NASCAR on TV this week
NASCAR Cup Series Darlington- #24: William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports, Axalta Chevrolet, #60: Ryan Preece, RFK Racing, Kroger / Country Crock Ford Mustang, #45: Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing, McDonald's Toyota Camry, #23: Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing, Columbia Sportswear Company Toyota Camry
(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Thinkin’ Out Loud at Darlington: It’s All About the Air

by

What Happened?

A quick pit stop gave Denny Hamlin the lead for an overtime restart in the NASCAR Cup Series’ annual throwback race at Darlington Raceway. Hamlin took off and didn’t look back, earning back-to-back wins and career win No. 56, officially passing Rusty Wallace on the all-time wins list.

Behind the No. 11, William Byron finished second after dominating most of the day. Christopher Bell crossed the line in third, while Tyler Reddick held off Ryan Blaney for fourth.

See also
Jackman's Slick Technique Earns Denny Hamlin Race-Winning Pit Stop

What Really Happened?

The moment of the race happened halfway through the second stage when Brad Keselowski brought out a caution in the middle of a pit cycle. Well, technically, the caution came out for Keselowski’s lug nut that fell off the car and came to rest on the racetrack.

NASCAR held the yellow when Keselowski first spun, a decision that could be scrutinized on its own. With the lug nut on the track, however, race control felt the need to eventually put out the caution. This moment shows just how much clean air means to getting a good finish.

Several cars that showed speed up at the front had already pitted, trying to undercut their competition. The timing of the caution trapped many of those drivers a lap down, forcing them to take the wave around and restart at the back of the field. 

At the same time, a group of cars having poor days had stayed out, and the caution secured important track position near the front of the field. Here’s a look at who was most helped – and hurt – by the caution.

Before the fateful pit cycle began, outside polesitter Ryan Preece ran fourth, Zane Smith sat seventh, Bubba Wallace was eighth, and AJ Allmendinger was 10th. Smith recovered the best of those four, finishing 12th. Allmendinger wound up 18th, Wallace ended 21st and Preece dropped all the way to 26th.

On the flip side, here are the drivers who ran long and caught the lucky caution. Hamlin had just been passed by Daniel Suarez and Justin Haley down in 19th before the caution. Other drivers ran even worse, including Kyle Busch in 21st, Chase Elliott in 22nd, Bell in 24th, and Ty Gibbs in 27th.

Hamlin won and Bell finished third, while Elliott finished eighth, Gibbs finished ninth, and Busch finished 10th.

These flip flop results should show that the dirty air in this car is more overpowering than anything else. 

It’s normal for cars to change throughout a race. Some teams can get a better handle on their rides, while other drivers bleed positions as the day goes on. Every once and a while, untimely cautions can jack up a strategy. But the best cars that run near the front should be able to find a way back near the front, especially when the yellow falls with plenty of time remaining in the race.

Instead, drivers that lost their track position also lost the ability to pass, while drivers that gained spots never truly had to defend them.

It became glaringly obvious in the final long run when Byron ran a little longer and pitted, ultimately coming out right behind Bell. Despite having slightly fresher tires, which should mean a lot at Darlington, Byron remained stuck behind Bell for most of the final run after the stop.

When the car leading for most of the day can’t pass after losing clean air, it shows that aerodynamics matter way too much. It also brings into question the legitimacy of calling cars ‘dominant.’

Did Byron truly beat the field that badly for the first two thirds of the race? Or did he just have clean air, and nobody else did? While he didn’t have much chance, Byron could not prove that his car was that much better once he lost the lead and his access to clean air.

In fact, only two times in first eight races of the 2025 season has the winning car led more than 20 laps in the race. 

Throughout the race, Blaney was really the only driver who showed the ability to actually pass cars with or without a tire differential, and it almost earned him a trip to victory lane.

The only tracks where this car works are wide, multi-groove ovals. There aren’t many of those on the schedule anymore.

The cars are too similar, and aerodynamics matter so much that it all comes down to who can have the clean air at the end. The longer we go with these teams working on the Next Gen car, racing throughout the field will become more and more stagnant.

Who Stood Out?

While he didn’t win the race, it was impossible to ignore Byron. As good as the No. 24 team has been to start this season, they had yet to put together a truly dominant performance in a long time.

The ability to lead for so long out of the gate, aided by some timely cautions, strategy and an exceptional short run car, almost had the feel of a pitcher trying to seal a perfect game. Unfortunately, Byron did not have that ‘kill’ gene early in the race when he had the chance to lap Bell. That came back to possibly cost him the race, as Bell held up the No. 24 for a long time on the last long run.

It only took eight races, but Gibbs finally found the top 10. Sure, he was one of those drivers aided by the stage two caution. Even in races this season where he’s had some things turn his way, something almost always seems to happen to ruin his day.

With a solid finish, maybe it’s time for Gibbs to follow his two other teammates to victory lane.

Who Fell Flat?

Something about the throwback race just does not sit well for Kyle Larson in the Next Gen car. The beautiful No. 5 only stayed pristine for four laps before Larson spun and hit the wall.

It’s been an unfortunate trend for Larson, who has been involved in incidents in the last four Darlington spring races now. He really didn’t show as much speed in practice and qualifying, and the early crash dropped him down four places in the points standings, and Larson was spun again to cause the overtime restart, adding insult to injury.

The Joe Gibbs Racing cars all struggled early in the race, except for Chase Briscoe. The Southern 500 winner from last year qualified well and ran near the front at the start. Suddenly, a switch flipped, and Briscoe dropped like a rock.

The No. 19 was nearly lapped at the end of stage one, and Briscoe did not catch the same lucky break his teammates did in the chaotic stage two caution. After winning the last time the series danced with the Lady in Black, Briscoe returned in the spring to finish 28th.

See also
Stock Car Scoop: A Throwback Race With a Modern Finish

Better Than Last Time?

While one car dominating at the front doesn’t necessarily make the whole race bad, this race did not have the same drama of Reddick battling the two RFK Racing cars to the finish.

This year’s event did have some solid battles throughout the field at times, but nothing super memorable, especially with Byron maintaining his position on the point. In true modern NASCAR fashion, a pretty incredible long-run battle between Blaney and Reddick was quickly erased by lapped cars getting crashed.

Paint Scheme(s) of the Race

With throwback weekend, it’s impossible to pick just one. At the top goes Larson’s Terry Labonte throwback to the iconic Tony the Tiger look. The bright colors looked super vintage. It’s a shame the car that won the award for best throwback only lasted four laps.

On the second step is Josh Berry’s Lotus throwback. While not a NASCAR scheme, the car gave a nod to Jim Clark‘s 1965 Indianapolis 500 win, where the Wood Brothers served as the pit crew for the No. 82 Lotus. The team really nailed the colors of another famous look, this one coming from the IndyCar history books.

Honorable Mention(s)

Is it sacrilegious to choose a non-throwback paint scheme as the best paint scheme this week?

Because the new look of Daniel Suarez’s Quaker State No. 99 is too good to pass up as the best paint scheme this week.

I know, I cannot, in good faith, go without choosing the best throwback of the race — but can you blame me if I didn’t, with only 50% of the field participating in the tradition?

That being said, those who did participate in throwback weekend came out guns a-blazing — it’s hard to choose the best.

But perhaps nobody did throwback weekend this year better than Austin Cindric and his No. 2 Team Penske crew.

Running a Dale Earnhardt non-No. 3 throwback hasn’t been done before in the Cup Series, mostly because Earnhardt ran the No. 3 for almost two decades..

But Earnhardt’s first full-time number was the No. 2 that he ran with Osterlund Racing. He ran it in 1979 (where he won rookie of the year) and 1980 (where he won his first of seven championships), as well as part of 1981.

It’s an odd Earnhardt scheme to throwback to, for sure — Richard Childress Racing doesn’t run the No. 2 (in the Cup Series), Penske does. And if Penske’s going to run a No. 2 throwback, it’d certainly be for either Wallace or Keselowski, one of its own drivers who made the No. 2 famous.

But it decided to switch it up, and man, did it deliver on the only opportunity it has to honor Earnhardt.

From the paint scheme to the number font, this is a 10 out of 10 paint scheme. Not to mention the sponsor, Freightliner, is so plainly visible on the car, yet doesn’t interfere with the overall flow of the scheme.

Not only that, but Cindric has embraced his inner Earnhardt and has some fantastic merch to go along with the car.

Well done to everybody on that No. 2 team — that’s throwback weekend done right. – Anthony Damcott

What’s Next?

The World’s Fastest Half-Mile, The Last Great Colosseum — whatever you call it, we’ve got 500 laps coming up there.

The NASCAR Cup Series will make its first of two trips to Bristol Motor Speedway for the Food City 500. After three years of running on dirt, the Bristol spring race last year returned to the concrete, but was shaken up heavily after Goodyear brought tires that heavily wore out after roughly 50 laps.

Will we see that again this year? Who knows. What we do know is that coverage for the Food City 500 begins at approximately 3 p.m. ET on Sunday, April 13. Television coverage can be found on FOX Sports 1; for the radio heads, Performance Racing Network will carry the radio broadcast.

Caleb began sports writing in 2023 with The Liberty Champion, where he officially covered his first NASCAR race at Richmond in the spring. While there, Caleb met some of the guys from Frontstretch, and he joined the video editing team after graduating from Liberty University with degrees in Strategic Communications and Sports Journalism. Caleb currently work full-time as a Multi-Media Journalist with LEX 18 News in Lexington, Kentucky and contributes to Frontstretch with writing and video editing. He's also behind-the-scenes or on camera for the Happy Hour Podcast, live every Tuesday night at 7:30!

Anthony Damcott joined Frontstretch in March 2022. Currently, he is an editor and co-authors Fire on Fridays (Fridays); he is also the primary Truck Series reporter/writer and serves as an at-track reporter. He has also assisted with short track content and social media, among other duties he takes/has taken on for the site. In 2025, he became an official member of the National Motorsports Press Association. A proud West Virginia Wesleyan College alum from Akron, Ohio, Anthony is now a grad student. He is a theatre actor and fight coordinator in his free time.

You can keep up with Anthony by following @AnthonyDamcott on X.

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