Sunday evening’s Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington’s a timeless crown jewel race. (Photo: Blake Ulino | The Podium Finish)
While the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs kicks off in some kind of iteration for the 18th consecutive year, it’s always special when it starts at Darlington Raceway. Nonetheless, it’s even more significant when it’s Sunday evening’s Cook Out Southern 500, a NASCAR crown jewel race.
Over the years, Darlington Raceway, a 1.366-mile egg shaped track, has challenged the best in stock car racing. Race the track conservatively and risk being overwhelmed by the competition. Take on a daring approach and it may result in an infamous Darlington Stripe.
For this year’s 16 drivers and teams battling for stock car glory, the kickoff to the Round of 16 is a momentum builder. It’s another chance to immortalize an effort into the history books. Consider last year’s postseason opener that saw Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson in a who’ll blink first matchup with the former besting the eventual Cup champion to the stripe in a video game like last lap.
This year, Hamlin and Larson are prime contenders along with Joey Logano, Christopher Bell, Tyler Reddick, Ryan Blaney and Ross Chastain, among others. These drivers know how to push the boundaries without going over the edge at this unique speedway.
This weekend, Cody Shoppe, Kobe Lambeth, Luis Torres, Matt Sisoler, Michelle Raynor, Nathan Solomon and yours truly consider the next new winner of 2022 and the prospects of Kyle Busch’s title chances.
Podium Preview: Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington
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Question 1
The calm before the storm. Literally. (Photo: Blake Ulino | The Podium Finish)
NASCAR officials found themselves in a tough situation with a Lap 139 crash in Turn 2 with rain causing a 13 car crash. Should NASCAR play it conservative when it comes to inclement weather potentially close to the track?
Shoppe : It’s a really tough situation to be in for NASCAR. There will be criticism either way. If they throw yellows for something in a more conservative manner, they run the risk of looking like they called a race early in favor of that leader at the time and the rain may not come for some time yet. I don’t think there’s much more they can do. This moment surely looked bad for NASCAR much like Loudon last summer.
Solomon : It’s kind of a no-win situation for NASCAR. Regardless, the sanctioning body will be criticized whether they call it too early or too late. For the most part, I think they have to call it early like they did in the Xfinity race Saturday at Darlington. They called the caution a few minutes before the rain, and they were able to bring the cars down pit road before it really poured. They need to continue the same thought process when big storms are coming.
Tiongson : This is definitely a tricky, balancing act that proves to be a winless situation. If they play it safe, fans will flock to social media and demand NASCAR be more aggressive in their approach. Also, with the technology that’s around with weather forecasting, it’s not always perfect. Case in point – the forecast was supposed to be mainly dry in my hometown on Saturday and it was a good two hours of downpours and thunderstorms.
In my opinion, I think this is a situation that NASCAR has to be on top of the radar and ensure they’re following the scanners, particularly with the spotters who are viewing the action from above. I think NASCAR will constantly tweak and improve upon their approach with each recent instance. However, it will be beneficial for NASCAR to be careful to repeat what happened at Daytona.
Sisoler : That depends. On some tracks, where the speeds aren’t that high or they have rain gear (tires, wipers, etc) available (on road courses), they can afford to be a touch more aggressive with it, but when it comes to tracks over 1.5 miles in length, NASCAR really needs to not play fast and loose with the yellow flags with rain on the speedway.
NASCAR and NBC claimed that the rain wasn’t there right until the cars drove into turn one, but fan videos on Twitter clearly show rain while the cars were on the backstretch, meaning they had a good 30-40 seconds to put the yellow out and avoid that melee that resulted from cars on slick tires driving into turn one in a pack at the high speeds we see at superspeedways.
In my opinion, driver’s safety should always come first, and at Daytona last week, NASCAR made the wrong call when it came to putting out a yellow for inclement weather, one that was lucky to not end in a serious injury, especially the way Daniel Suárez turned right and came back onto the track and into the outside wall after starting to slide down onto the apron.
Question 2
The ole switcheroo. (Photo: Blake Ulino | The Podium Finish)
Bubba Wallace and Ty Gibbs will swap car numbers for the final 10 races of the season. As the No. 45 pursues the owner’s championship, will Wallace help 23XI Racing with battling for this honor starting at Darlington?
Lambeth : If Bubba Wallace can maintain the same level of performance we’ve seen from him in the second half of the summer, then I believe he can make some noise in the owner’s championship. 23XI Racing made a smart move by swapping numbers to allow Ty Gibbs to continue his development as a young driver with less pressure, while Wallace gets valuable playoff experience that he’ll need later in his career. It’s a win-win situation for both drivers.
Sharpe : I feel like this will be the perfect chance for Bubba to prove his worth for his team and the sport. To be able to win something for a teammate as legendary as Kurt Busch would be incredible. I think during this period he might be able to also learn and show what being a leader within 23XI as a driver would be like.
In a couple of years, Kurt Busch will most likely retire. Bubba will probably become the senior racer within 23XI and will be helping to teach his future teammate everything he knows about racing.
Raynor : I think in the end, it makes sense and Bubba can improve for the company. I don’t see him being in the top 10 at Darlington when the race concludes. I am looking forward to seeing how Bubba handles the pressure the company is putting on him.
Torres : The grand picture is indeed allowing Wallace to get some Playoff experience that would make him an even stronger competitor. However, pressure at times tends to get the best of him throughout his NASCAR career.
Now that he has a shot of helping the No. 45 team to take the owner’s title, it’ll really put him in a position similar to Ryan Preece’s tenure at Joe Gibbs Racing in the Xfinity Series. His fight is far different from others as he can impact the entire playoff picture where the racers not only have to worry about the other playoff racers, but Wallace as well.
Something that Elliott Sadler didn’t understand when he dealt with Preece in 2018. Preece was going for the owner’s title whereas Sadler’s concentration was on the Xfinity title. Let’s hope the other 15 teams, excluding Ryan Blaney’s No. 12 team, who won’t win the owner’s title due to the No. 45 team winning at Kansas with Kurt Busch and Austin Dillon’s No. 3 team winning the regular season finale, get the picture.
Right now, the No. 45 team needs proper stability that’ll help them while we wait for Kurt Busch to come back. Let alone, return at all. Wallace has been in the Cup Series for a period of time now and by transferring some of Wallace’s crew members to the No. 45, there will be important continuity.
The last thing a driver wants is dealing with a crew chief change this deep into the year when there’s a lot on the line.
Do I see Wallace go far? I don’t think so, but it could light a fire we haven’t seen from Wallace that could be dangerous in a great way. That being a threat when the season matters most and could crash the playoff picture from an owner’s title perspective.
That’s two fast laps around Darlington without getting a scratch on our car! Before assessing our chance for a Sunday evening victory, let’s rewind to last Sunday afternoon’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona, site of Race 26 of 36 of this season in NASCAR Cup Series racing!
It wasn’t another pretty day for the panelists.
But it’s a new season in the Playoffs.
Now, as we have in past years, our panelists make predictions on those who may miss the cut for the upcoming Playoffs round. Let’s take a gander on who’ll be pondering about what if after the Round of 16!
Austin Dillon hopes to prove us wrong. (Photo: Blake Ulino | The Podium Finish)
Tiongson : Kyle Busch, Chase Briscoe, Austin Cindric and Austin Dillon
Sisoler : Alex Bowman, Austin Dillon, Chase Briscoe and Daniel Suárez
Lambeth : Alex Bowman, Austin Dillon, Chase Briscoe and Daniel Suárez
Raynor : Austin Dillon, Chase Briscoe, Daniel Suárez and Ross Chastain
Next, here’s a look at the top 10 starters for Sunday night’s Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington!
Row 1
Joey Logano and Christopher Bell (Photo: Blake Ulino | The Podium Finish)
Row 2
William Byron and Tyler Reddick (Photo: Blake Ulino and Luis Torres | The Podium Finish)
Row 3
Kyle Busch and Austin Cindric (Photo: Blake Ulino | The Podium Finish)
Row 4
Kyle Larson and Bubba Wallace (Photo: Blake Ulino | The Podium Finish)
Row 5
Ryan Blaney and Michael McDowell (Photo: Blake Ulino | The Podium Finish)
Lastly, here’s our picks for Sunday night’s Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington!
It’s a quintet for Sunday evening’s Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington (Photo: Sam Draiss and Blake Ulino | The Podium Finish)
Torres : In spite of dealing with pain throughout his body, Denny Hamlin has shined bright in those moments. This will be no different at Darlington where he’s been solid for years. Perhaps opting out of the Xfinity Series for the first time since 2004 will bring much needed energy to his Cup efforts. He’ll punch his ticket into the Round of 12 with a big win in the Southern 500.
Shoppe : Denny Hamlin always seems to start the playoffs off strong. With the success he has at Darlington, Hamlin is one of the favorites to win today!
Sisoler : When it comes to the playoffs, William Byron can get a bit lost in the shuffle. However, he seems to have a good feeling for the Gen 7 cars at Darlington, given how well he ran here in the spring, and how fast the No. 24 Camaro looks for him this weekend. Byron’s got as good a shot at any at, not only punching his ticket to the next round of the playoffs, but also claiming his first Southern 500 win of his Cup career for Hendrick Motorsports.
Sharpe : Statistics show Joey Logano, the Team Penske driver, having the skill and knowledge to be able to snag a win at this track, after grabbing the pole.
Tiongson : It’s safe to say that Joey Logano knows his way around “The Track Too Tough to Tame.” After his taming in the spring race in May, I look for Logano to kick off the Playoffs similarly with a win on Sunday night.
Lambeth : After barely making it into the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs last weekend, the points reset will also allow Ryan Blaney to arrive to the track with a fresh mindset. Team Penske looked very strong in qualifying, so I’m going with Blaney to win the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington!
Solomon : Martin Truex Jr. failed to make it into the Playoffs, so that’s why I think he’ll respond in a big way on Sunday. Darlington is one of his best tracks, so I think Truex will head to victory lane on Sunday.
We’re ready for some racing. How about you? What do you think are the biggest storylines heading into the race? Who are your favorites to win? Tweet us now @ThePodiumFinish and tell us now!
Thanks as always to the TPF team for their amazing efforts this week! While we progress toward a new kind of normal, please do your part to curb the impacts of the pandemic by washing your hands and getting your COVID-19 vaccine or booster. By working together, we can minimize the threat of COVID-19 for ourselves, our loved ones and neighbors.
The opinions and thoughts expressed in Podium Preview are solely of the authors. They do not reflect any organizations affiliated with the participants and author outside of TPF. This weekly feature is strictly for entertainment purposes. Ultimately, they are not indicative of TPF, the organization and its staff.
