Who Can Defeat Darlington Raceway in the Southern 500?

Photo Credit to David Jensen/Getty Images

NASCAR

Stratta’s Six: Who Can Kick Off The Chase on the Right Foot in Southern 500?

Starting off the 2026 Chase with a crown jewel race, the famed Cook Out Southern 500 will soon have a new page in its lengthy history book. The 77th running of NASCAR’s first marathon will begin the revised 10-week championship hunt. Sunday’s winner of the iconic and grueling race could come within eyesight of the Bill France Cup, with points at an all-time premium. Here are a few drivers who hope to master The Track Too Tough To Tame with a very clutch drive through to victory lane.

Denny Hamlin

One of Darlington Raceway’s all-time greats, Denny Hamlin and the Southern 500 are an uncanny pairing. Driver No. 11 has five Darlington triumphs, including three Southern 500 trophies. Despite a NASCAR-record 8.5 average finish here, Hamlin did admit that he’s lost a bit of his Darlington fastball. Aside from a 2025 spring win here, Hamlin’s not been better than seventh in his last four Darlington starts. Entering Sunday as the top Chase seed, Hamlin is well aware that the Southern 500 is a must-perform race.

“[I’m looking forward to] all of them,” Hamlin said at Daytona. “It’s the short answer. I think it starts with Darlington. That’s a track where I’ve not been my best over the last couple races there. So, I’m trying to get the performance back where we expect to be at that racetrack. So that’s the number one focus for me at the moment.”

“The track just changes quite a bit from really even the first run, the second run to the 10th run. It’s all different. So, kind of understanding what the car and how it’s gonna react even if you change nothing during the course of that 500 miles. It’s something that experience really helps in understanding.”

11th at Darlington in March was a rare off day for Hamlin, after he suffered damage from mid-race contact. Starting off as the championship favorite and the man with the target on his back, the wind appears to be at Hamlin’s back for another Southern 500 stunner. Driver 11 boasts a 10th-place Next Gen average finish here despite his recent struggles. It would be of little surprise to see Hamlin secure Darlington win number six in his possible championship quest.

Kyle Larson

Snakebitten by Darlington Raceway for the longest time, Kyle Larson finally had everything go right in the 2023 Southern 500. In the five starts since that elusive win, however, driver No. 5 only has one result better than 19th. These lackluster results have not come without trying, though, as Larson’s led 300 laps in this span.

“I think with a short amount of races left until the end, a good result can help us, but a bad result can hurt us even more because you have less time to make up for it,” Larson said. “I think it makes you have to be on your game even more. We have the tools in the toolbox to do it. We just need to get a little bit faster, and that makes everything easier. It makes it a little bit easier when you’re in the top five every race and qualifying well. I have confidence in our team that we can get back to winning. I would love to get to victory lane these next 10 races and have a solid Chase.”

“It’s just important to get good runs in at every track. Obviously, if you can start the Chase off with some solid results, some solid points, you’ll just give yourself better hope throughout it. I mean, 10 weeks is a long time, but I think you can quickly feel like you’re out of it and you don’t want to do that.”

Darlington used to be arguably Larson’s most consistent track on the circuit, with eight top-10s across his first 12 starts here. Performance has hardly flinched here for the No. 5, but luck has not gone in their favor recently. Larson and Darlington have been a tale of high and low points. Which one of these outcomes we see on Sunday may define The Chase moving forward for the defending Cup champion.

Chris Buescher

Quietly great in recent memory at Darlington has been Chris Buescher. The RFK Racing No. 17 Ford has seen top-10s in six of the last seven races here, including the last four heading into this Southern 500. Buescher also led laps at Darlington in March, briefly in an RFK Racing 1-2-3 before sliding back to ninth. Starting Sunday as the 10th Chase seed, Buescher sees the Southern 500 as a prime opportunity race ahead for the 17.

“It’s nice, but I told you all at the beginning of the year we would be here,” Buescher said. “The Chase format fits how we go about things and had this been the case the last couple of years, we’d be sitting here as well. It’s not the case and that’s largely of our own doing as well and the format and we didn’t hit it right. We didn’t win the races when we needed to, but this is good to be back. This is something we knew was gonna be achievable. Really, until the last month, I thought we were gonna roll in here fifth or sixth in seeding, but we had a little bit of a fall back the last little bit. That being said, we’ve got a lot of really good racetracks coming up. I’m excited to get this thing fired off. Darlington is one of my favorite tracks. We’ve run extremely well there. We have lots of good ones coming and there’s still time to win races.”

“From the get-go, Darlington has been a race that we’ve all run really well at and been in contention to fight for wins. Brad’s win there was not long ago. It’s a racetrack that I’ve always loved. It’s been one of my favorite racetracks. I tell people a lot that we always like the places that we run good at. I’ve liked Darlington even when I didn’t run good at that place. So I think that does say something for that facility, so right off the bat we’re gonna say that’s one we’ve got a great shot at. Really, when you look at the races remaining, we have a lot of really good racetracks for our organization. I would say that we’ve got our mile-and-a-half has been extremely strong so with Kansas, Charlotte not being the Roval this time around, I’m actually happy about that even though the Roval was statistically very strong for us. I think that the oval can be as well. Phoenix has been great. I love Homestead. There’s really no tracks coming up – Bristol is my favorite track in the Chase. We don’t have to sit here and say we’ve got just one or two circled as opportunities. We feel like we have an opportunity everywhere we go. I’d say for me personally, Martinsville has probably been my weakest racetrack out of everything that we have coming at us and that’s pretty deep into the Chase, and what we’ve learned from the other two here, and what I’ve figured out from the driver’s side from the other two, our first race at Martinsville this year was shaping up to be a whole lot stronger, but we just had a freak deal happen there. I’m optimistic about that one as well, so I think that’s a long-winded answer of saying I don’t think we have to circle any specific one.”

If any Ford is to break into Darlington’s winner’s circle, Chris Buescher may just be the blue oval to beat. It’s been nearly two full years since Buescher’s last Cup win. The Southern 500 may be RFK’s ticket to Chase glory once again.

Tyler Reddick

Victorious at Darlington in March, that win marked checkered flag number four of the year for Tyler Reddick. Taking command late from Brad Keselowski, the 23XI Racing No. 45 held on to take Michael Jordan to one of NASCAR’s most hallowed victory lanes. Now looking for back-to-back South Carolina triumphs in the Southern 500, Reddick hopes to keep the good times rolling.

“I mean, for me, I love it,” Reddick said. “You know, just how tricky that track is to get around, for me. I feel like I have a really good comfort running up the racetrack there. I’ve continued to try and find ways to make speed in other places around there, but just the way it kind of plays out because the tires wear out you’ve got to run really close to the wall in [turns] three and four. We have to play the games in [turns] one and two, trying to get up to the wall and not smoke it. So, just kind of how it’s been with the Next Gen Car here. It took a little time to really sort out, but I don’t know. For me, I love every lap of it, every mile. It’s a lot of fun. The way the track cools off and picks up grip. Just the way it works out, I wish some of the runs were longer throughout the race itself, but yeah, it’s one of those where I feel like it just, it goes on and on and on, and it’s fun trying to find ways to stay locked in for all 500 miles just right on the edge.”

“The nice thing is we’re going to Darlington, a place where my confidence is sky-high. The team going in there every time is just absolutely on cloud nine. I’m glad that the Chase starts in Darlington for us.”

Reddick enters a possible second-straight Darlington victory tied as co-favorite with Denny Hamlin. The span since winning Darlington has not exactly gone to plan for team 45, only seeing 11 top-10s in 20 starts. Reddick does have four-straight Southern 500 top-10s, though, showing that this track and race both compliment him. These stats help pad Reddick’s series-best Next Gen 8.7 Darlington average finish. Just looking at the last two years alone, this number balloons to 2.3. If Reddick starts off his Chase on the right foot, it could be a very entertaining 10-week battle between a few Toyotas for the Cup.

Chase Briscoe

Nobody’s had the Southern 500’s number recently memory quite like Chase Briscoe. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver looks for an unprecedented third-straight win in the Labor Day weekend classic, having tamed Darlington the last two years. Both of these wins for Briscoe came with two different teams, and in two very opposite ways. 2024 saw Briscoe and Stewart-Haas Racing take command on a late restart. Last season though, the No. 19 Toyota was a very dominant force, leading 309 laps. Calling Briscoe the man to beat in Darlington seems like a forgone conclusion, especially after 2025. The fifth Chase seed has high confidence heading back into the Southern 500.

“I definitely am excited to start with the Southern 500,” Briscoe said. “You know, that’s something that we won’t get to do next year, and that’s for me at least, with just how the tracks line out in this year’s Chase. If you just look statistically this year the tracks are way better for me than what they would be next year. Excited though to start at the Southern 500. I don’t feel like there’s really a weakness out of any of the Chase races for us. To hopefully go to Darlington the goal is a 76-point day. That mean win both stages, win the race, and have the fastest lap. And we were able to do that last year, so there’s no reason why we can’t do it again. If we do that the 45 points to Denny, even if he runs second in all the stages, it’s cut in half already. That’s the goal and hopefully we can do that.”

Although he made last year’s championship finale round, Chase Briscoe in 2026 faces his best shot yet at the Cup Series title. Darlington could easily be a dagger thrust into the competition by the Hoosier. Briscoe hopes to capitalize in a big way at one of his best tracks. So much emphasis is put on Toyotas and the top-six seeds alike for this Chase. Briscoe could give the rest of the field another long 500 miles in his rearview mirror.

William Byron

In desperate need of a breakout run to start The Chase is William Byron. The No. 24 Chevrolet starts out the 10-week hunt from the 13th seed, and aims for Darlington win number two. Hendrick Motorsports and Southern 500 success are a pair like no other. The Chevrolet super team has a record 12 Labor Day weekend wins. It may take another victory for Byron to break into title contention talks. The typical title-threat 24 currently has an 85-point deficit to the leader. Even with this massive points hole, Byron still likes his chances heading to one of his favorite tracks.

“Darlington is a place I always look forward to going to,” Byron said. “We typically run really well there. Last fall we were a bit off as a group. But I think we righted the ship some in the spring. We need a good, solid weekend though to start The Chase off with good momentum. We don’t need to do anything fancy; show up, execute, be there at the end.”

“Yeah, I think whoever runs well at Darlington is going to get off to a really strong start. Obviously, it’s a long race. There are a lot of stage points, so whoever wins that race is going to be at a real advantage.”

“Yeah, Chicago was probably one of our better races this year. Pocono was up there, too, so a couple of good intermediate races. I think the lower downforce and higher horsepower package has not been traditionally as good for us. But hopefully we’re making gains on that and we are in a better position this weekend in Darlington. I’m looking forward to it.”

As Byron alluded to above, Chicago saw the 24 lead a ton of laps and finish fourth. This marked the most recent intermediate race, and perhaps was a sign of better performance ahead for Hendrick. Byron has been within eyesight of a few Darlington wins that have been snatched away late. Maybe Sunday will see fortunes change for Byron in South Carolina.

The Southern 500 is heralded as a true test of grit, integrity, and tenacity for man and machine alike. The Cook Out Southern 500 could shake up the Cup standings, and separate contenders from pretenders. The 367-lap battle begins Sunday at 5 p.m. ET on USA Network, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. Amid the first year of NASCAR’s reborn Chase for the Championship, this year’s Labor Day marathon carries great winning bonuses.

Written by Peter Stratta

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Photo Credit to David Jensen/Getty Images