April
12,
2025
It
may
be
a
long
race
on
Sunday
for
Todd
Gilliland,
as
the
Food
City
500
is
set
to
take
place
at
Bristol
Motor
Speedway
and
500
laps
are
scheduled
to
be
run
in
"Thunder
Valley"
with
tire
concerns
running
rampant
read more...
April 12, 2025
Ty Dillon qualified 12th for this weekend's Food City 500, which marks his best starting position since the season-opening Daytona 500. It was also a bit of a surprise considering the No. 10 Chevrolet was the slowest car during practice on Saturday. And while track position is good to have at a short track like Bristol, you have to wonder if Dillon qualified too high to be playable in DFS contests this weekend. With such a high probability of negative Place Differential FPTS on Sunday, that answer is likely yes. In 11 career Cup Series starts at Bristol Motor Speedway, Ty Dillon has an average finish of 25.1. Even worse, his two starts here in the Next Gen era have ended with 33rd- and 26th-place finishes. Even if Ty was able to pull off a 20th-place finish in Thunder Valley on Sunday--which would be a great effort for the No. 10 Kaulig Racing team--he'd only score 15 base FPTS on DraftKings.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Frontstretch
April
12,
2025
Jesse
Love
will
be
making
his
NASCAR
Cup
Series
debut
this
weekend,
as
the
full-time
Xfinity
Series
driver
will
pilot
the
No.
33
Chevrolet
for
Richard
Childress
Racing
in
Sunday's
Food
City
500.
He
qualified
19th
for
the
race,
which
is
read more...
April 7, 2025
After this year's season-opening Daytona 500, Denny Hamlin stated that he was "losing his love" for the sport because luck has become such an important factor in deciding race winners some weeks. Of course, Hamlin didn't mind about having a little luck this past weekend, as the Joe Gibbs Racing driver used a timely late caution, great pit stop, and solid final restart to steal the win at Darlington Raceway. It was Hamlin's fifth career victory at "The Lady in Black" and his second straight win this season. After the checkered flag flew, Denny joked, "I have two people I really love right now: my pit crew and Kyle Larson." Larson brought out the final caution of the race that allowed Hamlin to get into position to win. If that wouldn't have happened, Ryan Blaney would have likely won the Goodyear 400. Hamlin now sits second in the points standings after eight races, a distant 49 points behind leader, William Byron.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: M Sports
April
7,
2025
Team
Penske's
Ryan
Blaney
finished
fifth
after
the
Goodyear
400
at
Darlington
Raceway
on
Sunday.
Starting
ninth
during
this
week's
race,
Blaney
had
one
of
the
best
cars
that
could
make
moves
for
the
field.
Despite
having
a
setback
of
backing
read more...
April
7,
2025
Tyler
Reddick
of
23XI
Racing
had
a
strong
performance
during
Sunday's
Goodyear
400
at
Darlington
Raceway
that
fell
short
of
victory.
Beginning
Sunday's
race
from
the
seventh
position,
Reddick
showcased
that
he
had
a
solid
car
compared
to
the
field,
running
read more...
April
7,
2025
Hendrick
Motorsports
driver
Chase
Elliott
finished
eighth
in
Sunday's
race
at
Darlington
Raceway,
the
Goodyear
400.
Starting
from
the
15th
position,
Elliott
struggled
with
his
car
at
the
beginning
of
the
first
stage.
He
lost
ground
to
other
drivers
and
ended
read more...
April 7, 2025
Ty Gibbs of Joe Gibbs Racing placed ninth in Sunday's Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway. Beginning Sunday's race from the 11th position, Gibbs put himself behind early during the first stage after making an early pit stop. The No. 54 Toyota driver struggled to make moves and ended the first stage in 33rd. In the second stage, Gibbs and his team improved their car and, through pit strategies, finally made ground. Gibbs would end the second stage in the seventh position and score three stage points. In the final stage, Gibbs kept out of trouble and maintained his position in the top 10 throughout most of the entire stage. As a result, Gibbs ended the race with his first top-10 finish since Kansas in September 2024. This is also his third career top-10 finish at Darlington.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com
April 7, 2025
Chris Buescher and his Roush-Fenway Keselowski Racing team had yet another solid race weekend at Darlington, as the No. 17 Ford crossed the finish line in sixth place when the Goodyear 400 was all said and done. It was Buescher's fifth top-10 finish through the first eight races this year, and it kept him in 11th place in the points standings. This was also another strong showing for Buescher at Darlington specifically, as he now has four top-10 finishes over the last five races there. After the race was over on Sunday, the driver remarked, "We had a lot of speed today. Once that caution fell, it just trapped us. We spent the rest of the race trying to get that track position back. We got it at the end. We were able to move forward a little more on that final restart, but overall, a good day."
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Speedway Media
April 7, 2025
In Sunday's Goodyear 400 at Darlington, pole-sitter William Byron started the race with 243 consecutive laps led, the most since Jeff Burton led every lap in the second Loudon race of 2000. However, Byron's attempt to lead every lap arguably ended up costing him the race, as the race had several green-flag pit cycles, meaning Byron needed to stay out several laps later to maintain his lead, which meant there was a risk of other drivers who pitted sooner beating him out of the pits by posting substantially faster lap times. Although he was bailed out by the debris caution in the middle of Stage 2, his long-pitting cost him the lead in Stage 3, as both Tyler Reddick and Christopher Bell jumped him before Ryan Blaney passed all of them. Byron did gain several spots in the pits during the final caution preceding the overtime restart, which resulted in a second-place finish and expanded his points lead to 49 points over eventual winner Denny Hamlin.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
April 7, 2025
Christopher Bell finished third at Darlington on Sunday, but that was more because he was lucky than good. Despite the fact that Denny Hamlin won the race and Bell ended up with a third-place finish, all the Joe Gibbs Racing cars seemed to be very slow on long runs as Bell started 17th but shockingly fell as low as 30th and nearly got lapped during Stage 1. However, his crew chief Adam Stevens' decision to long-pit in Stage 2 reaped dividends during the Brad Keselowski debris caution, as he remained on the lead lap while many of the faster cars were trapped behind him. In a race with minimal passing, Bell was then able to retain and even improve his position. Despite being nowhere to be seen in Stage 1, he finished sixth in Stage 2 and ran in most of the top 10 in Stage 3, moving up to third in points but losing 17 points to William Byron.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
April 7, 2025
Kyle Larson had a race to forget at Darlington on Sunday. His race finished nearly before it started, as an unforced error caused him to crash into the inside retaining wall on Lap 4. Although he spent over half the race in the garage, he did return to the track. Shortly after Ryan Blaney passed Tyler Reddick with three laps to go in regulation, Reddick hit the wall and Larson checked up while running behind him, which caused Bubba Wallace to spin him out and led to the chaotic pit-stop reshuffle under caution that ultimately decided the race. After the second crash, Larson did not return to the track and finished next to last in 37th, which caused him to drop from second to sixth in points, losing 55 points to his teammate and points leader William Byron. Nonetheless, this hardly matters, since he's almost certainly locked into the playoffs after his win at Homestead.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
April 7, 2025
Ross Chastain has a history of qualifying poorly at Darlington and getting good finishes, and that continued again in Sunday's race as he started 25th before eventually finishing seventh. He had just worked his way into the top 10 for the first time in the middle of Stage 2 when he got trapped a lap down after pitting right before a caution came out. Although he was able to take the wave-around, he was unable to make much progress because he had older tires than the leaders. However, he slowly advanced from 15th to ninth in Stage 3 before grabbing two positions on the race-ending restart. Despite not scoring any stage points, he still moved from 19 points to 31 points above the playoff cut line and broke his tie for 12th in points with Chase Briscoe.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
April 6, 2025
Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin will start third for Sunday's race at Darlington Raceway, the Goodyear 400. Hamlin is the highest qualifying Toyota driver in the field for this week's race. In 25 races, Hamlin has four wins, 18 top-10 finishes, 1,000 laps led, and an average finish of 8.2, all of which rank first among active drivers, apart from laps led. After seven races so far this season, Hamlin has four top-10 finishes and one win, which came during last week's race at Martinsville. In practice, Hamlin ranked 21st in overall lap averages while ranking as high as 12th in 25 and 30-consecutive lap averages. Despite his practice speeds being a bit underwhelming, Hamlin's track history is better than all drivers and will still be a factor for the win regardless, especially with his JGR equipment.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
April 6, 2025
Chase Elliott of Hendrick Motorsports will start 15th for this week's Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway. Elliott qualified higher than this current position only thrice during the 2025 season so far. In 16 races at Darlington in his Cup career, Elliott has 10 top-15 finishes, including four straight finishes of 12th or better in his last four appearances. With seven races completed so far during the 2025 season, Elliott has four top-10 finishes and is the only driver in the series to place in the top 20 of all races. In practice, Elliott ranked 34th in overall lap averages while displaying top-15 speeds in the 20, 25, and 30 consecutive lap average categories. Overall, Elliott is one of the more trustable drivers to compete for a top-10 finish based on track history, equipment, and practice speeds this week.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
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