NASCAR Cup Series — Race No. 5 (293 laps / 400.2 miles)
NASCAR Cup Series — Race No. 6 (228 laps / 300.4 miles)
NASCAR Xfinity Series — Race No. 5 (147 laps / 200.8 miles)
Darlington Raceway (1.366-mile oval) – Darlington, S.C.
Fast Facts for May 17-20, 2020
Tire:
Goodyear Eagle Speedway Radials
Set limits:
Cup – May 17: 12 sets for the race;
Cup – May 20: 9 sets for the race;
Xfinity: 6 sets for the race
Tire Codes:
Left-side — D-4928;
Right-side — D-4930
Tire Circumference:
Left-side — 2,225 mm (87.60 in.);
Right-side — 2,248 mm (88.50 in.)
Minimum Recommended Inflation:
Left Front — 18 psi; Left Rear – 18 psi;
Right Front — 48 psi; Right Rear — 44 psi
Storyline – NASCAR racing is back: NASCAR is back to racing after a nine-week hiatus. Returning to Darlington Raceway, teams will be faced with a challenging track to re-open the schedule with one of the highest tire wear track surfaces on the circuit. To go along with that, most specifically for the first event in the Cup Series on Sunday afternoon, there will not be any cars on the track for practice before teams take the green flag. That means a totally “green” race track with no rubber built up, so teams can expect especially high wear on the first several runs of the race. Expect teams to take four tires at every opportunity. With live pit stops part of the events, pit crews will be kept busy and play a big factor. Cup teams will have 12 sets of Goodyear Eagles for the 293-lap race on Sunday (24.4 laps per set) and nine sets for the 228-lap race on May 20 (25.3 laps per set). Xfinity teams will have six sets of tires for their 147-lap race on May 19 (24.5 laps per set). This allotment of tires was originally built for the NASCAR weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway, scheduled for March 20-22. Because teams run the same combination of left- and right-side tire codes at both Darlington and Homestead, these tires were re-allocated for these first three races.
“Getting back to racing and doing so at Darlington is a great feeling. We’ll come out of the gate by testing teams with one of the most grueling challenges in NASCAR, with the abrasive track surface and tight configuration of ‘The Track Too Tough to Tame,” said Greg Stucker, Goodyear’s director of racing. “Our whole sport has had to become very nimble in coming up with a plan to safely get back to the track. Schedules will change, as will the way we all do business at the race track in the near future, but NASCAR as a sport has always been known for being innovative and able to adapt to ever-changing conditions. We will get back to the track this week and will put on great races for our fans. We’re glad to play a part in leading the way back for professional sports in the country and doing so in a safe, competitive and entertaining manner.”
Notes – NASCAR teams return to Darlington on known tire set-up: Teams in both the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series will run the same tire set-up at Darlington over the next week . . . this is the same combination of left- and right-side tires that these teams ran at Darlington, Chicagoland and Homestead last season . . . as on all NASCAR ovals greater than one mile in length, teams are required to run inner liners in all four tire positions at Darlington . . . air pressure in those inner liners should be 12-25 psi greater than that of the outer tire.
— Goodyear Racing —
Contact: Mike Siberini, Goodyear Racing Public Relations — 704-905-3309 (C).