NASCAR Darlington Sunday, August 27, 2023
Darlington Raceway NASCAR Cup Series Stats Highlights
Darlington NCS 9/22
Erik Jones
Darlington 9/22 winner – Started 15th, finished 8th in Stage 1 & 9th in Stage 2, only final 23 laps led
Winner pit stops: Erik Jones (11 Stops) 37, 74 (G), 117, 154 (G), 181, 193, 220, 233, 280, 320 (G), 342
Top 5 Stage 1 & 2: William Byron 1st & 5th, Kyle Busch 3rd & 1st, Martin Truex Jr. 5th & 2nd
Best free pass finisher: Tyler Reddick 3rd
Best finisher with pit road speeding penalty: Daniel Suárez 18th
Best starting rear of field finisher: Daniel Suárez 18th
Best Hendrick: William Byron 8th
Best Gibbs: Denny Hamlin 2nd
Best Stewart-Haas: Aric Almirola 11th
Best Penske: Joey Logano 4th
Darlington NCS 5/23
William Byron
Darlington 5/23 winner – Started 4th, finished 2nd in Stage 1 & 4th in Stage 2, only led 7 of final 8 laps
Winner pit stops: William Byron – 7 Stops Lap 39, 94, 137 (G), 189, 212, 248 (G), 277
Stage 1 winner: Martin Truex Jr. 31st
Stage 2 winner: Ross Chastain 29th
Top 5 Stage 1 & 2: Byron 2nd & 4th, Chastain 4th & 1st, Busch 5th & 2nd
Most points scored: 56 William Byron
Passed for final lead change: Kevin Harvick Finished 2nd
Winner final laps led: William Byron 2
Cautions: 8
Longest green run: 87 Laps (99-185)
Best free pass finisher: Justin Haley 8th
Best finisher with pit road speeding penalty: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 13th
Best starting rear of field finisher: Corey LaJoie 24th
Best Hendrick: William Byron 1st
Best Gibbs: Denny Hamlin 12th
Best Stewart-Haas: Kevin Harvick 2nd
Best Penske: Ryan Blaney 9th
Martin Truex Jr.: 3 Wins last 7 Playoff openers
4 Won first Playoff race & championship in same season
New Hampshire first Playoff race 2004-’10 (7 Years)
Chicagoland first Playoff race 2011-’17 (7 Years)
Las Vegas first Playoff race 2018-‘19 (2 Years)
Darlington first Playoff race 2020 & ’23 (4 Years)
53 Different winners in 124 NASCAR Cup Series Darlington races
41 Different winners in 73 Southern 500s
Jeff Gordon leads all with 6 Southern 500 wins
6 Different winners in last 6 Darlington races – Harvick, Truex Jr., Hamlin, Logano, Jones & Byron
24 Hall of Fame drivers won Darlington races
23 of the 35 NASCAR Cup Series champions won at Darlington (77 Total wins)
12 Champions winless at Darlington
Denny Hamlin: 4 Darlington wins with 3 different crew chiefs – Mike Ford (2010), Michael Wheeler (2017) & Chris Gabehart (5/20/20 & 9/21)
Chevrolet: 2 Straight Darlington wins – Winless previous 11 Darlington races
William Byron: 2019 Darlington pole winner – Youngest ever (21-Years-old)
Three 23-year-olds won Darlington: Kyle Busch 23-0-8 (2008), Erik Jones 23-3-2 (2019) & Terry Labonte 23-9-16 (1980)
1 of last 13 Darlington races won by driver starting first – Last winner from pole: Joey Logano 5/22
Worst starting position of Darlington winner: 43rd – Johnny Mantz 1950
Only 6 Darlington races won from outside top 20 starting position
Last to win back-to-back Darlington races: Greg Biffle 2005 & ‘06 (William Byron won last Darlington race)
Last Darlington season sweep: Jimmie Johnson 2004
Southern 500 won back-to-back 7 times – Erik Jones won last Southern 500
Most consecutive Southern 500 wins: 4 – Jeff Gordon 1995-’98 (Jeff Burton won in 1999)
Last back-to-back Southern 500 winner: Greg Biffle 2005 & ’06 – Erik Jones won last Southern 500
Youngest Darlington winners: Kyle Busch, Erik Jones & Terry Labonte – 23
Oldest Darlington winners: Harry Gant – 51 & Mark Martin – 50
Last defending NASCAR Cup Series champion to win Darlington race – Jeff Gordon 2001 champ & 9/02 winner
Most laps led by Darlington winner: 351 – Johnny Mantz (1950)
Most Darlington laps led to finish: 351 – Johnny Mantz (1950)
Most laps led by Darlington non-winner: 284 – Kyle Larson (2018)
9 Darlington winners led 10 or fewer laps
Fewest laps led by Darlington winner: 1 (Ricky Craven 3/03) & 2 (Terry Labonte 9/80 & Harry Gant 4/83)
Final lead change with 10 or fewer laps to go in 27 Darlington races
Jeff Burton won 2 shortened Darlington races – Each in 1999
5 Darlington Overtime finishes – Leader at scheduled distance won 2
Teammates finished 1-2 six times at Darlington – Joe Gibbs Racing finished 1-2 three times (2013, ’17 & 5/20/20)
Drivers won first race of season 40 times at Darlington
5 Darlington races settled by last lap pass
Closest Darlington finish: .002 seconds – 3/03 Ricky Craven over Kurt Busch
6 Won first career NASCAR Cup Series race at Darlington
Terry Labonte: First career win – Darlington 9/80 & Last career win – Darlington 8/03
Southern 500 winners went on to win championship 13 times – Last: Kevin Harvick 2014
Chevrolet leads all with 28 Southern 500 wins – 1 Win last 8 Southern 500s
5 Won Daytona 500 & Southern 500 in same year – Last: Jeff Gordon 1997
Pit Road Speeding Penalties:
2017: 0 / 2018: 3 / 2019: 0 / 5/17/20: 4 / 5/20/20: 3 / 9/6/20: 4 / 5/9/21: 5 / 9/5/21: 1 / 5/8/22: 2 / 9/4/22: 2 / 5/14/23: 3
Commitment Line Violations:
2017: 3 / 2018: 3 / 2019: 0 / 5/17/20: 0 / 5/20/20: 0 / 9/6/20: 0 / 5/9/21: 0 / 9/5/21: 0 / 5/8/22: 0 / 9/4/22: 0 / 5/14/23: 0
9/4/50: First race entirely on asphalt
9/3/51: Most cars 82
9/1/52: Longest race 6:42:37
9/6/65: Ned Jarrett won Southern 500 by 14 laps over 2nd-place Buck Baker
5/13/67: At Darlington, Richard Petty passed Lee Petty for all-time wins with 55th career victory
9/6/71: Bobby Allison started streak of 39 straight races led winning Southern 500
4/16/72: David Pearson won in first race with Wood Brothers
4/13/75 & 9/1/75: Team Penske’s first Darlington wins – Bobby Allison driving Matador
9/6/76: David Pearson won final race in triple-crown – 1976 Daytona 500, 1976 World 600 & 1976 Southern 500
4/8/79: Darrell Waltrip & Richard Petty each swapped lead final 4 laps
4/13/80: David Pearson won in first race with Hoss Ellington
9/6/82: 10th straight Buick win in 1982 – Cale Yarborough Southern 500
9/2/84: Southern 500 run on Sunday instead of Labor Day
9/1/85: Bill Elliott wins million-dollar bonus
3/29/87: First of 4 straight wins for Dale Earnhardt (Darlington, North Wilkesboro, Bristol & Martinsville)
9/1/91: Harry Gant’s Darlington win was first of 4 straight victories for Mr. September
9/6/92: Darlington was 84th and final career win for Darrell Waltrip
9/5/93: Mark Martin won 4 straight races in 1993 with the final win of streak coming in Southern 500
8/31/97: Dale Earnhardt blacked out twice during Southern 500
9/5/99: Jeff Burton won 50th Southern 500 with brother Ward Burton finishing 2nd
3/16/03: Ricky Craven edged Kurt Busch by .002 seconds winning Darlington leading only final lap
8/31/03: Last career win for Terry Labonte 23 years after first career win in 1980 Southern 500
3/21/04: 100th Darlington race – Jimmie Johnson winner
5/12/12: Jimmie Johnson’s Darlington win was 200th win for Hendrick Motorsports
9/6/15: Carl Edwards comes from 2 laps down to win Southern 500
5/17/20 & 5/20/20: Darlington race added to schedule & run without fans due to COVID-19
5/17/20: Kevin Harvick 50th career win
9/4/22: #43 Wins first Darlington race since 9/4/67
Darlington Raceway NASCAR Xfinity Series Stats Highlights
36 Different winners in 66 Darlington Xfinity Series races
JR Motorsports won 4 of last 5 Darlington races
Final lead change with 2 or fewer laps to go 6 of last 7 Darlington races – Last 2 races settled by last lap pass
First Joe Gibbs Racing NXS win: Darlington 3/98 (Bobby Labonte)
4 Darlington races settled by last lap pass:
2014 – Chase Elliott passed Elliott Sadler
5/20 – Chase Briscoe passed Kyle Busch
9/22 – Noah Gragson passed Kyle Larson
5/23 – Kyle Larson passed John Hunter Nemechek
Most leaders: 9 (4/84, 5/05 & 5/23)
Most cautions: 10 (4/84, 5/07, 5/09 & 5/23)
Slowest race: 91.924 mph (5/23)
Chase Elliott only Rookie to win Darlington (2014)
3 Sets of brothers won Darlington races – Geoff & Todd Bodine; Bobby & Terry Labonte; Darrell & Michael Waltrip
10 Darlington win streaks (Back-to-back wins)
All 5 of Denny Hamlin’s Darlington wins came after starting on pole
Worst starting position of Darlington winner: 36th – Larry Pearson 3/95
*Justin Allgaier started rear of field 5/22
3 Scored first career win at Darlington – Last: Ron Bouchard 4/84 (Both career wins came at Darlington)
4 Won Darlington & championship in same season – Last: Chase Elliott 2014
Mark Martin won 2 Darlington races 3/26/94 – NASCAR Xfinity Series & IROC
4/13/85: Harry Gant relieved Jack Ingram and drove to the win