The regular season is over. The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs being with the Round of 16 this weekend in the Cook Out Southern 500 at “The Track Too Tough To Tame,” Darlington Raceway.
There are 16 drivers that have the chance to win the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Championship over the next 10 races. Thirteen of those drivers have already won this year. Three have not. Other than the Playoff Points that came with the regular season wins, those victories mean nothing in the post-season.
There are three 3-race rounds in the playoffs and one 1-race “winner take all” final round. There are two ways to advance through each of the first three rounds. The first way is to win a race to earn an automatic advance to the next round. The second way is to accumulate more points than at least four of the other drivers in that round. The bottom four drivers in points at the end of the first three rounds of the Playoffs will be eliminated from championship contention.
The unique aspect of the NASCAR Playoffs is that the non-playoff drivers and teams will still be a part of each week’s race. That means a driver that cannot win the championship can win the race and prevent drivers that are championship contenders from getting an automatic advance to the next round.
Here is what every driver will be facing for this week’s race.
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 (09-05-21)
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
These are the top active drivers who have performed well at Darlington in the NASCAR Cup Series.
Top 12 Driver Ratings at Darlington
Kyle Larson ……………………….. 111.5
Denny Hamlin……………………… 107.3
Kevin Harvick……………………… 104.4
Martin Truex Jr.…………………… 103.9
Kyle Busch…………………………. 103.1
Erik Jones………………………….. 100.0
Brad Keselowski……………………. 96.1
Joey Logano………………………… 91.1
Chase Elliott…………………………. 90.3
William Byron……………………….. 87.1
Ryan Newman………………………. 87.0
Kurt Busch…………………………… 86.4
Note: Driver Ratings compiled from 2005-2021 races (19 total) among active drivers at Darlington Raceway.
Driver names in Red are current championship contenders in the 2021 Playoffs.
Here are the six active drivers that have won at Darlington Raceway during the NASCAR Cup Series careers.
Kevin Harvick – 3 Wins
Denny Hamlin – 3 Wins
Martin Truex Jr. – 2 Wins (including May 2021 race)
Erik Jones – 1 Win
Brad Keselowski – 1 Win
Kyle Busch – 1 Win
Driver names in Red are current championship contenders in the 2021 Playoffs.
Kyle Larson is considered the favorite to win the title this year. He has not won a Cup Race at Darlington in his career. However, he is at the top of the list for driver ratings. Will he be able to get his first win at the “Track Too Tough To Tame” and advance to the Round of 12?
Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick typically have at least one win by this point in the season. However, they made the Playoffs on points since neither have a 2021 win yet. They are tied for the most Darlington wins among active drivers. Will one of these two drivers get the win to advance in the post-season?
Tyler Reddick has to be considered the underdog of the post-season. He just made the Round of 16 at last week’s race based on points. Tyler did win back-to-back Xfinity Series Championships with nine wins in that series. However, in his second full-time season in the Cup Series he has yet to win a race in NASCAR’s top division. Could this be the week he gets that first Cup Series win to advance in the Playoffs?
Perhaps one of the many drivers that cannot win the championship will play spoiler and win this week’s race. That would increase the pressure on the Playoff drivers for the next two weeks.
We will all see what happens when the green flag waives to start the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway Sunday, September 5th starting at 5 p.m. central time (6 p.m. eastern time).
By: Buck Stevens
