All three NASCAR top-level series showed up at South Carolina’s Darlington Raceway for Throwback weekend featuring paint schemes showing homage to former drivers and teams. In the NASCAR Cup Series on Sunday, Martin Truex Jr. led a race-high 248 laps, won his 3rd race in 2021 and continues as the only driver with multiple wins so far this season. The latest results and upcoming scheduled events for the NASCAR feeder series are also included below as well as details on all tracks mentioned in this column.
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Sun, May 9, Goodyear 400 - Darlington Raceway - 293 laps.
- No practice or qualifying. NASCAR’s qualifying metric set the starting lineup for this event based on race finishes, point standings and fastest race laps. This placed Brad Keselowski (#2 Ford Mustang) P1 on the starting grid. Kevin Harvick (#4 Ford Mustang) completed the front row in the P2 spot. #18 Kyle Busch, #19 Martin Truex Jr. #24 William Byron, #9 Chase Elliott, #11 Denny Hamlin, #21 Matt DiBenedetto, #3 Austin Dillon and #8 Tyler Reddick, respectively formed the rest of the top-10 in the lineup. Did not make the 40-car field: No one, only 37 entries.[[ad:athena]]
- Martin Truex Jr. (#19 Toyota Camry) scored his 30th victory in 561 NCS races. This is his 3rd victory and 8th top-10 finish in 2021. It is his 2nd victory and 9th top-10 finish in 18 races at Darlington. Kyle Larson (2nd) posted his 6th top-10 finish in seven Darlington races and his 7th top-10 finish in 2021. Kyle Busch (3rd) posted his 13th top-10 finish in 19 races at Darlington. Polesitter Brad Keselowski led four laps and finished in 24th position. Chase Briscoe (11th) was the highest finishing Sunoco Rookie of the Year (ROTY) contender.
- NCS points leader: Denny Hamlin by 75 points over Martin Truex Jr.
- TOP-16 NCS Playoff Contenders (G/L):
1. Denny Hamlin
2. Martin Truex Jr.
3. William Byron
4. Joey Logano
5. Ryan Blaney
6. Kyle Larson +3
7. Kevin Harvick +1
8. Chase Elliott -1
9. Brad Keselowski -3
10. Kyle Busch
11. Christopher Bell +1
12. Austin Dillon -1
13. Chris Buescher +2
14. Alex Bowman
15. Michael McDowell -2
16. Tyler Reddick +2
- Next: Sun, May 16, Drydene 400 - Dover International Speedway - 311 laps.
NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS)
Sat, May 8, Steakhouse Elite 200 - Darlington Raceway - 147 laps (+1 lap OT).
- No practice or qualifying. NASCAR’s qualifying metric set the starting lineup for this event based on race finishes, point standings and fastest race laps. This placed AJ Allmendinger (#16 Chevrolet Camaro) P1 on the starting grid. Austin Cindric (#22 Ford Mustang) completed the front row in the P2 spot. #10 Jeb Burton, #11 Justin Haley, #9 Noah Gragson, #98 Riley Herbst, #18 Daniel Hemric, #20 Harrison Burton, #68 Brandon Brown and #2 Myatt Snider, respectively formed the rest of the top-10 in the lineup. Did not make the 40-car field: #77 Ronnie Bassett Jr., #31 Jordan Anderson and #03 Andy Lally.
- Justin Allgaier (#7 Chevrolet Camaro) scored his 16th victory in 348 NXS races. This is his 2nd victory and 4th top-10 finish in 2021. It is his 1st victory and 8th top-10 finish in 12 races at Darlington. Josh Berry (2nd), the highest finishing ROTY contender, posted his 1st top-10 finish in two Darlington races and his 4th top-10 finish in 2021. Brandon Jones (3rd) earned his 4th top-10 finish in seven races at Darlington. Polesitter AJ Allmendinger led 6 laps and finished in 12th place. Allmendinger won the Xfinity Dash 4 Cash this week at Darlington. Justin Allgaier, Josh Berry, Brandon Jones along with A.J. Allmendinger qualified for the final round of the Xfinity Dash 4 Cash at Dover next weekend.
- NXS points leader: Austin Cindric by 39 points over Daniel Hemric.
- TOP-12 NXS Playoff Contenders (G/L):
1. Austin Cindric
2. Daniel Hemric
3. Harrison Burton
4. AJ Allmendinger +2
5. Jeb Burton -1
6. Justin Haley -1
7. Justin Allgaier +2
8. Myatt Snider -1
9. Jeremy Clements -1
10. Brandon Jones +1
11. Noah Gragson -1
12. Michael Annett +2
- Next: Sat, May 15, Drydene 200 - Dover International Speedway - 200 laps.
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NTS)
Fri, May 7, LiftKits4Less.com 200 - Darlington Raceway - 147 laps.
- No practice or qualifying. NASCAR’s qualifying metric set the starting lineup for this event based on race finishes, point standings and fastest race laps. This placed John Hunter Nemechek (#4 Toyota Tundra) P1 on the starting grid. Austin Hill (#16 Toyota Tundra) completed the front row in the P2 spot. #21 Zane Smith, #99 Ben Rhodes, #38 Todd Gilliland, #13 Johnny Sauter, #52 Stewart Friesen, #18 Chandler Smith, #88 Matt Crafton and #1 Hailie Deegan, respectively formed the rest of the top-10 in the lineup. Did not make the 40-truck field: No one, only 40 entries.
- Sheldon Creed (#2 Chevrolet Silverado) scored his 6th victory in 61 NTS races. This is his 1st victory and 4th top-10 finish in 2021. It is his 1st victory and 1st top-10 finish in two races at Darlington. Creed also earned a $50,000 bonus for winning the 1st race of the Triple Truck Challenge. Ben Rhodes (2nd) posted his 2nd top-10 finish in two Darlington races and his 7th top-10 finish in 2021. Carson Hocevar (3rd), who was making his 1st start at Darlington, was the highest finishing ROTY contender. Polesitter John Hunter Nemechek led a race-high 65 laps and finished in 8th place.
- NTS points leader: John Hunter Nemechek by 46 points over Ben Rhodes.
- TOP-10 NTS Playoff Contenders (G/L):
1. John Hunter Nemechek
2. Ben Rhodes
3. Sheldon Creed +1
4. Austin Hill -1
5. Matt Crafton +1
6. Todd Gilliland +2
7. Stewart Friesen -2
8. Grant Enfinger +1
9. Zane Smith -2
10. Johnny Sauter
- Next: Sat, May 22, Toyota Tundra 225 - Circuit of the Americas - 42 laps.
NASCAR Feeder Series
ARCA Menards Series:
Sat, May 1, Dutch Boy 150 - Kansas Speedway - 100 laps.
Winner: Ty Gibbs - P1: Ty Gibbs - Points Leader: Corey Heim
Next: Sat, May 22, Herr’s Potato Chips 200 - Toledo Speedway - 200 laps.
ARCA Menards East:
Sat, May 8, Crosley Record Pressing 200 - Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway - 200 laps.
Winner: Sammy Smith - P1: Mason Mingus - Points Leader: Sammy Smith
Next: Fri, May 14, General Tire 125 - Dover International Speedway - 125 laps.
ARCA Menards West:
Fri, Mar 12, General Tire 150 - Phoenix Raceway - 150 laps.
Winner: Ty Gibbs - P1: Ty Gibbs - Points Leader: Ty Gibbs
Next: Sat, Jun 5, General Tire 125 - Sonoma Raceway - 50 laps.
Whelen Modified Tour:
Fri. Apr 30, NAPA Spring Sizzler - Stafford Motor Speedway - * 150 laps.
Winner: Patrick Emerling - P1: Matt Swanson - Points Leader: Eric Goodale
* rain-shortened to 130 laps
Next: Sat. May 15, Miller Lite 200 - Riverhead Raceway - 200 laps.
Pinty’s Series:
Season opener: Sun, May 23, TBA - Sunset Speedway
Peak Mexico Series:
Season opener: Sun, May 22, TBA - Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas
Track Details
Circuit Of The Americas - 3.426-mile, 20 turn road course - Austin, Texas
Darlington Raceway - 1.366-mile oval - Darlington, South Carolina
Dover International Speedway - 1-mile concrete oval - Dover, Delaware
Kansas Speedway - 1.5-mile oval - Kansas City, Kansas
Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway - 0.596-mile oval - Nashville, Tennessee
Phoenix Raceway - 1-mile tri-oval - Avondale, Arizona
Riverhead Raceway - 0.25-mile oval - Riverhead, New York
Sonoma Raceway - 2.520-mile, 12-turn road course - Sonoma, California
Stafford Motor Speedway - 0.5-mile oval - Stafford Springs, Connecticut
Sunset Speedway - 0.333-mile oval - Innisfil, Ontario
Super Ovalo Chiapas - 0.75-mile tri-oval - Tuxtla Gutierrez
Toledo Speedway - 0.5-mile oval - Toledo, Ohio