Darlington II Event Info: Date: Sunday, Sept. 1 Time: 6 p.m. ET Series: NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) Location: Darlington, South Carolina Format: 367 Laps, 501.32 Miles, Stages: 115-115-137 TV: USA Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90)
Weekend Schedule: Saturday: 12:35 p.m. ET, Practice (USA, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) Saturday: 1:20 p.m. ET, Qualifying (USA, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) Sunday: 6 p.m. ET, Race (USA, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Pace Laps:
The 2024 regular season culminates this weekend with the running of the Southern 500. Chris Buescher sits on the cut line in the playoff picture, but 21 points to the good entering the weekend.
Brad Keselowski enters the weekend coming off his second win at the track this spring, where both RFK cars led significant laps.
In the last seven races at Darlington, Keselowski has the fourth-best average finish of any driver (11.9) with five top-10s in that stretch. Buescher also has four top-10s in that stretch, tied for second-most of any driver in the Cup Series.
6 Team Info: Crew Chief: Matt McCall Partner: Solomon Plumbing
Brad Keselowski’s Checkered Flag Foundation’s Tribute to Veterans program returned this year presented by Solomon Plumbing. For its sixth consecutive year, and third with RFK Racing, the program will honor America’s heroes with a special scheme on the No. 6 Solomon Plumbing Ford Mustang piloted by NASCAR champion Brad Keselowski at Darlington Raceway.
This year 268 names will be featured on the car. The Tribute to Veterans program gives friends and family the opportunity to honor and recognize their heroes, including veterans, active military, military family members and their caregivers—acknowledging the ongoing commitment to the well-being of veterans and those who play a role in veterans’ lives daily.
The proceeds of the program benefit the Checkered Flag Foundation in its mission to honor and assist those who have sacrificed greatly for our country and our communities.
17 Team Info: Crew Chief: Scott Graves Partner: BuildSubmarines.com
Keselowski is coming off his second Darlington win this spring where he led 37 laps and locked himself into the 2024 NASCAR Playoffs. He started P2 in that race before going on to secure his 36th Cup Series win.
Keselowski has four-straight top-10s at Darlington and a 10.9 average finish. He ran sixth in this race a year ago after starting fifth.
Keselowski won the fall race back in 2018, one of his seven top fives overall at the track Too Tough to Tame. Overall he’s finished 15th or better in 13 out of the last 15 Darlington races.
Keselowski does have three poles at Darlington – 2015, 2020, 2021 – with an average starting position of 10.3 and 14 starts inside the top-10.
He also made seven Xfinity Series starts with one win (2018) and three top-10s.
Buescher was in line to win his first-ever race at Darlington this spring, but late contact negated that. He went on to finish 30th in that race after leading 21 laps and starting from P3.
He finished third in this race a year ago after starting eighth, one of his four top-10s overall. All four of those finishes have come in the past three years in Darlington.
He carries a 20.9 average starting position and is coming off back-to-back career-best qualifying efforts (P3 this spring, P8 last fall).
Buescher also made four Xfinity starts at Darlington with a fifth-place run in 2015.
RFK Historically at Darlington Cup Wins: 6 (Mark Martin, 1993; Jeff Burton, 1999, 1999; Greg Biffle, 2005, 2006; Brad Keselowski, 2024)
Darlington Two-Step: RFK has twice won consecutive NCS races at Darlington, including a season sweep in 1999 with former driver Jeff Burton. RFK also earned victories in consecutive seasons at the egg-shaped oval in 2005 and 2006 with Biffle.
Tale of the Tape: In 264 all-time NASCAR starts at ‘The Lady in Black,’ Jack Roush’s Fords have 21 wins, 72 top-five and 125 top-10 finishes, along with 20 poles. Over the years RFK has led 4,600+ laps across the Cup, Xfinity and Truck series, with more than 93,000 miles logged at the 1.366-mile track. In NCS action alone, RFK has finished top-10 in 44 percent (78-of-178) of the races with 38 top-five results and five wins.
Kickin’ it Old School: Legendary RFK drivers Mark Martin, Jeff Burton and Greg Biffle are responsible for the five Cup wins for Jack Roush at Darlington. Martin earned Roush’s first Cup win back in 1993 after leading 178 laps. Burton swept the 1999 events as the dominant car, and Biffle earned the two most recent victories in 2005 and 2006.
Most All Time: It’s no secret that when Roush has dominated in the Xfinity Series at Darlington. In 79 starts, the organization has 15 wins, 33 top-five and 44 top-10s. Mark Martin is responsible for eight of the victories, second-most for him among any track, after winning five of the first seven races at the track for Roush from 1993-96. He also went on to win in 1999 and swept again in 2000. Jeff Burton got in on the fun with wins in 1997, 2001 and 2002, while Biffle earned a win in 2004. Most recently, Kenseth drove to victory lane in 2005 and 2009.
RFK Darlington Wins
1993-2 Martin Cup
1999-1 Burton Cup
1999-2 Burton Cup
2005 Biffle Cup
2006 Biffle Cup
1993-2 Martin NXS
1994-1 Martin NXS
1994-2 Martin NXS
1995-2 Martin NXS
1996-1 Martin NXS
1997-2 Burton NXS
1999-2 Martin NXS
2000-1 Martin NXS
2000-2 Martin NXS
2001-2 Burton NXS
2002-1 Burton NXS
2002-2 Burton NXS
2004-1 Biffle NXS
2005 Kenseth NXS
2009 Kenseth NXS
2024 Keselowski Cup
Last Time Out & Where They Stand Daytona: RFK had arguably two of the best cars Saturday night in Daytona as Keselowski earned the most points of any driver and both cars earned top-10 stage finishes. Buescher – for the second-straight week – overcame an incident to finish 10th, while Keselowski finished eighth.
Points Standings (6: 7th, 17: 11th): Keselowski is up another two positions in driver points while Buescher is 11th in driver standings. In the playoff picture, Buescher sits 16th, 21 points to the good entering the final race of the regular season.
