Darlington Raceway revs up for
NASCAR's return
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[May 16, 2020]
After a nearly two-month interruption in the competitive
schedule, the NASCAR Cup Series will return to racing this Sunday at
the sport's historic Darlington Raceway in The Real Heroes 400 (3:30
p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Special to this week's race in South Carolina and in honor of the
healthcare workers who have so tirelessly and bravely served during
this coronavirus pandemic, instead of each driver's name above the
window, the space will carry the name of a healthcare worker.
Additionally, a group of healthcare workers will "virtually" deliver
the traditional starting command -- "Drivers, start your engines" --
to get things started.
The event kicks off a much-anticipated resumption of NASCAR racing
and it is the first of seven races -- featuring all three national
series, including the NASCAR Xfinity Series and the NASCAR Gander RV
& Outdoors Truck Series -- in the next two weeks alone. NASCAR
released additional race dates this week that will feature similar
one-day shows at longtime favorite venues from Atlanta and
Homestead-Miami to Martinsville and Talladega that will carry the
sport's schedule through late June.
No spectators will be in attendance at the upcoming single-day
events -- part of the health precautions NASCAR has adopted in
re-starting the sport following the pause caused by the worldwide
COVID-19 pandemic. But fans, drivers, teams and the NASCAR
organization are enthusiastic about the opportunity to throw the
green flag this weekend and to do so at one of the sport's most
iconic racing venues.
"To get the call and know that we are going back to Darlington is
huge and great for the sport of NASCAR," Chip Ganassi Racing driver
Kurt Busch said. "The industry has been collaboratively working
together to make sure that this is done safely and properly to put
on a good show. I'm excited to go to Darlington."
The entire sport has echoed Busch's comments. And there will
certainly be plenty of storylines to follow this weekend.
Ryan Newman, who hasn't raced since being involved in a last lap
accident in the season-opening Daytona 500 will return to the seat
of the No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford -- this extra time off
actually afforded Newman the chance to get doctor's clearance to
compete. His team owner, NASCAR Hall of Famer Jack Roush said of his
veteran's return that Newman is so excited to be back behind the
wheel of a race car it's like a 16-year old with a new driver's
license.
"I'm like that every day," joked Newman.
"I had no apprehensions getting in the car," Newman said of a test
session he conducted at Darlington earlier in the spring as part of
his medical evaluation. "I was excited to get in the car. It's my
favorite race track and just really wanted to get back in it and at
it. I've been working really hard to do the things that I needed to
do test-wise to pass my concussion test and protocol and things like
that, so I could be down there with my team and Dr. Petty to
establish the fact that I felt well and could prove I was well
behind the seat of the race car, so I basically did that."
Former NASCAR Cup Series champion Matt Kenseth will also be back
behind the wheel, making his first start since the 2018
Homestead-Miami season finale; the last of a 15-race stint for him,
ironically, in the No. 6 Roush Ford. For the remainder of this
season, Kenseth will be steering the Chip Ganassi Racing No. 42
Chevrolet.
"I'm just as excited as I've been to go racing in many, many years
and I'm really looking forward to getting to the track," said
Kenseth, who won at Darlington in 2013. "I really like this group of
guys at Ganassi; the cars look nice and the Camaro looks like
they're really fast, so I'm really looking forward to this first
race.
"The 42-team has run really well at Darlington in the last two
years, so setup-wise, we're probably not going to veer too far off
of that. I think you'll run those first 30 laps, see how the car
feels and then be able to make some small adjustments and go from
there.
"Everyone (who) is going to be out there is ready to pounce on
whatever spot they can, so you just have to be smart. Especially for
me, I just need to be smart and get through those first bunch of
laps to get in a rhythm, get a little bit of room to move around,
breath, get kind of acclimated and go from there. I know that it's
going to be a big challenge and I'm going to do my best to try and
take advantage of the opportunity."
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Stewart-Haas Racing driver Kevin Harvick shows up at Darlington as
the current NASCAR Cup Series points leader with a one-point
advantage on Team Penske's Joey Logano, who had already earned two
victories (at Las Vegas and Phoenix) in the season's first four
races.
Harvick's only Darlington victory came in his 2014 NASCAR Cup Series
championship season. And he has been especially good as of late.
Including that win, Harvick has five top-five and six top-10
finishes in the last six races for an average finish of 4.1.
The starting lineup and pit road assignments have been decided based
on a random draw and charter team owner points. Positions 1-12, then
13-24 and then 25-36 were chosen in a random draw corresponding to
owner's points. The field is completed with grid positions 37-40 --
based on open teams' owners points.
Using that format, Team Penske's Brad Keselowski drew the pole
position at Darlington and will start alongside Hendrick Motorsports
driver Alex Bowman, who earned his second career win at California's
Auto Club Speedway in March before the break.
Wood Brothers Racing driver Matt DiBenedetto, reigning NASCAR Cup
Series champion Kyle Busch and Stewart-Haas Racing's Aric Almirola
round out the top five starting spots. Championship leader Harvick,
Ryan Blaney, Jimmie Johnson, Logano and Daytona 500 winner Denny
Hamlin round out the starting grid's top-10. Defending race winner,
Joe Gibbs Racing's Erik Jones, will start 20th.
William Byron, who won three of the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational
Series races during the break, will start 18th.
With NASCAR's strict social distancing orders, only a portion of the
team will be on-site. Each team is limited to only 16 members at the
track and that includes the driver, crew chief and the spotter with
many of the engineers expected to work from the race shops instead
of being pit-side.
"It's been a huge challenge and I really have to throw a lot of
thank-yous and a lot of accolades to everybody at Hendrick
Motorsports because it's not been an easy process to get back in
there in a very, very short period of time and get race cars ready
to go to a very unique venue," said seven-time Cup Series champion
crew chief Chad Knaus. "Darlington is quite a lot different than any
other race track that we go to, obviously. But, we've got staggered
work hours. We've got blocks of people that work. We're not really
alternating days. We're going in blocks of days to try to keep the
exposure down to a minimum.
"We're thermal testing people as they come into the facility. You
see everybody wearing their masks and practicing social distancing.
We're doing all that we can to be in accordance with the CDC
regulations and what the governor has put out there, to make sure
we're doing what's right and being smart. It's not easy."
"Even though it's not a super-long race, you've still got time to
work on your car, especially at the competition caution," said
Blaney of Team Penske. "They're (NASCAR) giving a lot of time to
kind of make wholesale adjustment if you need them. So I feel like
everyone will take it easy for the first little bit, but, honestly,
the muscle memory of everybody is pretty good, so once you get one
run in and things like that, I think we'll be back to normal."
--By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service. Special to Field Level Media.
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