Tomorrow night, the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs kick off under the lights at Darlington Raceway. Coverage begins at 6:00 PM EST / 3:00 PM PST on USA Network, as 16 drivers begin their pursuit of the championship.
Last year, Darlington hosted the regular-season finale in a dramatic showdown between Chase Briscoe and Kyle Busch, both needing a win to advance. Briscoe held off the future Hall of Famer to punch his ticket into the postseason.
This time, Darlington returns to its traditional role as the playoff opener, setting the tone for a high-pressure stretch that won’t end until the champion is crowned at Phoenix Raceway in November.
Qualifying Report
Qualifying wrapped up on Saturday morning, and spring race winner, Denny Hamlin, found himself on the Pole Position, clocking in a lap time of 28.694 and a speed of 171.381, beatting his teammate, Chase Briscoe, the defending winner of the Southern 500, by only 0.021 seconds. Hamlin is seeded in third, and enters Darlington +23, while Briscoe sits in eighth, +4 above the cutline.
Alex Bowman, who’s -5 in 16th, qualified 29th and will have a lot of work to do, as will his teammate, Chase Elliott, who’s in seventh and is +7 to the good. The Hendrick Motorsports teammates have 367 laps to get the job done. Twelve of the Playoff drivers qualified 12th or better, while the spring 2023 winner at Darlington Raceway, Joey Logano qualified 14th and rookie, Shane van Gisbergen qualified 20th.
Playoff Predictions
Hamlin has two Southern 500 wins to his name, and as stated prior, won the Goodyear 400 at Darlington earlier this year, and has four top-5’s and five top-10’s in his last eight starts at Darlington Raceway. However, Regular Season Champion, William Byron, led 243 laps out of a possible 293 in the spring, but was unable to seal the deal. Kyle Larson won the Southern 500 in 2023 and has seven top-5’s and nine top-10’s in 15 starts at the South Carolina racetrack. Hendrick Motorsports will be tough to beat on Sunday, and they’re anticipating giving Hamlin a run for his money.
Briscoe is in a better car than he was last year and with his #19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota being fast immediately off the trailer, nobody should be surprised if he goes back-to-back in the Southern 500 and locks himself into the next round of the playoffs. Tyler Reddick was super competitive in both 2023 races and qualified fourth for tomorrow’s Crown Jewel, so if he has track position late in the race, you can expect him to contend for his first win of the season and finally shake that money off his back. Ross Chastain, who qualified sixth, had a strong showing in the 2023 spring race, before driving over his head and took himself out battling Kyle Larson for the lead. With the Florida driver owning five finishes of 11th or better in his last eight races, as well as back-to-back fifth-place finishes in the Southern 500, “Melon Man” is definitely going to be fast when the green flag flies.
Amongst other playoff contenders, Christopher Bell mainly needs to stay out of trouble, Josh Berry should collect as many stage points as he can, while finishing in the top-10 and Chase Elliott needs to keep the car in one piece and be consistent throughout all three stages. Hamlin and Larson are the likely favorites to win, but 14 other playoff drivers look to have strong finishes and gain momentum before the series heads to Gateway next weekend. Don’t miss tomorrow night’s Cook Out Southern 500 on USA Network, it’s going to be a classic!
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