Darlington Weekend Preview

NASCAR returns on Sunday with The Real Heroes 400 at Darlington Raceway.

The 293-lap race will be the first for NASCAR in over two months since the season was halted due to the COVID-19 outrbreak. In a partnership with The Real Heroes Project, the race will will honor healthcare workers serving on the front lines in the fight against COVID-19.

The starting lineup was set Thursday evening with a random draw. Brad Keselowski, who won at Darlington in 2018, will start from the pole.

See Also: Starting Lineup

Motor Racing Network’s live coverage of Sunday’s race will begin at 2:30 p.m. ET. Alex Hayden and Dave Moody will call The Real Heroes 400 from the booth. Dillon Welch and Steve Post will be in the turns with Kim Coon and Hannah Newhouse reporting from pit road.

The Real Heroes 400 will mark the first of two Cup Series races at Darlington in four days with a 228-lap race set for Wednesday night (MRN, 6:30 p.m. ET, FS1). The Xfinity Series will also be back in action on Tuesday night at Darlington (MRN, FS1 7:30 p.m ET).

Matt Kenseth, who won the last Darlington race held in May in 2013, will be making his first start since 2018 as he takes over behind the wheel of the No. 42 Chevrolet for Chip Ganassi Racing, replacing Kyle Larson.

“Nobody has been in a car in a while, certainly, it’s been longer for me,” Kenseth said. “I think the biggest difference for me, also, is that I haven’t driven these race cars or for this team. So, there are a few more unknowns. I’m not sure how exactly everything is going to feel and all that kind of stuff. There is certainly a little bit of anxiety for those first few corners to kind of get rolling and get used to things.”

Darlington: Race Winners | Driver Averages

Darlington will also mark the first race back for Ryan Newman, who was cleared to race back on April 27 after recovering from a head injury suffered in a last-lap accident in the season-opening Daytona 500.

“I’m so excited and thankful to be healthy to get back into the race car,” Newman said. “I am thankful for all the people and support that have prayed for me and given me a multitude of miracles. I cannot think of a better track to start back at than Darlington, my favorite track and one we feel confident in.”

As part of his path to return to racing, Newman was able to get behind the wheel of a race car back in March at Darlington where he turned about 30 laps at speed.

“The track was really green and was really fast,” Newman said. “My first five laps of my 20-lap run were quicker than the pole-winning car from last fall, so I can handle the speed. There’s no issue with that, just wanted to kind of get that behind me and Darlington being kind of close to home and away from a little bit of everything else, for me, was no different than how Dale Jr. did it. You take an opportunity to go down and shake things down and make sure that everything is connected.”

Darlington Loop Data Stat Leaders (Last Three Races)

Erik Jones is the most recent winner at Darlington and has yet to finish worse than eighth in three Cup starts. After a lot of communication with crew chief Chris Gayle over the phone during the break from racing, Jones spent some time in the Toyota simulator this week to work on what the team will possibly unload and race with since this weekend will see no practice.

“I haven’t seen Chris since Atlanta which is really odd,” Jones said. “I don’t know if I’ve ever gone that long not seeing Chris in the last four years. It’s a different normal. Obviously, the communication has been ramped up the last few weeks with them getting back to work at JGR and getting obviously ready for Darlington this weekend.”

Along with Keselowski, Kenseth and Jones, Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr. are the drivers in Sunday’s field that have gone to Victory Lane at Darlington. Johnson leads the group with three wins (sweep in 2004 and one in 2012) and Hamlin is the only other multiple race winner (2010, 2017).