With the Cup Series returning to Darlington Raceway for the marquee Southern 500 and the regular season finale, here is everything you need to know heading into this weekend’s racing at The Lady in Black.
Regular Season Championship (1 Race to Go)
Rank | Driver | Points | Difference |
1 | Tyler Reddick* | 823 | |
2 | Kyle Larson* | 806 | -17 |
3 | Chase Elliott* | 805 | -18 |
4 | Ryan Blaney | 755 | -68 |
5 | William Byron | 743 | -80 |
6 | Christopher Bell | 737 | -86 |
7 | Brad Keselowski | 718 | -105 |
8 | Denny Hamlin | 712 | -111 |
9 | Martin Truex Jr. | 695 | -128 |
10 | Ty Gibbs | 676 | -147 |
11 | Chris Buescher | 658 | -165 |
12 | Alex Bowman | 648 | -175 |
Tyler Reddick clinches the regular season title by scoring 44 points, regardless of how Chase Elliott or Kyle Larson perform.
Regular Season Playoff Points Awarded:
1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th |
15 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Playoff Points Through 25 Races Among Playoff Qualifiers
Rank | Driver | Race Wins | Stage Wins | Playoff Points |
1 | Kyle Larson | 4 | 8 | 28 |
2 | Christopher Bell | 3 | 12 | 25 |
3 | William Byron | 3 | 1 | 16 |
4 | Tyler Reddick | 2 | 3 | 13 |
5 | Ryan Blaney | 2 | 3 | 13 |
6 | Denny Hamlin | 3 | 6 | 11* |
7 | Joey Logano | 1 | 2 | 7 |
8 | Austin Cindric | 1 | 2 | 7 |
9 | Chase Elliott | 1 | 1 | 6 |
10 | Daniel Suarez | 1 | 1 | 6 |
11 | Brad Keselowski | 1 | 5 | |
12 | Alex Bowman | 1 | 5 | |
13 | Harrison Burton | 1 | 5 |
Playoff Cut Line (1 Race to Go)
Rank | Driver | Points | Diff. from 16th | Best Darlington Finish |
14 | Martin Truex Jr. | 695 | +58 | 1st (2016, 2021) |
15 | Ty Gibbs | 676 | +39 | 2nd (2024) |
16 | Chris Buescher | 658 | +21 | 3rd (2023) |
17 | Bubba Wallace | 637 | -21 | 5th (2023) |
18 | Ross Chastain | 631 | -27 | 3rd (2021) |
19 | Kyle Busch | 552 | MUST WIN | 1st (2008) |
If the Southern 500 winner is NOT below the cut line:
- Martin Truex Jr. will automatically clinch a playoff spot
- Ty Gibbs will automatically clinch a spot by scoring at least 16 points
- Chris Buescher will automatically clinch a spot by scoring at least 34 points
- Bubba Wallace will have to outscore Buescher by at least 21 points
If the Southern 500 winner IS below the cut line:
- Truex will automatically clinch a spot by scoring at least 19 points
- Gibbs will automatically clinch a spot by scoring at least 38 points
- Buescher will have to outscore Gibbs by at least 19 points
Darlington By the Numbers
Defending Southern 500 Winner: Kyle Larson
Defending Spring Winner: Brad Keselowski
Most Wins*: Denny Hamlin (4)
Most Top Fives*: Denny Hamlin (13)
Most Top 10s*: Denny Hamlin (17)
Most Poles*: Joey Logano (2)
Most Laps Led*: Denny Hamlin (919)
Most Laps Led, Non-Winner*: Tyler Reddick (276)
Best Average Finish (min. 5 starts)*: Denny Hamlin, 24 starts (8.3)
Most Starts*: Kyle Busch (25)
Former Darlington Winners in Field: Denny Hamlin (4), Martin Truex Jr. (2), Brad Keselowski (2), Erik Jones (2), Kyle Busch (1), Kyle Larson (1), William Byron (1) and Joey Logano (1)
*Among active drivers
Notable News: Harrison Burton and the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing team pulled off the upset of the year last Saturday (Aug. 24) at Daytona, as Burton passed Kyle Busch on the final lap to qualify for the playoffs, score his first Cup win and record the 100th win for the Wood Brothers in Cup competition.
Notable stats regarding the win and finish:
- Burton became the first driver born in the 2000s decade to win a NASCAR Cup Series race.
- Burton entered (and left) Daytona last in the regular season points standings among full-time drivers.
- Harrison Burton and Jeff Burton became the eighth father-son duo to win races at NASCAR’s highest level.
- The Wood Brothers became the eighth team to record 100 Cup wins.
- The race required an overtime restart after a big crash with 2 to go saw Josh Berry flip on the backstretch. Daytona marked the fourth consecutive Cup race to end with an overtime finish, a first for the series since the implementation of overtime in 2004. Ten of the last 19 Cup races have ended in overtime.
Xfinity Series
Defending Race Winner: Denny Hamlin (not entered)
Darlington Spring Winner: Justin Allgaier
Most Darlington Wins, Entered Drivers: Justin Allgaier (3)
Regular Season Standings (4 Races to Go):
- Justin Allgaier
- Cole Custer (-33)
- Chandler Smith (-75)
Playoff Cut Line (4 Races to Go):
- Sheldon Creed (+93)
- Parker Kligerman (+44)
- Ryan Sieg (+16)
- Sammy Smith (-16)
- Brandon Jones (-108)
- Anthony Alfredo (-131)
Notable News: The teams of Jeb Burton, Kyle Sieg and Caesar Bacarella were assessed L1 penalties following last weekend’s race at Daytona.
Entry Lists
Cup: 37 entries, 40 spots
Notables: Shane van Gisbergen (Kaulig No. 16), Kaz Grala (RWR No. 15), Timmy Hill (MBM No. 66*)
* unchartered
Xfinity: 38 entries, 38 spots
Cup Drivers: Joey Logano (AMR No. 15), Chase Elliott (HMS No. 17), Christopher Bell (JGR No. 20), Noah Gragson (RJR No. 30), Ross Chastain (DGM No. 92)
Other Notables: Corey Heim (SHR No. 26), Carson Kvapil (JRM No. 88). Ryan Truex, last week’s winner at Daytona, is not entered.
Where to Watch
Aug. 31 (Saturday)
10:30 a.m. ET — Xfinity Practice (NBC Sports App)
11:10 a.m. ET — Xfinity Qualifying (NBC Sports App)
12:35 p.m. ET — Cup Practice (USA Network)
1:20 p.m. ET — Cup Qualifying (USA Network)
3:30 p.m. ET — Sports Clips Haircut VFW Help a Hero 200, Xfinity (USA Network)
Sept. 1 (Sunday)
6 p.m. ET — Cook Out Southern 500, Cup (USA Network)
Looking Ahead to Next Season
- The NASCAR Cup Series and Xfinity Series will head to Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City for the weekend of June 14-15, 2025. This will be the first Cup race in Mexico and the first on international soil since 1958. The Xfinity Series will return to the facility for the first time since 2008, albeit on a different layout.
- NASCAR unveiled the complete Cup, Xfinity and Truck Series schedules for the 2025 season on Aug. 29.
- On Aug. 31, Kaulig Racing announced Christian Eckes as the new driver of the No. 16 Xfinity car for 2025 and beyond. Outgoing driver AJ Allmendinger will return to full-time Cup competition with Kaulig.
Stephen Stumpf is the NASCAR Content Director for Frontstretch and is a three-year veteran of the site. His weekly column is “Stat Sheet,” and he formerly wrote "4 Burning Questions" for three years. He also writes commentaries, contributes to podcasts, edits articles and is frequently at the track for on-site coverage.
Can find on Twitter @stephen_stumpf.