RCR Race Preview: Darlington Raceway

RCR Race Preview: Darlington Raceway

Richard Childress Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series at Darlington Raceway… In 145 NASCAR Cup Series starts at Darlington Raceway, Richard Childress Racing has eight wins, all by Dale Earnhardt. Earnhardt claimed the checkered flag in 1986 (spring), both races in 1987, 1989 (fall), another sweep in 1990 plus spring events in 1993 and 1994. RCR drivers have 26 top-five and 48 top-10 finishes at the historic South Carolina speedway.

Richard Childress Racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at The Lady in Black… Richard Childress Racing is looking to find Victory Lane for the first time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at Darlington Raceway. Austin Hill owns back-to-back second-place finishes in his two most recent starts at the track. The Welcome, N.C. based team has 14 top-five and 32 top-10 finishes.

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Timmy Solomito Repeats In Riverhead Raceway Cecil Palm Tree 66 Wednesday

Timmy Solomito Repeats In Riverhead Raceway Cecil Palm Tree 66 Wednesday
For the second consecutive season, the Cecil Palm Tree 160 was adversely affected by weather the original date forcing Riverhead Raceway management to reschedule the race run in honor of Eddie Partridge. The race was shifted to Wednesday night, the distance again modified to 66 laps, which was just fine with defending race winner Timmy Solomito of Islip who led all the way scoring his third win of 2024.
Solomito set the tone in qualifying laying down a lap of 11.750 with Mark Stewart and John Beatty Jr. clicking off identical laps of 11.815. It would be Stewart lining-up alongside Solomito as the field took the green from Partridge’s nephew Tom Gatz and daughter Alexis. Solomito, winner of the most recent event at Riverhead winning the Baldwin, Evans & Jarzombek 77 on August 17th broke right to the lead with Stewart right behind.

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Final Race Of NASCAR Cup Series Regular Season At Darlington Raceway On USA Network This Sunday, Sept. 1, At 6 P.M. ET

Final Race Of NASCAR Cup Series Regular Season At Darlington Raceway On USA Network This Sunday, Sept. 1, At 6 P.M. ET
STAMFORD, Conn. – Aug. 29, 2024 – NBC Sports’ motorsports coverage this weekend is headlined by the final NASCAR Cup Series regular season race at Darlington Raceway on Sunday on USA Network and INDYCAR at the Milwaukee Mile Saturday and Sunday across USA Network and Peacock.
Darlington Raceway in Darlington, S.C., hosts the NASCAR Cup Series’ Cook Out Southern 500, the final race of the regular season, this Sunday at 6 p.m. ET on NBC. A 30-minute Countdown to Green Sunday at 5:30 p.m. ET on USA Network leads into live race coverage.

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Panini America to Serve as Primary Partner for Joey Logano at Darlington Raceway Xfinity Race with AM Racing

Panini America to Serve as Primary Partner for Joey Logano at Darlington Raceway Xfinity Race with AM Racing

Irving, TX – August 29, 2024 – Panini America, the world’s largest sports and entertainment collectibles company and the official trading card partner of NASCAR, has announced that it will serve as the primary sponsor of the No. 15 AM Racing Ford Mustang, driven by two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Joey Logano, for the Xfinity Series’ Sports Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200.

The race is this Saturday, August 31st, at the iconic Darlington Raceway.

Logano has been a member of Panini’s athlete roster since 2019, serving as the brand’s racing trading card ambassador and as a key element of multiple Panini NASCAR products and marketing activations, including its annual Panini VIP Experience for a sweepstakes-winning fan at the Daytona 500. (more…)

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Joe Graf Jr. / No. 19 G-Coin Toyota GR Supra Preview – Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200 at Darlington Raceway

Joe Graf Jr. / No. 19 G-Coin Toyota GR Supra Preview – Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200 at Darlington Raceway

GRAF JR. 2024 NXS 3rd  Race of Season: The August 31st race at Darlington Raceway will mark Joe Graf Jr.’s 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) 3rd  race thus far in the season.  With 2 of the 4 scheduled starts for Graf Jr. behind him, Joe has returned to the Xfinity series better than ever.  With an average finish through the first two races of 14.5, he is on pace to shatter his previous season’s number of 25.3.  Joe will look to continue his success thus far at Darlington.

RETURN TO JGR: Graf Jr. competed in the full, 33 race NXS season in 2023 where he had three impressive top-10 performances at Daytona, Homestead, and Kansas, highlighted by a best finish of seventh at Daytona.

DAYTONA RECAP:  Joe Graf Jr. started off his weekend strong in Daytona qualifying in 4th position.  The No. 19 Reagan Toyota GR Supra even got to start front row due to the 21 car making an adjustment to their race car.  Joe kept it clean and managed to secure a strong finish of 12th for his team. (more…)

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Sheldon Creed / No. 18 Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Toyota GR Supra Preview – Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200 at Darlington Raceway

Sheldon Creed / No. 18 Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Toyota GR Supra Preview – Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200 at Darlington Raceway

CREED AT DARLINGTON: Sheldon Creed heads to Darlington Raceway this weekend for the Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200. Creed has claimed Darlington as one of his favorite tracks throughout his Xfinity Series career, making this weekend a highlight on his 2024 schedule. As he heads into his seventh NXS start at the lady in black, Creed holds one top-five, three top-10s. and 47 laps led. He narrowly missed his first career win at the track in 2022 as he lost the lead on a pass in the final corner by Noah Gragson. In his last run at Darlington in the spring, Creed came home in ninth.

DAYTONA RECAP: In typical Daytona fashion, Creed had an up-and-down day under the lights of Daytona, but he showed up when it mattered. After starting seventh, Creed raced his way to a fourth-place finish in stage one and a seventh-place finish in stage two, thus securing a crucial 11 stage points on the day. After falling back in the lead pack during the third stage, Creed worked his way back up to an eighth-place finish, which secured his 14th top-10 on the year. (more…)

Sheldon Creed / No. 18 Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Toyota GR Supra Preview – Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200 at Darlington Raceway Read More

Todd Gilliland, Long John Silver’s Ready for Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway

Todd Gilliland, Long John Silver’s Ready for Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (August 28, 2024) – Todd Gilliland returns to the Darlington (S.C.) Raceway for the famed Southern 500. Long John Silver’s will partner with Gilliland for the crown-jewel event.

Gilliland heads to the 1.3-mile track facing a must-win situation in order to make the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. Gilliland has a career best finish of 11th at the “Track too Tough to Tame” in the Cup Series, and a 4th place finish in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series. He finished 15th in the May Cup race at Darlington.

The weekend will kick off on Saturday, August 31 with practice and qualifying at 12:30 pm ET. The Southern 500 is scheduled for Sunday, September 1 at 6:00 pm ET. Fans can watch the action live on the USA Network. Fans can also listen in from the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM channel 90. (more…)

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Chandler Smith – No. 81 QuickTie Toyota GR Supra Preview – Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help A Hero 200 at Darlington Raceway

Chandler Smith – No. 81 QuickTie Toyota GR Supra Preview – Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help A Hero 200 at Darlington Raceway

SMITH AT DARLINGTON: Chandler Smith has three previous NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) starts at Darlington Raceway with a best finish of 12th earlier this year. He also has four NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series (NCTS) starts at the Lady in Black with one top-10 finish.

DAYTONA RECAP: Smith finished runner-up to Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) teammate Ryan Truex on Friday night at Daytona. The No. 81 team earned their first pole of 2024 Friday afternoon and ran in the top-10 for most of the night, finishing Stage 1 in second and Stage 2 in eighth. (more…)

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Denny Hamlin – No. 11 Sport Clips Toyota Camry XSE Preview – Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway

Denny Hamlin – No. 11 Sport Clips Toyota Camry XSE Preview – Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway

HAMLIN AT DARLINGTON: Denny Hamlin leads all active NASCAR Cup Series drivers with four wins, 13 top-five finishes, 17 top-10s and 979 laps led at Darlington Raceway. His 8.8-average starting position and 8.3-average finishing position are also best among active drivers. Last September, Hamlin led 177 laps and won both stages before an unscheduled pit stop dropped him to a 25th-place finish in the Southern 500. Earlier this year, Hamlin started seventh and finished fourth at the 1.366-mile oval. He has led in nine consecutive Darlington races dating back to May 2020. Hamlin’s Darlington resume also includes six NASCAR Xfinity Series wins.

FLYING 11: The No. 11 Sport Clips Toyota Camry XSE will feature the Flying 11 this weekend to pay homage to the late Roy Hendrick. Hendrick, who passed away earlier this month, was a weekly competitor at Hamlin’s home track, Southside Speedway. The No. 11 Sport Clips team previously honored the Hendrick family, including Roy’s father, Ray Hendrick, by carrying the Flying 11 colors to victory lane in the 2017 Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. (more…)

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Christopher Bell – No. 20 Rheem Toyota Camry XSE Preview – Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway

Christopher Bell – No. 20 Rheem Toyota Camry XSE Preview – Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway

BELL AT DARLINGTON: Christopher Bell had one of his strongest NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) runs at Darlington a year ago when he qualified on the pole and led 40 laps. Overall, Bell has one top five and two top-10 finishes in his previous 10 starts at Darlington Raceway.

DOUBLE DUTY: Bell will be driving the No. 20 Sport Clips Toyota GR Supra for Joe Gibbs Racing in Saturday’s Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200. This is the second NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) start for Bell this season. Bell ran double duty at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and swept the weekend. (more…)

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