Observe: Darlington RacewayLocation: Darlington, South CarolinaTrack size: 1.366 milesWhen: Sunday, 3 p.m. ETWhere to tune in: FS1, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR RadioRace purse: $11,055,250Race distance: 293 laps | 400.2 milesStages: 90 | 185 | 293Defending winner: Beginning lineup:
Time for 2-for-2 for Hamlin?
Denny Hamlin has some momentum on his facet, and the ahead progress is well-timed. On the heels of his first NASCAR Cup Sequence victory of the season , this week’s cease at Darlington Raceway supplies one other welcome alternative.
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Hamlin possesses loads of optimistic indicators heading into Sunday’s Goodyear 400 (3 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at venerable Darlington, the place he’s a four-time Cup Sequence winner. The 44-year-old final Sunday at Martinsville Speedway, main 274 of the 400 laps and accumulating his sixth grandfather clock trophy. This week’s venue is one other stronghold for the Joe Gibbs Racing veteran, and he’s predicted to be atop the heap in .
“I believe final week was an important week for the staff, little doubt about it,” Hamlin mentioned. “To get a win early, simply to begin to get some playoff bonus factors, that’s all the time an important factor. Once we come right here, completely. I do know what I want out of the automobile. I’ll know throughout the first few laps of apply whether or not it’s received the ‘it’ that it must be good and if not, we’ll go to work on it. However the confidence I’ve is figuring out precisely what I want at this observe. I understand how to enter the nook; I understand how to exit it. I understand how a lot gasoline and brake to use to make good velocity right here. It’s only a matter of whether or not the automobile‘s working immediately on that day and if it isn’t, we will get it fairly shut normally.”
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Hamlin will begin third within the 38-car discipline after placing his No. 11 Toyota on the second row in Saturday’s Busch Gentle Pole Qualifying. He’ll begin behind polesitter William Byron, a Darlington winner within the spring of 2023, and a resurgent Ryan Preece, who continues to profit from his first marketing campaign with RFK Racing. Joe Gibbs Racing has already had one driver go on a tear this 12 months, with Christopher Bell reeling off three consecutive wins spanning Atlanta, Circuit of The Americas and Phoenix. Hamlin might be the subsequent with back-to-back success.
The No. 11 Toyota of Denny Hamlin speeds alongside the entrance straight at Darlington Raceway
Hamlin has led laps in 19 of his 25 profession Cup Sequence begins at Darlington, together with a string of the final 10, and he’s been a top-five finisher right here 52% of the time with an all-time finest common end of 8.2. Three of his Darlington wins — together with his most up-to-date in 2021 — have been within the longer 500-mile basic, the Southern 500, however he’s not promoting this weekend’s 400-miler brief when it comes to its punishing nature.
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“Though it is a 400, it’s nonetheless grueling,” Hamlin says. “I believe Darlington is by far one of the vital grueling race tracks that you simply go to easily as a result of it’s going to be a heat one this weekend. It’s going to be mentally taxing figuring out that you need to hit your marks simply excellent at this observe after which, simply figuring out the psychological facet of it, you will have 35 different guys on the market that don‘t need to allow you to win.”
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From atop the pit field …
What do crew chiefs and pit crews have in focus to win Sunday’s race?
Pit-stop technique for groups at Darlington doesn’t lend itself to experimentation or alternate gambits. With the tendency for fast tire put on on the gritty 1.366-mile observe, the decision for crew chiefs is just about all the time for contemporary Goodyear rubber in any respect 4 corners of the automobile.
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Sunday’s springtime version at Darlington is 100 miles shorter than the 500-mile Labor Day basic, and the levels are cut up into near-even thirds. The timing of the pit stops could also be a variable, however the kind of pit-crew service needs to be a relentless.
“You recognize once you pit right here, you’re going to return down and get 4 tires, each alternative you get,” Randall Burnett, crew chief of Richard Childress Racing’s No. 8 Chevrolet for Kyle Busch, advised NASCAR.com. “Final 12 months was actual distinctive. You had a pair back-to-back cautions there within the fall race the place it was solely a lap or two on tires. Some guys stayed out, however that lap or two made a distinction. We got here and pitted and put some tires on and have been capable of make up some spots simply by a couple-lap completely different acquire on tires there. So, yeah, tires are such an important factor right here. It’s gonna be actually scorching tomorrow, which is gonna make them much more invaluable. So, yeah, you simply do 4 tires right here.
“The way you break up the levels is a bit of distinctive. A whole lot of guys will short-pit after which attempt to run the second half of a stage longer. Some guys will run it to midway and cut up it completely, so that you’ve received the identical quantity of laps in your tires and attempt to use your tires equally. So there’s numerous completely different bearing methods. It form of is dependent upon your tempo and your fall-off and all that.”
A 100-year commemoration of the Goodyear Blimp is on the sidewalls for this weekend
When drivers do come to pit, the observe’s demanding “Too Powerful to Tame” status additionally extends past the hard-edged racing floor right down to a very difficult pit street. Pit entry is a tough activity, with drivers needing to gradual their automobiles’ momentum and navigate the extensive apron to achieve pit lane. It’s a gritty space of the observe, and pit street additionally has those self same slick, sandy traits — particularly because the climate turns hotter in the course of the warmth of the afternoon.
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So whereas there won’t be a lot guesswork with four-tire stops being the norm, the premium on precision in making an attempt to alter all 4 rapidly is excessive.
“I believe for us, it’s all the time an enormous race for the pit crews, clearly, as a result of you realize what you’ve received in entrance of you — you’re going to do 4 tires,” says Chris Burkey, Joe Gibbs Racing athletic director and a former pit-crew coach. “There’s actually no technique. Very not often are you going to do the two-tire or gasoline solely. You’re going to return down right here and it’s a person’s race, not solely on the observe, however for us. And we actually sit up for races like this, since you’re going to do seven to eight pit stops this weekend. It’s 100 miles shorter than the one within the fall once you’re going to do 10 to fifteen pit stops, proper? However you realize what you’ve received this week, and we actually focus in on simply doing four-tire pit stops.
“Man, if you happen to can come out of right here feeling good about what you probably did on pit street, you most likely completed fairly effectively on the observe, however we all the time sit up for Darlington. We all the time circle Darlington as a result of it’s actually a person’s race for us.”
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Pit-stall choice — the reward for a strong qualifying lap — stands out as one other key. Burkey mentioned selecting a stall nearer to the exit in Flip 1 is preferable, however that the spots to keep away from are additional towards the doorway at Flip 4. A piece of six stalls in that space have a slight curvature to the wall, plus one other barrier that juts out earlier than groups make their manner down the remainder of pit street.
“These are the tougher ones,” says Burkey, who describes these half-dozen stalls as “an island.” “Clearly, we would like our guys to qualify effectively, so we will stand up towards the entrance and be on that frontstretch there. It’s fairly simple if you happen to’re down there, however if you happen to’re down on that Flip 4 exit there, they are often difficult.”
The 23XI Racing pit crew for Bubba Wallace
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Historical past tells us …
Anticipate a veteran presence up entrance. In line with Racing Insights, each Darlington winner since 2006 has had a minimal of 100 profession Cup Sequence begins. That was the case with each of final 12 months’s Darlington victors — Brad Keselowski, who turned his 534th Cup Sequence begin into his thirty sixth win, and Chase Briscoe, who prevailed within the Southern 500 in Cup begin No. 134 for his second premier-series victory.
He will not be the favourite to win, however be careful for …
ERIK JONES. The Legacy Motor Membership driver at present sits twenty ninth within the early Cup Sequence standings, however his racing acumen at Darlington is among the many circuit’s finest. Two of Jones’ three Cup Sequence wins have come at Darlington (2019, 2022), and the observe ranks tied for his finest in prime fives and prime 10s and second-best in common end (12.8). The 28-year-old driver has gone 86 begins since his final win, however Darlington has historically been one among his sturdy fits.
Fantasy replace
NASCAR Fantasy Reside knowledgeable Dustin Albino supplies perception to your Sunday lineup.
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Like Martinsville final week, Darlington is among the many hardest tracks for constructing one of the best fantasy lineup due to the altering observe circumstances all through apply. Nonetheless, a number of automobiles stood out, notably Ryan Blaney who had the quickest automobile on 20-, 25- and 30-lap averages by almost a tenth of a second on fellow opponents that made an prolonged run. Ryan Preece and Kyle Busch additionally carried out effectively over the lengthy haul, which Darlington is understood for having. My solely lineup modifications this week are dropping Chris Buescher in favor of Busch and flipping William Byron to outrun Denny Hamlin within the featured matchups.
Lineup: William Byron, Denny Hamlin, Chase Briscoe, Tyler Reddick, Kyle Larson.
Storage: Kyle Busch.
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Pace reads
Our greatest items of the week — get lined for race day from all angles.• Darlington Stripe’s historical past: The observe’s outside-wall toughness, a 75-year custom | • Racing Insights: Full ending order projections for Sunday’s Goodyear 400 | • Turning Level to Darlington: Keselowski the subsequent veteran in line? | • Scenes and snapshots: Finest pictures from Darlington’s Throwback Weekend | • NASCAR Classics: Rewind with full-race replays from the Darlington archives | • Paint Scheme Preview: All of the classic designs able to hit the observe |
