Following a week off, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to Darlington Raceway this weekend for the second-to-last race before the Chase begins.

This weekend will be "throwback weekend," which will see teams using throwback liveries on their cars.

The full Sprint Cup weekend schedule and pre-race notes are below to get you fully up to speed ahead of the race weekend at Darlington.


Weekend Schedule - (all times Eastern)

Friday, September 4th

- Practice: 11:00 am - 12:55 pm

- Final practice: 4:30 - 6:25 pm

Saturday, September 5th

- Qualifying: 1:45 pm

Sunday, September 6th

- Race: 7:00 pm


Pre-Race Notebook

- Darlington was first built in 1949 as a 1.25 mile superspeedway. It was remeasured in 1953 to be 1.375 miles. It was then reconfigured in 1970 to the 1.366 miles that it is today. It was repaved in 2008, which was the last renovation done to the track.

- The Sprint Cup Series has just one race left after this weekend's Southern 500 at Darlington untill the Chase For The Sprint Cup, and that means the drivers who are not locked into the Chase are desperate to make a move and clinch a spot.

- Among notable drivers who need a win in the next two races are Jeff Gordon, Paul Menard and Clint Bowyer, who are all in the Chase as long as they attempt to qualify for the next two races and do not drop out of the top-16 in points, and if nobody below them gets a win.

- Notable drivers who need a win outright are Kyle Larson, Austin Dillon, Danica Patrick, Greg Biffle and Kasey Kahne. In addition to a win, those drivers need to remain in the top-30 in points and need to attempt to qualify for the next two races.

- Kyle Busch is in the Chase as long as he attempts to qualify for the next two races and remains in the top-30 in points. Busch missed the first part of the season after breaking his leg in the season-opening Xfinity Series event at Daytona. When he returned, he was granted a Chase waiver by NASCAR which allowed him to attempt to qualify for the Chase despite him missing a good chunk of the season. Busch has one win at Darlington in his career.

- Dale Earnhardt Jr., is locked into the Chase provided he attempts to qualify for the next two races. Although he is almost gauranteed being in the Chase, he will be hungry for a win, since Darlington is one of the tracks that he has never won at in his Sprint Cup career. He does have four top-fives at the track.

- Jeff Gordon is looking for a win to solidify his Chase spot, and this may be his best chance to do so. In his lengthy career, he has seven wins at Darlington and 19 top-five finishes. With this being his final full-time season, he will be looking to win a race and enter the Chase.

Stay tuned to the NASCAR section for continued coverage during the race weekend at Darlington.


Stevie Larson is a writer for the VAVEL USA NASCAR section. Follow him on Twitter at @littletwinsfan.

VAVEL Logo
About the author
Stevie Larson
NASCAR Editor, Minnesota sports fan. Contact: [email protected]