NASCAR Cup Series — Race No. 27 – 367 laps / 501 miles
NASCAR Xfinity Series — Race No. 23 — 147 laps / 201 miles
NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series — Race No. 15 — 147 laps / 201 miles
Darlington Raceway (1.366-mile oval) – Darlington, S.C.
Fast Facts for September 5-6, 2020
Tire: Goodyear “Blue Streak” Speedway Radials
Set limits:
Cup – 13 sets for the race;
Xfinity: 5 sets for the race;
Truck: 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 – Teams and tires to be tested at Darlington: The NASCAR Cup Series opens its playoffs this weekend with perhaps the most grueling test of man and machine at Darlington Raceway. The Southern 500 is one of NASCAR’s most historic races and it takes place on a track that is very tough on equipment, especially tires. The track surface at Darlington is one of the most abrasive on the circuit and wears tires at a rapid rate. Cup teams will have 13 sets of Goodyear Eagles for the 501-mile race and teams will take four tires at every opportunity, meaning pit crews will be busy all night. Tire management will come into play on longer runs, with drivers that are easier on their tires early being able to gain spots later. That generally means more passing on the track and better racing.
“It will be a busy and exciting slate of racing at Darlington this weekend,” said Greg Stucker, Goodyear’s director of racing. “Not only are all three national series in action, it is ‘Throwback’ weekend and the first race of the Cup playoffs. Darlington is a major challenge for all involved, with the Cup cars having to go 500 miles on a tight track with an abrasive track surface. Drivers that are better at tire management will improve their lot over the course of a full fuel run — being easier on their tires early in a run and maybe giving up a few spots, but gaining a lot back as we go 30, 40, 50 laps. However the race plays out and the caution flags fall, racing at Darlington is always great for the fans watching.”
Notes – NASCAR teams return to Darlington on known tire set-up: Teams in all three NASCAR series will run the same tire set-up at Darlington this weekend . . . this is the same combination of tires that these teams ran at Darlington (Cup and Xfinity) in May and Homestead (all three series) in June . . . they have also run this left-side tire at Auto Club (Cup and Xfinity) and Dover (all three), and this right-side tire at Charlotte (all three) in 2020 . . . despite the two series running the same length race, Truck teams will have six sets of tires compared to five sets for Xfinity teams because the Trucks have not run at Darlington in recent years . . . 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.
Throwback weekend – Goodyear to run “Blue Streak” tires at Darlington: In support of Darlington’s throwback initiative, the Goodyear tires run at this weekend’s races will feature a different sidewall design than teams normally run . . . Goodyear harkens back to the 1960s and 1970s by bringing its Blue Streak sidewall markings (image attached) . . . Blue Streaks were phased out of NASCAR competition in 1981 as Goodyear moved to “Eagle,” when the company decided to align its racing tires with its popular high performance passenger tire line . . . while Blue Streak is a “throwback” in NASCAR, the name lives on today on several of Goodyear’s vintage racing tires.
— Goodyear Racing —