The 2021 NASCAR Cup Sequence playoffs start on Sunday night, and a giant query is on the thoughts of racing followers: Will Kyle Larson proceed his profitable methods in the course of the Prepare dinner Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway in South Carolina?
Larson leads the Cup Sequence with 5 wins on the season. These victories helped him vault into first place within the regular-season standings and contributed to his early lead within the playoff standings. He has 2,052 factors to his title, whereas Ryan Blaney is in second place with 2,024.
Now, Larson will search for his most necessary win but. A victory at Sunday’s Southern 500 would clinch him a spot within the Spherical of 12, as it could for any of the 16 playoff drivers. So too would a victory in both of the subsequent two first-round races, the Federated Auto Components 400 at Richmond and Bass Professional Retailers Evening Race at Bristol.
5 drivers on this 12 months’s playoff subject have gained the Southern 500 earlier than: Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. have all gained the occasion as soon as, whereas Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick have gained it twice apiece, together with a victory in the course of the 2020 playoffs for Harvick. Moreover, 2019 Southern 500 winner Erik Jones can be within the 37-car subject, although he is not one of many 16 drivers that certified for the playoffs.
Nonetheless, Larson may have some stiff competitors within the race, which can final 367 laps on Darlington’s 1.366-mile oval observe. It should run a complete of 501.322 miles.
Sporting Information is monitoring dwell updates and lap-by-lap highlights from NASCAR’s playoff race at Darlington on Sunday night time. Observe for full outcomes from the Southern 500.
MORE: Watch as we speak’s NASCAR race dwell with fuboTV (7-day free trial)
NASCAR at Darlington dwell updates, highlights from Southern 500
(All instances Japanese).
6:34 p.m. — Bowman is again on the race observe now. His automotive would not look to be in one of the best form, however he is again on the market, nonetheless.
6:33 p.m. — The warning is now over. Kurt Busch, who handed Ryan Blaney simply earlier than Bowman’s accident, is within the entrance of the sphere.
6:28 p.m — Warning 1 (Lap 17). Alex Bowman crashed into the wall a bit amid some points with electrical techniques. He additionally brushed William Byron’s proper entrance bumper. Each vehicles are on pit row.
6:25 p.m. — By way of 10 laps, Ryan Blaney stays within the lead. He has led for all 10 laps because the pole-sitter.
6:24 p.m. — Alex Bowman is coping with some electrical points. He is nonetheless within the high 5, however that might trigger him some points. It is going to be attention-grabbing to see if he can repair that when he heads to pit row.
6:22 p.m. — Michael McDowell (14th within the playoff standings) bought near hitting one other automotive in the course of the first flip. He managed to manage his automotive simply sufficient to keep away from it.
6:20 p.m. — We’re underway at Darlington. Pole-sitter Ryan Blaney leads after one lap.
6:17 p.m. — The vehicles are working their methods across the observe behind the tempo automotive. Ryan Blaney is on the pole, adopted by Denny Hamlin, Kurt Busch, Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman.
6:11 p.m. — The engines have been began. It will not be lengthy till the race begins.
6:09 p.m. — Two playoff drivers, Tyler Reddick and Denny Hamlin, ran in yesterday’s Xfinity Sequence race at Darlington. Reddick completed in seventh place whereas Hamlin completed twelfth.
6:00 p.m. — The pre-race ceremonies at the moment are underway!
5:58 p.m. — We’re nearly able to race. NBC’s pre-race protection is ongoing and the Southern 500 is formally set to start in 20 minutes, at 6:18 p.m. ET.
5:52 p.m. — Talking of Elliott, he’s the reigning NASCAR Cup Sequence champion. He raced from the pole finally 12 months’s Southern 500, however he completed in twentieth place in the course of the race.
5:45 p.m. — Chase Elliott is driving the No. 9 automotive at Darlington. The design was chosen as a part of the Chase Elliott Basis’s “Desi9n To Drive” competitors that advantages Youngsters’s Healthcare of Atlanta. IT incorporates a paint scheme designed by Mary Frances Webb, a 15-year-old who receives most cancers therapy at Youngsters’s Healthcare of Atlanta.
Chase Elliott’s paint scheme designed by 15 y.o. Mary Frances Webb from Athens, Ga.
Elliott’s scheme and uniform designed by most cancers sufferers from Youngsters’s Healthcare of Atlanta in assist of Childhood Most cancers Consciousness Month. pic.twitter.com/AcMyzMonZY
— Alex Andrejev (@AndrejevAlex) September 5, 2021
5:36 p.m. — Unhealthy information for Austin Dillon: he’ll begin the race behind the pack after failing a number of pre-race inspections. Dillon completed seventeenth in NASCAR’s regular-season standings and was the primary driver out of the 16-car playoff subject.
5:35 p.m. — Larson is effectively forward within the playoff standings at this level. His 5 wins have given him a giant leg up in NASCAR’s playoff standings.
5:33 p.m. — Kyle Larson was simply requested what it was like coming into the playoffs as a favourite. “I have never considered it,” he advised NBC Sports activities.
5:30 p.m. — The 72nd operating of the Southern 500 is sort of right here, and Darlington Raceway is trying sharp and able to race.
NASCAR begin time as we speak
Time: 6 p.m. ET (TV time)TV channel: NBCSN (TSN5 in Canada)Stay stream: NBCSports.com | fuboTV (7-day free trial)
The inexperienced flag for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Sequence playoff race on Darlington Raceway’s 1.366-mile egg-shaped oval is scheduled to drop at 6:18 p.m. ET.
Superb climate circumstances are anticipated. The Nationwide Climate Service’s Sunday forecast for Darlington, S.C., is for sunny skies and temperatures within the excessive 80s in the course of the daytime, and clear skies with lows within the mid-to higher 60s at night time.
NASCAR beginning lineup at Darlington
Right here is the entire NASCAR beginning lineup for Sunday’s playoff race at Darlington Raceway, the Prepare dinner Out Southern 500.
(Playoff drivers are denoted by “p-” subsequent to their names.)
Begin pos.
Driver
Automotive No.
Workforce
1
p-Ryan Blaney
12
Workforce Penske
2
p-Denny Hamlin
11
Joe Gibbs Racing
3
p-Kurt Busch
1
Chip Ganassi Racing
4
p-Chase Elliott
9
Hendrick Motorsports
5
p-Alex Bowman
48
Hendrick Motorsports
6
p-Kyle Larson
5
Hendrick Motorsports
7
p-Tyler Reddick
8
Richard Childress Racing
8
p-Aric Almirola
10
Stewart-Haas Racing
9
p-Kevin Harvick
4
Stewart-Haas Racing
10
p-Martin Truex Jr.
19
Joe Gibbs Racing
11
p-Joey Logano
22
Workforce Penske
12
p-Kyle Busch
18
Joe Gibbs Racing
13
p-Christopher Bell
20
Joe Gibbs Racing
14
p-William Byron
24
Hendrick Motorsports
15
p-Michael McDowell
34
Entrance Row Motorsports
16
p-Brad Keselowski
2
Workforce Penske
17
Bubba Wallace
23
23XI Racing
18
Ryan Preece
37
JTG Daugherty Racing
19
Ryan Newman
6
Roush Fenway Racing
20
Justin Haley
77
Spire Motorsports
21
Austin Dillon
3
Richard Childress Racing
22
Erik Jones
43
Richard Petty Motorsports
23
Ross Chastain
42
Chip Ganassi Racing
24
Chase Briscoe
14
Stewart-Haas Racing
25
Corey LaJoie
7
Spire Motorsports
26
Daniel Suarez
99
TrackHouse Racing
27
BJ McLeod
78
Stay Quick Motorsports
28
Josh Bilicki
52
Rick Ware Racing
29
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
47
JTG Daugherty Racing
30
Matt DiBenedetto
21
Wooden Brothers Racing
31
Cole Custer
41
Stewart-Haas Racing
32
Anthony Alfredo
38
Entrance Row Motorsports
33
Cody Ware
51
Petty Ware Racing
34
Chris Buescher
17
Roush Fenway Racing
35
Joey Gase
15
Rick Ware Racing
36
James Davison
53
Rick Ware Racing
37
Quin Houff
00
StarCom Racing
NASCAR playoff standings
The Prepare dinner Out Southern 500 at Darlington is the primary of three races within the Spherical of 16. The opposite races are the Federated Auto Components 400 at Richmond on Sept. 11 and the Bass Professional Retailers Evening Race at Bristol on Sept. 18. The playoff subject can be reduce all the way down to 12 drivers after Bristol.
Pos.
Driver
Automotive No.
Workforce
Factors
1
Kyle Larson
5
Hendrick Motorsports
2052
2
Ryan Blaney
12
Workforce Penske
2024
3
Martin Truex Jr.
19
Joe Gibbs Racing
2024
4
Kyle Busch
18
Joe Gibbs Racing
2022
5
Chase Elliott
9
Hendrick Motorsports
2021
6
Alex Bowman
48
Hendrick Motorsports
2015
7
Denny Hamlin
11
Joe Gibbs Racing
2015
8
William Byron
24
Hendrick Motorsports
2014
9
Joey Logano
22
Workforce Penske
2013
10
Brad Keselowski
2
Workforce Penske
2008
11
Kurt Busch
1
Chip Ganassi Racing
2008
12
Christopher Bell
20
Joe Gibbs Racing
2005
13
Aric Almirola
10
Stewart-Haas Racing
2005
14
Michael McDowell
34
Entrance Row Motorsports
2005
15
Tyler Reddick
8
Richard Childress Racing
2003
16
Kevin Harvick
4
Stewart-Haas Racing
2002
