5 things to watch at this weekend’s Southern 500 in Darlington
Storylines and how to watch this Sunday’s Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway:
Throwback Weekend
This will be the fourth year of NASCAR’s Throwback Weekend, which honors the tradition and history of the sport.
Most of the drivers in the Monster Energy Cup and Xfinity Series are running some sort commemorative paint scheme for the races and crew members will dress in clothes from the different eras. This year’s theme focuses on the seven decades of NASCAR.
Austin Dillon was one of the last to reveal his paint scheme when he unveiled it Friday morning at the track. Dillon’s paint scheme for the No. 3 car is the same one the late Dale Earnhardt ran in the 1995 All-Star race.
Some of the other schemes include Ricky Stenhouse’s John Deere green and yellow car, William Byron driving the Jeff Gordon rainbow colors, Joey Logano’s yellow and black Penzoil honoring Steve Park, and Chase Elliott riding a design scheme to honor his late cousin Casey Elliott.
Darlington Raceway upgrades
Despite the throwback weekend, Darlington has modernized with various upgrades to the track.
The $7 million worth of improvements are part of A Better Darlington …. The Tradition Continues plan. It features a renovation to Tyler, Wallace and Colvin grandstands. Tyler Tower features white, blue, yellow and red stadium-style seats, which replaced the metal ones from the past. The seats are wider and more comfortable.
Colvin grandstands also underwent changes, with wider bench seating and improved concession areas and restroom facilities.
The renovations shrank the track’s seating capacity by 8,000-10,000, but track officials believe the comfort level will help fans enjoy their experience at NASCAR’s oldest superspeedway even more.
Playoff chase
Sunday’s Southern 500 is the next-to-last race before the playoffs begin Sept. 16 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
All but four of the 16 spots have been filled for the postseason. Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr., Clint Bowyer, Kurt Busch, Austin Dillon, Joey Logano, Chase Elliott, Erik Jones, Ryan Blaney, Brad Keselowski and Kyle Larson all are in the postseason.
If there is no new winner this week or next week at Indianapolis, drivers in spots 13-16 are Denny Hamlin, Aric Almirola, Jimmie Johnson and Alex Bowman. Bowman is 79 points ahead of 17th-place Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Will Big 3 continue dominance at Darlington?
Harvick, Kyle Busch and Truex have been the class of the series this season. The trio has won 17 of the 24 races and all have run well at Darlington.
Among current drivers, Harvick is second to Denny Hamlin in top-five finishes at Darlington with five. His win at the track came in 2014. In 13 Darlington starts, Busch has eight top-10 finishes, three top fives and won in 2008.
Truex has three straight top-10 finishes at Darlington and won in 2016.
Hamlin’s house
Denny Hamlin is the defending Southern 500 champion and has to be one of the favorites despite not winning this season.
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has 10 top-10 finishes in 12 Darlington starts with seven top fives and two wins. He has the top driver rating (110.3) and best average running position (7.8).
Even if he doesn’t win. Hamlin is likely to click a playoff spot if he scores just eight points in the race.
How to Watch
What: Bojangles’ Southern 500
Distance: 501.3 miles (367 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 100), Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 200), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 367)
TV: NBC Sports Network (5 p.m. pre-race, 6 p.m. green flag. Rick Allen, Jeff Burton and Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the broadcast booth)
Online: Race streamed on www.nbcsports.com and on the NBCSports app
Radio: Motor Racing Network
Satellite radio: Sirius XM channel 90
Weather: Forecast for partly cloudy skies, 91 degrees at race time
This story was originally published September 1, 2018 at 7:55 AM.