The Cup Series caps off a triple header weekend with the Goodyear 400 and plenty more throwback paint schemes with drivers paying homage to drivers of the past.
The cars aren’t the only ones with throwback schemes; celebrating 125 years of making tires, Goodyear has put their original logo on the tires for this weekend. And the Goodyear Blimp will make an appearance at Darlington Raceway for the race on Sunday.
AND the Rocketman returns! Ryan Newman will be running his first of five races this season.
But the weekend has not been fun and games for all of the teams. The 23XI Racing number 45 car driven by Tyler Reddick and the number 54 Joe Gibbs Racing car driven by Ty Gibbs both failed the inspection process twice. As a result, both teams lose a crew member and lose their pit stall selection for the race. In the case of Tyler Reddick, it is the second weekend in a row that his car has failed the inspection process. Normally NASCAR ejects the car chief when a car fails inspection twice; but in Reddick’s case they ejected his crew chief saying that they found something they didn’t like; however, NASCAR gave no further explanation.
The drivers have been divided into two groups for practice and qualifying. The top five drivers from each group will move on to a second round to determine who will sit on the pole.
While Daytona and Talladega are known for “The Big One” and Miles the Monster is known for tearing up cars; Darlington is known for the Darlington stripe and eating up tires.
Halfway through Group A practice, the drivers are losing around two seconds per lap in tire fall off.
Kyle Busch joins Mike Joy and Clint Bowyer in the broadcast booth for practice and qualifying.
BJ McLeod is the first driver from Group A out on the track to make a qualifying run and set a time of 30.577 seconds around the 1.3 mile track.
Bubba Wallace, Tyler Reddick, Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Ross Chastain, and William Byron will move on to round two of qualifying.
In Group B, Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr, Daniel Suarez, Kyle Larson, and Denny Hamlin will move on to round two and a run for the pole.
William Byron is the first driver of the top 10 to make a qualifying run for the pole and lays down a time of 29.212 seconds.
Martin Truex Jr posted a time of 29.028 seconds to put his number 19 Joe Gibbs Racing car on the pole with Bubba Wallace alongside on the front row. It is Truex’s first poole of the season but his 21st career pole.
The starting lineup for the Goodyear 400:
Martin Truex Jr
Bubba Wallace
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
William Byron
Ross Chastain
Daniel Suarez
Kyle Larson
Denny Hamlin
Tyler Reddick
Brad Keselowski
Ryan Blaney
Kyle Busch
Ty Gibbs
Harrison Burton
Joey Logano
Christopher Bell
Aric Almirola
Austin Dillon
Michael McDowell
Kevin Harvick
Chase Elliott
Justin Haley
Josh Berry
Todd Gilliland
Austin Cindric
Rya Newman
Chris Buescher
Erik Jones
Noah Gragson
AJ Allmendinger
Chase Briscoe
Ryan Preece
Ty Dillon
Corey LaJoie
BJ McLeod
Brennan Poole
Stage one of the race is 90 laps long, stage two is 95 laps long, and stage three will be 108 laps in length for a total of 293 laps around the 1.3 mile track.
It’s a special weekend and a special day of celebration for NASCAR and Darlington Raceway. Joining Mike Joy and Clint Bowyer in the broadcast booth today will be Richard and Kyle Petty for stage one, Carl Edwards in stage two, and Awesome Bill in stage three.
Kyle Petty revealed that this is a first because he and his dad have never been in a broadcast booth together.
Martin Truex Jr brings the field down for the green flag start of the race from the outside lane with Bubba Wallace alongside. Truex and Wallace go side by side nearly to lap three before Truex takes the lead.
Lap four, Martin Truex Jr leads the race with Bubba Wallace just a third of a second behind; William Byron, Daniel Suarez, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr round out the top five.
Lap six, Martin Truex Jr has a half second lead on Bubba Wallace; William Byron, Daniel Suarez, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr round out the top five.
Lap 10, Martin Truex Jr halds a half second lead on Bubba Wallace; William Byron, Daniel Suarez, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr round out the top five as the leaders are all single file.
Lap 16, Martin Truex Jr has led all but the first lap. He has pulled out to a second and a halve lead on Bubba Wallace; William Byron, Daniel Suarez, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr round out the top five.
Driving a Richard Petty throwback, Erik Jones has moved up six spots; more than any other drivers.
The crews only have eleven sets of tires for today’s race – 10 sets of sticker tires and the set they used to qualify. Darlington is a very abrasive track that eats up tires.
Lap 27, Martin Truex Jr has increased his lap to over two seconds on Bubba Wallace; William Byron, Daniel Suarez, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr continue to round out the top five.
Lap 30, Bubba Wallace has closed the gap on leader Martin Truex Jr to less than a second and a half; William Byron, Daniel Suarez, and Ross Chastain round out the top five. The leaders have encountered slower traffick and there are 30 cars on the lead lap.
Lap 35, Martin Truex Jr’s lead is down to just over half a second on Bubba Wallace; William Byron, Daniel Duarez, and Ross Chastain round out the top five.
The first caution flag comes out on lap 38 for fluid on the track. It was good news for Denny Hamlin who has a possible tire issue. He reports that his car destroyed the fence “out of the blue”.
Drivers come down pit road for fresh tires with pole sitter Martin Truex Jr winning the race off of pit road.
Daniel Suarez was charged with speeding on pit road.
Martin Truex Jr brings the field down for the green flag restart on lap 44 with William Byron alongside. Truex jumps out in front for the lead with William Byron in second; Bubba Wallace, Kyle Busch and Ross Chastain round out the top five.
Lap 45, Martin Truex Jr continues to dominate the race with Bubba Wallace in second; William Byron, Kyle Busch, and Ross Chastain round out the top five.
Brennan Poole is off the track.
Lap 49, Martin Truex Jr has a lead of over half a second on Bubba Wallace; William Byron, Kyle Busch, and Ross Chastain round out the top five.
Lap 52, there are 31 cars on the lead lap with Brennan Poole off the track.
Lap 53, Martin Truex Jr has a one second lead on Bubba Wallace; William Byron, Kyle Busch, and Ross Chastain round out the top five.
Lap 56, Martin Truex Jr continues to dominate the race with Bubba Wallace on second back; William Byron, Kyle Busch, and Ross Chastain round out the top five.
The field has begun to spread out over a second separating each of the top seven drivers.
This is the tenth time Bubba Wallace has run a race at Darlington; on lap 67 he has run more laps in th top five today than in his previous nine starts combined.
Lap 68, Martin Truex Jr continues to dominate the race and has pulled out to a lead of over two and a half seconds on Bubba Wallace; William Byron, Kyle Busch, and Ross Chastain round out the top five with 31 cars on the lead lap.
Lap 74, Martin Truex Jr continues to extend his lead and is now over three seconds in front of Bubba Wallace; William Byron, Kyle Busch, and Ross Chastain round out the top five.
Lap 80, William Byron passes Bubba Wallace for second with Martin Truex Jr nearly five seconds out in front.
With nine laps remaining in stage one, Martin Truex Jr has a lead of over four seconds on William Byron; Bubba Wallace, Ross Chastain, and Kyle Busch round out the top five. There are 29 cars on the lead lap.
Lap 86, Martin Truex Jr’s lead is now just over three seconds on William Byron; Bubba Wallace, Ross Chastain, and Kyle Busch round out the top five.
It has been 28 races since Martin Truex Jr won a stage.
Brennan Poole is the first driver out of the race.
Harrison Burton is having gear shift issues.
After a speeding penalty during the caution, Daniel Suarez has just gone one lap down with one lap remaining in stage one.
After dominating the race, Martin Truex Jr wins stage one for his 57th stage win.
The top 10 at the end of stage one:
Martin Truex Jr
William Byron
Bubba Wallace
Ross Chastain
Kyle Busch
Brad Keselowski
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
Kevin Harvick
Tyler Reddick
Christopher Bell
Drivers come down pit road for service with Martin Truex Jr winning the race off of pit road once again.
Bubba Wallace had a bad pit stop and came back out on the track in 18th.
Martin Truex Jr brings the field down for the green flag start of stage two on lap 99 with William Byron alongside. Once again Truex jumps out in front for the lead with William Byron in second; Ross Chastain, Brad Keselowski, and Kyle Busch round out the top five.
Lap 104, Martin Truex Jr has a one second lead on William Byron; Ross Chastain, Brad Keselowski, and Kyle Busch round out the top five. There are 28 cars on the lead lap.
Lap 108, Martin Truex Jr is running the race like it was a get-away car and is two seconds in front of William Byron.
The helmet hose on William Byron’s helmet came off. The helmet hose is what helps to keep the drivers cooled off.
Lap 114, Martin Truex Jr has a three second lead on William Byron; Ross Chastain, Kyle Busch, and Brad Keselowski rounds out the top five.
Lap 119, Martin Truex Jr has a near four second lead on William Byron; Ross Chastain, Kyle Busch, and Brad Keselowski round out the top five.
Lap 123, Martin Truex Jr continues ot dominate the race with a lead of over four seconds on William Byron; Ross Chastain, Kyle Busch, and Brad Keselowski round out the top five.
Goodyear is celebrating 125 years of making tires; on lap 125, the crowd waved yellow tires.
Lap 127, Martin Truex Jr has totally dominated the race so far, leading all but the first lap when he was edged out by Bubba Wallace.
Lap 131, Martin Truex Jr’s lead is down to three seconds on William Byron; Ross Chastain, Kyle Busch, and Brad Keselowski round out the top five with 28 cars on the lead lap.
With 42 of 95 laps in stage two run, drivers will soon be looking to make their green flag pit stops with BJ McLeod coming down pit road on lap 135. Drivers can run about two seconds faster on fresh tires…for a short time.
Lap 138 leader Martin Truex Jr brings his car down pit road for service and gives the lead over to Ross Chastain and green flag pit stops cycle through.
Lap 139, Ross Chastain comes down pit road and give the lead over the Ryan Blaney.
Lap 142, Ryan Blaney and Bubba Wallace make their pit stops and gives the lead back to Martin Truex Jr who is less than two second in front of William Byron; Ross Chastain, Kyle Busch, and Kyle Larson round out the top five.
Lap 148, Ross Chastain has passed William Byron for second and makes a bee line for the leader.
Lap 151, Ross Chastain battle with Martin Truex Jr for the lead. Chastain is the new leader.
Lap 155, Ross Chastain has a one second lead on Martin Truex Jr; William Byron, Kyle Busch, and Kyle Larson round out the top five.
Lap 157, Ross Chastain’s lead is down to under a second.
Lap 160, Kyle Busch challenges William Byron for third.
Lap 161, Kyle Busch passes William Byron for third.
Carl Edwards noted that he has never seen anyone do the things that Kyle Larson does on a race track.
Lap 171, Ross Chastain still has the lead but is only half a second in front of Martin Truex Jr with slower traffic in sight; Kyle Busch, Kyle Larson, and William Byron round out th top five.
Lap 172, leader Ross Chastain is just behind teammate Daniel Suarez.
Lap 176, the top five drivers are separted by less than five seconds.
Lap 177, Ross Chastain has a lead of over half a second on Martin Truex Jr; Kyle Busch, Kyle Larson, and William Byron wound out the top five.
Ricky Stenhouse has run more laps in the top 10 today than he has in his previous14 starts combined.
Ryan Blaney and Tyler Reddick make contact but the track stays green.
Lap 181, Ross Chastain is just a quarter of a seocnd in front of Martin Truex Jr iwht Daniel Suarez just in front of Chastain, the last car on the lead lap.
Lap 182, the top five are Ross Chastain, Martin Truex Jr, Kyle Busch, Kyle Larson, and William Byron.
Ross Chastain wins stage two as the caution flag comes out for Martin Truex Jr spinning out after making contact with Ross Chastain.
The top 10 at the end of stage two:
Ross Chastain
Kyle Busch
Kyle Larson
William Byron
Brad Keselowski
Christopher Bell
Kevin Harvick
Ryan Blaney
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
Martin Truex Jr
Drivers come down pit road for service with Kyle Larson just edging out Ross Chastain to win the race off of pit road.
Bill Elliott called Darlington one of his favourite tracks.
Kyle Larson brings the field down for the green flag start of stage three with Ross Chastain alongside. Larson and Chastain go side by side.
Big wreck on the backstretch on lap 194…Austin Dillon, Austin Cindric, Ryan Newman, Daniel Suarez, Michael McDowell, Todd Gilliland, Noah Gragson, Ty Gibbs, and Erik Jones were all involved. The wreck began when Erik Jones lost a tire which went rolling down the track.
Kyle Larson was listed as the leader when the caution flag came out.
Austin Dillon and Daniel Suarez are out of the race
Kyle Larson brings the field down for the green flag restart with Ross Chastain alongside. Larson and Chastain go side y by side with Kyle Busch and William Byron in a battle for third.
With 90 laps to go, Ross Chastain leads the race with Kyle Busch in second; William Byron, Kyle Larson, and Christopher Bell rounding out the top five.
There are 21 cars on the lead lap.
The top four drivers are in Chevrolet’s.
Lap 204, Ross Chastain has a very narrow lead on Kyle Busch; Kyle Larson, William Byron, and Christopher Bell round out the top five.
The caution flag comes out with 83 laps to go when Ricky Stenhouse spins out with a flat tire.
Larry McReynolds reports that the crews are good on tires with five sets of stickers remaining.
Drivers come down pit road for fresh tires with Ross Chastain winning the race off of pit road and Kyle Busch out second.
Ross Chastain brings the field down for the green flag restart with Kyle Busch alongside with 78 laps remaining in the race. Chastain gets a bit loose getting in front of Kyle Busch for the lead but the track stays green.
The top five are Ross Chastain, Kyle Busch, William Byron, Kyle Larson, and Christopher Bell.
Brad Keselowski battle with Christopher Bell for fifth.
Kyle Busch slaps the wall in turn two and falls to fourth but the track stays green.
Ty Gibbs gets into the wall but the track stays green.
Lap 219, Ross Chastain has a near one second lead on William Byron; Kyle Larson, Kyle Busch, and Christopher Bell round out the top five.
Seventy to go, Ross Chastain has a near one second lead on William Byron; Kyle Larson, Kyle Busch, and Christopher Bell round out the top five.
Kyle Busch reports that his car was loose when he hit the wall but now the car is plowing.
Lap 227, Ross Chastain holds a near one second lead on William Byron; Kyle Larson, Kyle Busch, and Christopher Bell round out the top five.
Lap 236, William Byron has closed the gap on leader Ross Chastain to haf a second; Kyle Larson, Kyle Busch, and Christopher Bell round out the top five.
Lap 240, the top five is Ross Chastain, William Byron, Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell, and Kyle Busch rounding out the top five.
Several drivers report that they are tight, but Ross Chastain is reporting a loose condition.
With 48 laps remaining in the race, drivers are beginning to make green flag pit stops.
Kyle Larson passes teammate William Byron for second but then comes down pit road for his pit stop.
Lap 246, Ross Chastain has a one second lead on William Byron; Kevin Harvick, Chase Elliott, and Martin Truex Jr round out the top five as drivers continue making their final green flag pit stops.
Ross Chastain makes his pit stop nd gives the elaad over to Kevin Harvick.
Kevin Harvick, Ryan Blaney, Bubba Wallace, and Denny Hamlin are the only drivers who have yet to make a pit stop.
With 42 laps to go, Kevin Harvick makes his pit stop.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr was caught speeding on pit road and will have to serve a pass through penalty.
Leader Bubba Wallace and Denny Hamlin are the only drivers not to pit.
With 39 to go, Bubba Wallace comes down pit road; leaving only Denny Hamlin who has yet to make a stop.
Second place driver Kyle Larson is running speeds nine miles per hour faster than leader Denny Hamlin on old tires – about two seconds per lap.
Just 33 laps remain in the race; Denny Hamlin leads the race but has yet to make a pit stop; Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell, Ross Chastain, and Kyle Busch round out the top five.
Denny Hamlin finally makes his pit stop with 31 laps to go. Kyle Larson is the new leader; Christopher Bell, Ross Chastain, Kyle Busch, and Joey Logano round out the top five.
With 27 laps to go, Kyle Larson has a near two second lead on Christopher Bell; Ross Chastain, Kyle Busch, and Joey Logano round out the top five.
There are only 19 cars on the lead lap with Kyle Larson over two seconds out in front. After his pit stop, Denny Hamlin returned to the track one lap down.
The last time Hendrick Motorsports won a race at Darlington was when Jimmie Johnson won the race. None of the current dirvers were driving for HMS at the time.
With just 18 laps to go, Kyle Larson has a lead of over two seocnds on Christopher Bell.
Ryan Newman brings out the caution flag when he spins out and backs into the wall.
Drivers come down pit road for fresh tires. Kyle Busch reports that his car is too tight. Kyle Larson edges out Christopher Bell to win the race off of pit road. Kyle Busch’s crew had trouble on his pit stop and Busch lost several spots, dropping to 18th.
Christopher Bell makes a second trip down pit road with a loose wheel.
Kyle Larson brings the field down for the green flag restart with Ross Chastain alongside with 13 laps to go. Larson and Chastain go side by side but the caution flag coes out for a second big wreck. Martin Truex Jr gets into Joey Logano to start the wreck. Martin Truex Jr, Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick, Tyler Reddick, Brad Keselowski, Chase Elliott, Aric Almirola, and Ryan Blaney were all involved in the crash.
Kyle Larson drives Ross Chastain up the track and into the wall as they battle for the lead.
NASCAR has named Ross Chastain as the leader of the race.
The three cars behind leader Ross Chastain are all Hendrick cars.
Erik Jones was caught speeding on pit road.
Ross Chastain brings the field down for the green flag restart on the inside lane with just six laps remaining in the race. Chastain and Kyle Larson are side by side. Chastain and Larson get into the wall bringing out the caution flag and taking both drivers out of the race.
William Byron is the new leader.
Of the top 10 drivers only William Byron and Kyle Busch have won a race this season.
William Byron brings the field down for the green flag overtime shootout for the finish with Kevin Harvick alongside. Byron and Harvick go side by side before Byron gets out in front for the lead.
William Byorn takes the white flag.
William Byron wins the race to give Rick Hendrick race win number 296 and the number 24 car win number 100.
The unofficial results of the Goodyear 400:
William Byron
Kevin Harvick
Chase Elliott
Brad Keselowski
Bubba Wallace
Harrisn Burton
Kyle Busch
Justin Haley
Ryan Blaney
Chris Buescher
Todd Gilliland
Denny Hamlin
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
Christopher Bell
Ryan Preece
Ty Gibbs
Joey Logano
Chase Briscoe
Austin Cindric
Kyle Larson
Aric Almirola
Tyler Reddick
AJ Allmendinger
Corey LaJoie
Erik Jones
Noah Gragson
Ty Dillon
Ryan Newman
Ross Chastain
Josh Berry
Martin Truex Jr
BJ McLeod
Michael McDowell
Daniel Suarez
Austin Dillon
Brennan Poole