at Darlington Raceway for the Cook Out Southern 500 on Sunday night. Starting from the eighth position, Wallace quickly showed great speed early and ran as high as second in the first stage. Wallace ultimately ended the stage in fifth, collecting six stage points in the process. Wallace also finished seventh at the end of stage two and added four more stage points too. The No. 23 driver experienced a slow pit stop during the race, but Wallace had the speed and his team executed well on other stops to recover. He eventually finished in the sixth position, earning his 11th top-10 finish of the 2025 season and now sits 25 points above the playoff cut line with two races left in the Round of 16.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com
September 1, 2025
John Hunter Nemechek of Legacy Motor Club had his best performance of the 2025 season during Sunday night's Cook Out Southern 500. Nemechek started the race from the 30th position, but took advantage of a differing pit strategy by pitting less during the first stage to gain track position. This worked out for Nemechek, and he finished ninth at the end of stage one, earning two stage points. In the second stage, Nemechek continued to rely on the same strategy of running longer under green and being on pit road less, and it paid off again, ending the stage in eighth and collecting three more stage points. In the final stage, Nemechek continued to run inside the top 10 for most of the stage, and after more pit stops, strategies, and cautions, he made it up to the top five. Nemechek tried to compete for the win, but was not fast enough to overtake Chase Briscoe and Tyler Reddick, while his teammate Erik Jones passed him late, leaving Nemechek to settle for fourth at the end of the race. This was Nemechek's best finish of the 2025 season and only his second top-5 finish.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com
September 1, 2025
After being in contention to win during the spring race at Darlington Raceway, Team Penske's Ryan Blaney was seen as one of the favorites to win the Cook Out Southern 500 on Sunday night. Unfortunately, Blaney did not have the speed and suffered some setbacks during the race that would cause him to finish with an underwhelming result in 18th place. The No. 12 only scored one single stage point by placing 10th at the end of stage one, but was back in 31st at the end of stage two. During the final stage, Blaney looked to make a recovery as he made it back to the top 15, but was involved in a spin on lap 209 with Kyle Busch and Austin Dillon. This spin sent Blaney to the back, and he only recovered some ground to finish in the middle of the pack. Thanks to several other playoff drivers experiencing issues of their own, Blaney still remains ahead of the cutoff line to advance to the Round of 12 in the Playoffs by 22 points with two of his better tracks, Gateway and Bristol, coming up.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com
September 1, 2025
Josh Berry entered this week's Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway with promise as he entered the race with a high starting position of third, but his hope of a solid performance at the site was dashed very quickly. Right on the first lap of the race, Berry got loose and lost control of his car on turn two, spinning off of Tyler Reddick and other cars before hitting the inside wall. The damage Berry obtained from this incident, unfortunately, sent him back to the garage, where his team took over 100 laps to repair the car. Berry was able to get back out and tried to run laps and stay out of trouble to gain positions from cars that would get eliminated from the race. Unfortunately, Berry was unable to pass any drivers who were unable to finish and placed last in the 38th position. With two races left before the end of the Round of 16, Berry is 19 points behind the cutoff line and has to make up ground to advance to the Round of 12.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com
September 1, 2025
Chase Elliott hasn't been very fast at Darlington with the Next Gen car, and his woes continued in Sunday night's Southern 500, where he finished 17th and frequently ran even worse than that as his average running position was 18th and he only earned the 19th-highest driver rating. Elliott spent much of the second half of the race outside the top 20 before he crawled through the field at a glacial pace in the race's final stint. None of the Hendrick Motorsports cars ran very well at Darlington, which is not a good sign when considering the next race is Gateway, a track where Hendrick Motorsports has historically run poorly (unlike Darlington). Although Kyle Larson and William Byron are still likely safe, Elliott and Alex Bowman will likely be sweating bullets for the rest of this playoff round, as Elliott sits 11th in points -- only nine above the cut line entering Gateway, where he's unlikely to run well.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
September 1, 2025
In a race where the Chevy teams were unexpectedly out to lunch, Hendrick Motorsports placed no cars in the top 15 for the first time on an unrestricted oval since the 2019 Southern 500, a shocking display for a team that had won 16 times there. That includes utterly dominating the last two races with William Byron leading 243 laps led in the spring, and Kyle Larson leading 263 laps in last year's Southern 500. Larson ran strong for most of the race, consistently running in the top 10 and finishing sixth in Stage 1 and fourth in Stage 2, but he fell to 19th after hitting the wall. Nonetheless, his stage points and his playoff points still left him in a good playoff position, as he remains only eight points behind Southern 500 winner Chase Briscoe for the points lead and 43 points above the playoff cut line to advance.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
September 1, 2025
After making the playoffs by the skin of his teeth last weekend, Alex Bowman became something of a longshot to advance to the Round of 12 after a miserable Southern 500. Bowman's day effectively ended almost as soon as it started because he suffered damage while checking up to avoid the multi-car opening lap melee. Later in Stage 1, he fell two laps down after a disastrous 40-second pit stop. Although a wave around and a free pass in Stage 2 allowed him to get back on the lead lap, he remained very slow and again fell two laps down (this time on speed), resulting in a 31st-place finish. Since he scored no stage points, his six points left him 19 points behind Shane van Gisbergen for the final spot in the Round 12. That's still somewhat doable since his competition includes SVG, Austin Dillon, and Josh Berry, but he likely needs to overtake a more consistent driver on points and that might be difficult.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
September 1, 2025
Although Erik Jones has typically been an average driver over the general NASCAR Cup Series schedule, he has always been a Darlington master, especially in the Southern 500, which he won in 2019 and 2022, and Sunday night's Southern 500 was no exception. In a race where the Toyotas had dominant speed, Jones came to the forefront in Stage 2 and benefited from a lot of attrition, particularly Christopher Bell's contact with Carson Hocevar on pit road and Denny Hamlin's botched pit stop. This allowed the Toyota underdogs of Legacy Motor Club to have their day in the sun. Jones broke into the top 10 at the start of Stage 2 and finished third in that stage. In Stage 3, he and his teammate John Hunter Nemechek made up several deficits to Chase Briscoe and Tyler Reddick, who finished 1-2 in both stages and the race, but they were unable to get past, and Jones finished third. Nonetheless, it was a show of strength for a team that badly needed it.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
September 1, 2025
A.J. Allmendinger had one of the most low-key impressive races of his career in Sunday night's Southern 500, as he finished fifth in a race where Chevrolet and Ford both badly struggled. This marked the first time Allmendinger was the highest-finishing Chevy driver in a Cup Series race on an unrestricted oval since Martinsville in 2016. He was arguably even more impressive at Darlington than in his previous season highlights at Charlotte and Chicago, because this time his teammate Ty Dillon finished two laps down in 34th while he only lost one lap at Charlotte and finished on the lead lap at Chicago. A strong pit stop propelled Allmendinger to the front as he jumped from 15th to eighth on Lap 155. Afterward, he finished fifth in Stage 2 and retained his position for the rest of the race.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
August 31, 2025
Trackhouse Racing's Daniel Suarez will start 17th after qualifying for the Cook Out Southern 500, taking place at Darlington Raceway. This was Suarez's best result in qualifying for a Darlington race since May 2023. In 15 starts at the site in his Cup career, Suarez has six top-20 finishes with only one top-10 and an average finish of 22.9. After 26 races so far this season, Suarez has 13 top-20 finishes and an average finish of 20.1. In practice, Suarez ranked 29th in overall lap averages and ranked 22nd in 10 consecutive lap averages. Darlington is a hard track to trust Suarez for success based on past history, and he does not carry as much upside as some other drivers based on starting position. That being said, he will likely carry extremely low rostership and could make for an interesting contrarian play in a tournament.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
August 31, 2025
Front Row Motorsports driver Noah Gragson scored a starting position of 34th after qualifying for Sunday's Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. Gragson ended up being the lowest-scoring qualifier from FRM this week as the only driver from the team who will start outside of the top 30. In four races in his Cup career at Darlington, Gragson has two top-20 finishes, an average finish of 22.8, and a best finish of 14th. Through 26 races this season, the No. 4 Ford driver has six top-20 finishes and an average finish of 25.6. In practice, Gragson displayed top-10 speeds in almost all categories while ranking 19th in overall lap averages. Despite his horrible season that has left him as the third-lowest-ranked driver in Cup Series points among full-time drivers, Gragson is a driver who can be usable in DFS due to his equipment and potential upside from his starting position.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
August 31, 2025
Ty Dillon of Kaulig Racing will start in the 31st position for Sunday's Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. It will be the third time in Cup history that Dillon will start outside of the top 30 at Darlington. In 11 Cup starts at the South Carolina track, Dillon has six top-20 finishes, including a finish of 16th in the April race earlier in the season, and an average finish of 20.5. So far through 26 races, Dillon has 11 top-20 finishes and an average finish of 23.2. In practice, Dillon ranked as high as eighth in 10 and 15 consecutive lap averages. Dillon's overall positive history at Darlington makes him a great punt option for DFS lineups this week, especially with equipment that is likely to climb multiple positions based on practice speeds.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
August 31, 2025
Back in April of this year, it was Denny Hamlin standing in victory lane here at Darlington Raceway. And when the Cook Out Southern 500 goes green on Sunday night, Hamlin will pick up right where he left off, as the No. 11 Toyota was the fastest car in qualifying on Saturday with a time of 28.694 seconds. Now the question is, can Hamlin stay in the lead? During the Next Gen era, we have seen the leader at Darlington have a huge advantage in controlling the race, so you have to assume that Denny will be able to stay out front as long as nothing crazy happens at the start. As far as his track history goes at Darlington Raceway, there is nobody better than Denny Hamlin. He's a five-time winner at this race track and has a ridiculous average finish of 7.9 over 26 career starts. Just for comparison sake, Brad Keselowski is the next-best in that category, and his average finish is 12.0. The road to victory lane will go through Denny Hamlin in Sunday evening's Southern 500.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Jayski
August 31, 2025
Whenever Kyle Larson is racing at Darlington Raceway, you know he's going to be a factor. No active driver has led more laps than Larson at this race track, as "Yung Money" has been in the lead for 1,048 circuits at "The Lady in Black." Next best is Denny Hamlin, who has led for 1,010 laps, but it's worth noting that Hamlin has 11 more starts than Larson does--which makes the latter's stats even more impressive. As far as finishes go, though, Kyle Larson has (surprisingly) only been able to grab one win at Darlington in the Cup Series, although he does have seven top-five results in his 15 starts (46.7%). This weekend, the No. 5 Chevrolet looked strong on the long run in practice and Larson was able to post hte fifth-fastest lap in qualifying. He should definitely be a factor to win the first Playoff race of the season this year. As far as DFS goes, Larson ($10,500 on DraftKings) is an excellent choice.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Driver Averages
August 31, 2025
Make sure you have plenty of Ryan Blaney in your DFS lineups for the Southern 500 at Darlington this weekend. The No. 12 Ford has been one of the fastest cars on the long run all season long, and that type of speed is exactly what a driver needs to be successful at a track like Darlington Raceway. Additionally, Blaney had one of the strongest runs of the afternoon here at Darlington in the spring race this season, charging through the field and walking away with a fifth-place finish when the race was all said and done. Looking specifically at high-wear intermediate tracks since the start of last season, Ryan Blaney has fastest Total Speed Ranking, and he has been fourth-fastest in the Next Gen era here at Darlington. With a starting position of 12th this weekend, Blaney has a solid combination of Place Differential upside as well as dominating upside. He is a strong DraftKings pick on Sunday.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: ifantasyrace
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