New competition package could produce wild racing at Darlington

In a recent social media post, Denny Hamlin detailed the level of chaos he expects to see in Sunday’s Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway.

“Heads up on Darlington,” Hamlin said with a wry laugh. “You want to see some cars out of control? These cars, with essentially little or no underbody—‘cause we’re now going to the short-track aerodynamic package for Darlington—these cars are out of control.”

In the sixth points-paying race of the season, NASCAR Cup Series drivers will race on the same tire codes that carried Hamlin to victory last Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where NASCAR’s intermediate speedway package was in use.

At 1.366-mile Darlington, an abrasive track that eats tires, drivers will have more horsepower—roughly 750 versus 670 at Las Vegas—and less downforce, giving credence to Hamlin’s assertion that the cars will be difficult to drive.

“Thinking of Darlington, Nashville, Bristol, Dover—on those race tracks, we were on the high-downforce package (last year),” said Las Vegas pole winner Christopher Bell, Hamlin’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate.

“Now we’re going with the low-downforce package with upped horsepower, so I think the racing will be more different at those race tracks.”

Cup Series drivers raced Sunday’s left-side tires at Darlington last year, but the right sides weren’t introduced until the 2025 Playoff race at Kansas Speedway in September. Tire management is certain to be an issue on Sunday, with only 11 sets of tires (10 new and one set of qualifying scuffs) available for the 293-lap race.

Hamlin is the defending winner of the Goodyear 400. The driver of the No. 11 Toyota has five victories at The Lady in Black, most among active drivers. His average finish in 27 starts there is 7.9—best all-time.

Tyler Reddick, winner of the first three races this season, boasts the second-best average Darlington finish among active drivers, 11.54 in 13 starts.

Current Joe Gibbs Racing drivers have won the last three Cup races at Darlington, with Chase Briscoe taking the checkered flag in the last two Southern 500s (though his 2024 win in the Labor Day classic came in a Stewart-Haas Racing Ford).

Toyota and Ford drivers have combined to win 15 of the last 18 Cup races at Darlington, with Erik Jones, William Byron and Kyle Larson winning three consecutive races in Chevrolets in 2022 and 2023.

Hendrick Motorsports drivers Chase Elliott and William Byron finished second and third, respectively, at Las Vegas, but Hamlin’s victory kept Chevrolet winless in the first five races of the season.

Byron hopes to achieve a breakthrough at The Lady in Black.

“Last week’s race was definitely more indicative of what we are expecting for this season,” Byron said. “We were close on speed from unloading and got the car better throughout the weekend and just needed a little bit more in the end.

“We’ve had success at Darlington, but last fall was a bit worrisome. Hopefully, we can use some of the notes we have on the new Chevrolet body from this year and apply it to what we used for last spring’s race. I’m hopeful, for sure.”

Byron’s teammate, Alex Bowman, will miss at least the next three races while recovering from vertigo. Justin Allgaier will substitute for Bowman at Darlington, Martinsville and Bristol. NASCAR News Wire