This weekend is Labor Day Weekend and it is also the start of the 2020 NASCAR Playoffs as the Cup Series heads to Darlington Raceway for the Cook Out Southern 500.
There are 16 drivers that will compete to be this year’s NASCAR Cup Series Champion. They will have 10 races to achieve that goal. Those ten races are divided into three, three-race rounds and a final one-race “winner takes all” round.
The 16 drivers that made the NASCAR post-season all had their point total re-set to 2000. Their accumulated Playoff Points were then added to rank them heading into the Playoffs. Those Playoff Points will remain with the drivers through the post-season and can aid them in advancing to the next round.
If a driver wins a race it automatically advances that driver to the next round in the Playoffs.
At the end of each of the first three rounds, the four drivers with the lowest point totals and no win will be eliminated from the post-season and therefore eliminated from Championship contention.
The four drivers that advance to the final one-race fourth round will battle for the title. No points. No bonus Playoff Points. Just plain and simply the first one of the four drivers to cross the finish line wins the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Championship.
Here are the 16 Cup Series drivers that have made the start of the 2020 NASCAR Playoffs…
The first chance for those drivers to win a race and score a golden ticket to round two is at the track with two nicknames, “The Lady in Black” and “The Track Too Tough to Tame.” Neither of these nicknames makes one think that racing at the track is in any way easy because it is not.
There is another term you may hear during the broadcast of the race, “Darlington Stripe.” This is the mark down the right side of a car when it brushes against the wall without causing an actual crash. This mark will likely end up on the majority of cars by the end of the race this weekend.
Here is the data for the track and race this week.
Darlington Raceway Data
Track Size: 1.366-miles
Banking/Turns 1 & 2: 25 degrees
Banking/Turns 3 & 4: 23 degrees
Banking/Frontstretch: 6 degrees
Banking/Backstretch: 6 degrees
Frontstretch Length: 1,229 feet
Backstretch Length: 1,229 feet
Cook Out Southern 500 Data
Season Race #: 27 of 36 (05-20-20)
Playoff Race #: 1 of 10
Race Length: 367 laps / 501.3 miles
Stage 1 Length: 115 laps
Stage 2 Length: 115 laps
Final Stage Length: 137 laps
Here are the active drivers that have performed well during their Cup Series careers at “The Lady in Black.”
Top 10 Driver Ratings at Darlington
Denny Hamlin……………………… 106.7
Erik Jones…………………………… 106.6
Kevin Harvick………………………. 103.5
Kyle Busch…………………………. 102.9
Brad Keselowski……………………. 99.9
Martin Truex Jr.…………………….. 99.6
Jimmie Johnson…………………….. 95.3
Joey Logano…………………………. 89.5
Matt Kenseth………………………… 89.1
Ryan Newman………………………. 88.4
Note: Driver Ratings compiled from 2005-2020 races (17 total) among active drivers at Darlington Raceway.
Note: Driver names in red are currently in championship contention in Playoffs.
Below are the active drivers who have won a race in NASCAR’s top division at “The Track Too Tough to Tame.”
Jimmie Johnson – 3 Wins
Denny Hamlin – 3 Wins
Kevin Harvick – 2 Wins
Erik Jones – 1 Win
Brad Keselowski – 1 Win
Kyle Busch – 1 Win
Martin Truex Jr. – 1 Win
Matt Kenseth – 1 Win
Note: Driver names in red are currently in championship contention in Playoffs.
There are 16 drivers are racing to win to get the automatic advance to the next round in the Playoffs.
More than 20 other drivers want to play spoiler by winning the race.
There is one driver, Jimmie Johnson, wanting to win as many races as possible in his last ten races as a full-time NASCAR Cup Series driver.
Then there is the track that sometimes seems to be alive in some way and wants to prevent every car from finishing the race.
It all adds up to what could be a very exciting race to watch. The Cook Out Southern 500 starts Sunday, September 6th at 5 P.M. central time (6 P.M. eastern time) at Darlington Raceway.
By: Buck Stevens
