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Drivers to watch during Cup Series playoff opener at Darlington

NBC Sports
·3 min read
3

The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Darlington Raceway on Sunday to start the playoffs.

This is the first race of the Round of 16. Erik Jones, who was not playoff-eligible last season, is the defending winner.

Here is a look at the drivers to keep an eye on during the Sunday evening race at Darlington (6 p.m. ET on USA Network. Post-race show on Peacock).

FRONTRUNNERS

William Byron

Points position: 1st (tie)

Best finish this season: 1st (Las Vegas I, Phoenix I, Darlington I, Atlanta II, Watkins Glen)

Past at Darlington: He has 10 starts at Darlington with four top-10 finishes, three top fives and one win. He was in the lead for 24 of the final 26 laps in the 2022 spring race, but Joey Logano sent him up the track and went on to lead the final two. Byron finished 13th after hitting the wall.

Denny Hamlin

Points position: 3rd

Best finish this season: 1st (Kansas I, Pocono)

Past at Darlington: He has 16 top-10 finishes, 12 top fives and four wins in 22 starts. He has completed 99.8% of the possible laps while finishing every single race. Hamlin finished second in last year’s playoff race at Darlington. He won the playoff race in 2021.

Brad Keselowski

Points position: 9th

Best finish this season: 2nd (Atlanta I, Daytona II)

Past at Darlington: He has one win in 19 starts at Darlington with an average finish of 11.7. He has finished seventh or better in three of the past four races at the South Carolina track. The lone exception was last season’s spring race when he was involved in a crash with Kyle Busch during stage 2.

Somewhere in the middle

Martin Truex Jr.

Points position: 1st (tie)

Best finish this season: 1st (Dover, Sonoma, New Hampshire)

Past at Darlington: He has 10 top-10 finishes, four top fives and two wins in 22 starts. He is also in the midst of a campaign in which he won the regular-season championship. However, he hasn’t finished the last three races at Darlington. Two DNFs were due to crashes. One was a mechanical problem.

QUESTIONS TO ANSWER

Michael McDowell

Points position: 13th

Best finish this season: 1st (Indianapolis)

Past at Darlington: McDowell has 16 starts with six DNFs and an average finish of 26.4. Two of these DNFs were in the past four races. His two career top-10 finishes at Darlington were also in the past four races. McDowell needs a strong performance to get above the cutline. His last playoff appearance (2021) began with a crash at Darlington.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Points position: 14th

Best finish this season: 1st (Daytona 500)

Past at Darlington: He has 15 starts at Darlington with one top-10 finish. He was eighth in last season’s spring race. Like McDowell, he enters the playoffs below the cutline and in need of a mistake-free performance to accumulate points.

Kevin Harvick

Points position: 15th

Best finish this season:  2nd (Darlington I)

Past at Darlington: He has 31 starts at Darlington with 19 top-10 finishes, 14 top fives and three wins. He only has one finish outside of the top 10 in his past 15 starts. He finished 33rd in last season’s playoff opener due to a fire.

Ross Chastain

Points position: 8th

Best finish this season: 1st (Nashville)

Past at Darlington: He has made eight starts at Darlington Raceway and secured one top-10 finish. He finished third in the 2021 Southern 500 while driving for Chip Ganassi Racing. He has finished 20th or worse with two DNFs in his past three starts at Darlington.