Haas Factory Team
Darlington Raceway
NASCAR Cup Series Notes
Race Information
● Event: Cook Out Southern 500 (Round 26 of 36)
● Date/Time: Sunday, September 6 | 5 p.m. ET/2 p.m. PT
● TV/Radio: USA | Motor Racing Network | SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (channel 90)
● Location: Darlington Raceway, Darlington, South Carolina
● Layout: 1.366-Mile asphalt oval with 23-25 degrees of banking in the turns
● Laps/Miles: 367 laps/501.32 miles (Stages: 115-115-137)
● Track Activity:
Saturday, September 5
Practice
4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT
TruTV | MRN | SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (channel 90)
Qualifying
5:10 p.m. ET/2:10 p.m. PT
TruTV | MRN | SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (channel 90)
Notes of Interest
● A week ago at Daytona International Speedway, Cole Custer hustled to a top-10 finish after starting 16th in the No. 41 Standard Nuclear Chevrolet Camaro, capping off a successful weekend at the World Center of Racing.
● Earlier this week, Lionel announced that they would be producing a diecast of the No. 41 Standard Nuclear Chevrolet Camaro that Custer wheeled at Daytona on August 29. Pre-orders are being accepted through September 14, so reserve yours today.
● This weekend, the NASCAR Cup Series descends upon Darlington Raceway for the 76th running of the Southern 500, one of NASCAR’s crown jewel races and most storied events.
● Dubbed ‘The Track Too Tough to Tame’, Darlington Raceway was built as a 1.25-mile paved superspeedway in 1949-1950. The track was re-measured to 1.375 miles in 1953. The track was reconfigured to 1.366 miles following the spring race in 1970.
● Since the inaugural Southern 500 in 1950, Chevrolet has claimed 29 Southern 500 victories, the most of any manufacturer in the crown jewel race’s history.
● Standard Nuclear experienced its own excitement away from the track recently, debuting on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “STDN”. With the support of public market investors, they are focused on scaling domestic TRISO fuel production and advancing the future of nuclear energy.
By the Numbers
● Custer will make his 11th NASCAR Cup Series start at Darlington Raceway on Sunday night, where he has a 22.6 average finish. He has qualified inside the top 15 twice, with a career-best starting position of 14th in 2020.
● In seven NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series starts at Darlington, Custer owns a 3.4 average finish with seven top-10 finishes, including a victory in 2019 after starting third.
● In his 25 NASCAR Cup Series starts this season, Custer has completed 6,396 of a possible 6,747 laps, resulting in an impressive 94.8% lap completion percentage.
● NASCAR Cup Series teams will run the same Goodyear Racing Eagle setup at Darlington Raceway this weekend as at the Goodyear 400 in March. This tire setup has been used multiple times since NASCAR’s spring visit to Darlington, most recently at Chicagoland Speedway in July. The left-side Goodyear Racing Eagle was also used at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Each team receives 15 sets of tires for the race weekend (12 new race sets, one qualifying set transferred to the race and two sets for practice).
No. 41 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Driver and Crew Chief
Driver: Cole Custer
Hometown: Ladera Ranch, California
Crew Chief: Aaron Kramer
Hometown: Wellsville, New York