The photos showing Sunday’s The Real Heroes 400 winner Kevin Harvick standing by his shiny, hard-earned trophy in Darlington Raceway Victory Lane – wearing a facemask and flashing a victory sign – depict a new normal for the sport in reaction to the COVID-19 global pandemic.
What you can’t see are Harvick’s young children ecstatically celebrating in front of their home’s television set or the sport’s massive fandom high-fiving as a huge national television audience watched or listened to the race on NASCAR radio networks. The grandstands were empty, but hearts were full as NASCAR adeptly ushered in one of the first real-time sports competitions during these unusual and hyper-cautious times.
Social media was full of reaction from “first-timers” checking out the race broadcast, eager to see what NASCAR’s brand of racing is all about. And judging from the feedback – both from longtime fans and rookie race watchers – Sunday’s race action produced a lot of new converts. Most importantly, for the sport, it provided a dose of normalcy in what has become a rather unprecedented time – creating a lot of eager anticipation for Wednesday’s Toyota 500.
“Things actually went smoother than we could have expected, getting all the teams in,” NASCAR Executive Vice President, Chief Development Officer Steve O’Donnell said. “Inspection went well. All in all, a good day for the sport. Excited to be back. Hopefully the fans enjoyed it on television. Odd not having the fans in the stands but we know the fans were with us in spirit for sure.”
Former series champion Kurt Busch equaled his season-best finish (third) on Sunday and was still smiling sitting in his motor coach in the track’s infield as he participated in a video post-race teleconference with the media.
“The feelings, the nerves, the anxiety, the excitement, knowing we were in unchartered territory. I would call today a success all the way around,” said Busch, who drives the No. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet.
A lot of eyes were watching, from longtime loyal fans to potential new fans eager to see what NASCAR was all about. The viewership also included the country’s other major sports leagues curious to see how NASCAR initiated its return and how it fared.
And the initial reviews have been positive.
There was certainly plenty to take in on Sunday with former champions such as Harvick, Busch and Brad Keselowski sparing with talented young drivers such as race runner-up Alex Bowman and Chase Elliott.
The 1.366-mile egg-shaped Darlington track is one of the oldest facilities that NASCAR competes on and its unique shape and challenge-set has traditionally made it one of the toughest venues on the NASCAR Cup Series circuit. That innate complexity certainly made for an interesting first few competitive laps back.
Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. spun out before finishing the first lap and seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson – who is retiring from fulltime competition at the end of the season – crashed out while leading the field as he approached the checkered flag during the first of the race’s three stages.
Ultimately, drivers and teams – whose members had not spent any time in proximity for the last two months – settled in and the racing was intense and the outcome hard-earned.
That intensity may have been especially true for a couple of competitors. Ryan Newman was back behind the wheel of the No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford for the first time since being injured in an accident in the Feb. 16 Daytona 500. He ran among the top 10 – even scoring points in Stage 1 – and finished 15th.
It was also Matt Kenseth’s season debut in the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet – the former series champion is replacing Kyle Larson behind the wheel for the remainder of the season. It was Kenseth’s first NASCAR Cup Series race since the 2018 season finale and the popular veteran finished 10th on Sunday.
“First off, thanks to NASCAR and everyone else involved in working to make today happen,” said Kenseth, the 2013 Darlington winner. “Overall today turned out really well for us. The first few laps were kind of nerve-racking, but then it was sort of back to racing and thinking about what we needed to be better.”
Kenseth added, “It’s always a good feeling to get a top-10 finish at a place like Darlington, but to have done it under these circumstances feels that much better.”
With the first race back under their belts, the drivers felt genuinely and openly optimistic that Wednesday’s night race at the track deemed ‘too tough to tame’ would be another can’t-miss show. Harvick – who led a race high 159 laps on Sunday and beat Bowman to the finish line by 2.154-seconds – is looking to score his ninth consecutive top-10 – dating back to last season.
He is one of only two drivers to win multiple times in the last 15 Darlington races (also Hamlin). Two-time winners Harvick, Hamlin and Johnson are the only multi-time race champs in the field.
With no qualifying or practice on track, NASCAR has determined the starting lineup for Wednesday night’s race. The top-20 finishers from Sunday will be inverted for Wednesday’s event. The bottom 20 finishes will start from their Sunday finishing positions. That means Sunday’s 20th-place finisher, JTG Daugherty Racing’s Ryan Preece will start from the pole position alongside 19th-place finisher, Germain Racing’s Ty Dillon.
“Everybody’s excited about being back, but there’s still that awkwardness of not wanting to screw anything up,” said Harvick, who earned his 50th career victory on Sunday. “We didn’t really want to communicate closely or do anything that might look wrong. I think today’s message was really important to be able to make sure it was sent correctly.
“We all talked about it before we got in the car today, just about how excited we are to be back at the racetrack. Even if we’re just talking to each other on the radio, at least we’re at the racetrack performing and doing what we love to do.”
WDUN will carry live MRN Radio covarage of Wednesday night's NASCAR Cup Series Toyota 500 from Darlington Raceway beginning at 5 p.m. on 102.9 FM and streaming live on AccessWDUN.
NASCAR Cup Series
The Race: Toyota 500
The Place: Darlington Raceway – Darlington, SC
The Date: Wednesday, May 20
The Time: 6 p.m. ET
TV: FS1, 6 p.m. ET
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 311.4 miles or 500k (228 laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 60), Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 125), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 228)
Most Recent Winner: Kevin Harvick
What To Watch For: Darlington Raceway has hosted 117 NASCAR Cup Series races, dating back to 1950. The 117 Cup races have produced 51 different winners, led by NASCAR Hall of Famer David Pearson with 10 victories. Eight of the 51 winners will be active on Wednesday, led by seven-time series champion Jimmie Johnson with three wins. Kevin Harvick is the most recent winner at Darlington (last Sunday). … Six drivers have posted their first career NASCAR Cup Series win at Darlington Raceway: Johnny Mantz (1950), Nelson Stacy (1961), Larry Frank (1962), Terry Labonte (1980), Lake Speed (1988) and Regan Smith (2011). … The youngest Cup Series Darlington winner is Erik Jones (9/1/2019 – 22 years, 11 months, 2 days) and the oldest series Darlington winner is Harry Gant (09/01/1991 – 51 years, 7 months, 22 days). … A total of 51 different drivers have won the Busch Pole Award at Darlington Raceway in the NASCAR Cup Series. NASCAR Hall of Famer David Pearson leads the series in poles at Darlington with 12. A total of 11 different drivers have won from the pole at Darlington; led by David Pearson with four wins (1971, 1972, 1976 sweep). Kevin Harvick is the only active driver to win from the pole (2014) at Darlington. … The first starting position is the most proficient starting position in the field, producing more winners (20) than any other starting position at Darlington. The outside front row (second-place) has produced the second-most wins (17). The deepest in the field that a race winner has started at Darlington is 43rd by Johnny Mantz in 1950 – the inaugural NASCAR Cup Series event held at the historic raceway. … NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt leads the NASCAR Cup Series in laps led at Darlington Raceway with 2,648 laps led in 44 series starts. Kevin Harvick leads all active NASCAR Cup Series drivers with 740 laps led in 25 starts. … The most laps led in a NASCAR Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway by the race winner was 351 laps of the scheduled 400 laps (87%) by Johnny Mantz on September 4, 1950. He started the race from the 43rd position. The most laps led in a NASCAR Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway by a driver that did not win the race was 284 laps of the scheduled 367 laps (77%) by Kyle Larson on September 2, 2018. The fewest laps led in a NASCAR Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway by the race winner was just the final lap by Ricky Craven on March 16, 2003. He started the race from the 31st position and won.
NASCAR Cup Series
Darlington Raceway – Darlington, SC
Toyota 500 – March 20, 2020
Wednesday’s Starting Lineup
1. 37 Ryan Preece Tide Power Pods Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
2. 13 Ty Dillon GEICO Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
3. 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 0.000 0.000
4. 14 Clint Bowyer Rush/Mobil Delvac 1 Ford 0.000 0.000
5. 12 Ryan Blaney Menards/Moen Ford 0.000 0.000
6. 6 Ryan Newman Oscar Mayer Hot Dogs Ford 0.000 0.000
7. 21 Matt DiBenedetto Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford 0.000 0.000
8. 2 Brad Keselowski PIRTEK Ford 0.000 0.000
9. 10 Aric Almirola Smithfield Ford 0.000 0.000
10. 3 Austin Dillon DOW/Keep America Beautiful Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
11. 42 Matt Kenseth Credit One Bank Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
12. 38 John Hunter Nemechek # SCAG Ford 0.000 0.000
13. 20 Erik Jones STANLEY Toyota 0.000 0.000
14. 8 Tyler Reddick # Caterpillar Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
15. 19 Martin Truex, Jr. Bass Pro Shops Toyota 0.000 0.000
16. 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Delivering Strength Toyota 0.000 0.000
17. 9 Chase Elliott NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
18. 1 Kurt Busch Monster Energy Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
19. 88 Alex Bowman ChevyGoods.com NOCO Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
20. 4 Kevin Harvick Mobil 1 Ford 0.000 0.000
21. 43 Bubba Wallace Victory Junction Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
22. 41 Cole Custer # HaasTooling.com Ford 0.000 0.000
23. 34 Michael McDowell CarParts.com Ford 0.000 0.000
24. 95 Christopher Bell # Procore Toyota 0.000 0.000
25. 96 Daniel Suarez Today.Tomorrow.Toyota Toyota 0.000 0.000
26. 18 Kyle Busch M&M’s Fudge Brownie Toyota 0.000 0.000
27. 15 Brennan Poole # Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
28. 27 Gray Gaulding Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
29. 77 Ross Chastain(i) Bon Secours #TheRealHeroes Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
30. 51 Joey Gase(i) Agri Supply Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
31. 32 Corey LaJoie Ford 0.000 0.000
32. 17 Chris Buescher Fifth Third Bank Ford 0.000 0.000
33. 66 Timmy Hill(i) RoofClaim.com Toyota 0.000 0.000
34. 24 William Byron Axalta Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
35. 00 Quin Houff # UNITS Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
36. 53 Garrett Smithley # Trophy Tractor Ford 0.000 0.000
37. 48 Jimmie Johnson Ally Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
38. 78 B.J. McLeod(i) Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
39. 47 Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. Kroger Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
