NASCAR Back on Track at Darlington Raceway for TWO Races Next Week

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Bojangles' Southern 500
DARLINGTON, SOUTH CAROLINA – SEPTEMBER 01: William Byron, driver of the #24 Hendrick Autoguard/City Chevrolet Throwback Chevy, leads the field to start the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway on September 01, 2019 in Darlington, South Carolina. (Photo courtesy of NASCARmedia.com/by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

The NASCAR Cup Series will get back to racing with TWO races to be held at Darlington Raceway in South Carolina next week.

The first race will take place Sunday, May 17th with the second race being held Wednesday, May 20th. There will not be any fans in the stands and only essential members of each team needed to actually race will be at the track. Pit selection and starting order will be determined in the following manner for each race.

MAY 17TH Race

Pit selection:

  • Order based on charter team owner points followed by open team owner points. Pit stalls will be picked in advance and the pit boxes will be in the stalls when the teams arrive.

Starting lineup:

  • Positions 1-12: Random draw from charter teams in those positions in owner points
  • Positions 13-24: Random draw from charter teams in those positions in owner points
  • Positions 25-36: Random draw from charter teams in those positions in owner points
  • Positions 37-40: Open teams in order of owners points in owner points

MAY 20TH RACE

Pit selection:

  • Order based on finishing position from the May 17th race at Darlington, followed by new entries in order of points. Pit stalls will be picked in advance and the pit boxes will be in the stalls when the teams arrive.

Starting lineup:

  • Positions 1-20: Invert the top 20 from the May 17th race at Darlington
  • Positions 21-40: In finishing order from the May 17th race at Darlington, followed by new entries

The drivers have not been in their race cars in some 10 weeks. That will make for an interesting race this Sunday as they get re-acquainted with being in the driver’s seat. That also could mean the following information will either be irrelevant or more important than ever.

Top 10 Driver Ratings at Darlington
Erik Jones……………………………… 110.8
Denny Hamlin………………………… 106.3
Kyle Busch…………………………….. 105.9
Kevin Harvick…………………………. 100.7
Brad Keselowski………………………. 99.5
Martin Truex Jr………………………… 99.2
Jimmie Johnson……………………….. 97.8
Ryan Newman…………………………. 89.9
Joey Logano……………………………. 89.3
Kurt Busch………………………………. 88.6
Note: Driver Ratings compiled from 2005-2019 races (15 total) among active drivers at Darlington Raceway.

Here are the active driver in the NASCAR Cup Series who have won during their careers at Darlington Raceway in the cup series.

Jimmie Johnson – 3 Wins
Denny Hamlin – 2 Wins
Brad Keselowski – 1 Win
Erik Jones – 1 Win
Kevin Harvick – 1 Win
Kyle Busch – 1 Win
Martin Truex Jr – 1 Win
Matt Kenseth – 1 Win

The following week NASCAR will hold another two races in the cup series. Those races will take place at Charlotte Motor Speedway in North Carolina. The Memorial Day Weekend traditional Coca Cola 600 will take place Sunday, May 24th at the track. Wednesday, May 27th will be the second race at the track. Again, these races will be run without fans in the stands at the track.

MAY 24TH COCA COLA 600

Pit selection:

  • Order based on finishing position from the May 20th race at Darlington, followed by new entries in order of points. Pit stalls will be picked in advance and the pit boxes will be in the stalls when the teams arrive.

Starting lineup:

  • Based on qualifying

MAY 27TH RACE

Pit selection:

  • Order based on qualifying for the May 24th race at Charlotte, followed by new entries in order of points. If qualifying is rained out, pit selection will be determined by finishing order on May 24. Pit stalls will be picked in advance and the pit boxes will be in the stalls when the teams arrive.

Starting lineup:

  • Positions 1-20: Invert the top 20 from the May 24th race at Charlotte
  • Positions 21-40: In finishing order from the May 24th race at Charlotte, followed by new entries

NASCAR is doing everything it can to keep drivers and team members safe and adjusting the procedures with this in mind. For example, there will not be practice for these races. As a result, there are modified competition caution practices and rules for these races. This is to allow teams additional time for adjustments.

The competition caution in the NASCAR Cup Series races will occur at or around the following laps:

  • Darlington – May 17: Lap 30
  • Darlington – May 20: TBD
  • Charlotte – May 24: TBD
  • Charlotte – May 27: TBD

Below are the procedures for the modified competition caution:

  • Field will be frozen at the time of the competition caution
  • Field will be assembled behind the pace car
  • The running order lead lap / lap down will be established and the free pass sent
  • Wave around rule is not in effect
  • Pit road will open to the top 20 – car must beat the pace car off pit road to retain freeze position
  • Pit road will open to the next 20 – car must beat the pace car off pit road to retain freeze position
  • Above pit cycle repeats – each team allowed to pit two times
  • Re-establish line-up per freeze and restart race

Infractions under modified competition caution:

  • Not beating the pace car off pit road results in loss of lap and restarting at tail of the field
  • Pitting more than twice or out of sequence results in restarting at the tail of the field
  • All current pit road rules are in effect

It will be interesting to see how these races play out without fans in attendance.

By: Buck Stevens