NASCAR Darlington Recap: Byron’s Redemption

It was a tripleheader weekend at Darlington Raceway as the throwback paint schemes were once again shining bright and reflecting on NASCAR’s 75th anniversary.

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series: Buckle Up South Carolina 200

It was a big Friday night for Christian Eckes in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series night at Darlington, as he earned his second win of the 2023 season. It was a frustrating five races since winning at Atlanta, as he finished 30^th three times and 15^th twice during that span. Eckes also led for a race-high 82 of 158 laps, driving a throwback to NASCAR Hall of Famer, Hershel McGriff.

“I don’t really feel that excited, because the truck was so good it drove itself,” said Eckes after the race. “It’s been a really, really rough couple of weeks.”

“To come back and win shows the resilience of this team, and how we had to win it just shows the fight in this team … I was really determined. It’s really, really fun to be here, man, and when you have a truck like this, you’ve just got to finish it out.” 

The race was sent into overtime after Timmy Hill spun on lap 146, and then into a second overtime after Jake Garcia got into the wall on the exit of turn two, causing his No. 35 truck to spin. Grant Enfinger’s contact with the outside wall brought out the eighth and final yellow of the evening after Eckes took the white flag. 

Stewart Friesen charged through the field in the closing laps to finish second, Tanner Gray finished third, while William Byron and Carson Hocevar finished out the top five. Pole-Sitter Corey Heim led the first 26 laps of the race until being passed by the eventual race winner Eckes, who went on to win Stage One. William Byron, driving the No. 51 Silverado for Kyle Busch Motorsports, won stage two. After the race, Byron said he hopefully learned a few things for Sunday’s Cup race that could help him win the race that he fell one spot short one a year ago.

While Corey Heim led for 66 laps, he ended up finishing eighth after falling back from not pitting with the leaders on lap 116. Rajah Caruth, Bubba Wallace, Corey Heim, Dean Thompson and Kaden Honeycutt rounded out the top ten.

NASCAR Xfinity Series: Shriners Children’s 200

The Xfinity Series race provided a wild ending as John Hunter Nemechek and Kyle Larson, who was driving the No. 10 for Kaulig Racing, had a hard-fought battle in Saturday’s Shriners Children’s 200. On the final lap, Larson made one last big move on John Hunter Nemechek which resulted in Larson bouncing off the wall at the exit of turn four and sending John Hunter Nemechek spinning which ultimately gave Larson the win.

After a speeding penalty on pit road, a couple of cautions in the final stage are what helped Larson be put in a situation to win the race. This also marked Larson’s first win at Darlington in any of the major NASCAR National Circuits (Cup, Xfinity, and Trucks).

“We had a really, really good car the whole race, and I made a mistake on pit road,” said Larson. “I knew we were going to have time to get to the front if we had a caution.”

“We were picking off cars really fast and had some lane selections work out for me. We were just bouncing off each other a little bit. I don’t know what happened in (Turn) 3. It seemed like he (Nemechek) tried to get behind me to shove me into the corner.”

“It kind of hooked me right, and I hit the wall, and I was trying to stay away from him and get off of (Turn) 4. What an exciting race there.”

Nemechek, who finished fifth after the last-lap crash, had a fast car all race long. He beat Larson in a photo finish at the end of stage two, as he led for 57 laps over Larson’s 46 laps led.

“Had a really fast race car and battling with one of the best in the sport in my opinion, Kyle Larson,” Nemechek said after the race. “It was a really great day.”

“Just disappointed a little bit from the standpoint of how that ended up there. Overall, we gave it a shot and still had a shot to win off of Turn 4. Fast car, top five to show for it, when it probably should have been Victory Lane or second.“

Justin Allgaier was able to sneak up to second place after the last lap mishap, Cole Custer slid into third, and Austin Hill was fourth. Nemechek, as mentioned before, finished fifth while Carson Hocevar, Josh Berry, Sam Mayer, Kaz Grala, and Corey Heim rounded out the top ten.

NASCAR Cup Series: Goodyear 400

The NASCAR Cup Series Goodyear 400 at Darlington showcased a bit of redemption for one William Byron, as he came short of the win in the race a year ago after trading paint with Joey Logano, who won that race. This year, thanks to a few key cautions that took out the two best cars in the field, Martin Truex Jr and Ross Chastain, this gave Byron his third win of the 2023 season, driving a Jeff Gordon throwback. Byron was able to pull away from Kevin Harvick in an overtime restart to win the race.

“Definitely didn’t expect this,” Byron said after the race. “But just thankful for a great team, and yeah, just things have a way of working out, and come back here to Darlington and have it go exactly the other way.”

On a restart with 13 to go, Joey Logano and Martin Truex Jr got together in an accident that triggered a multi-car incident. Kyle Larson and Ross Chastain were side-by-side for the lead during that time, as Chastain hit the wall. Chastain and Larson would end up in an accident at the next restart that led to Byron lining up to win.

Kevin Harvick finished second, Chase Elliott was third, Brad Keselowski and Bubba Wallace rounded out the top five, while Harrison Burton, Kyle Busch, Justin Haley, Ryan Blaney, and Chris Buescher rounded out the top ten. 

Ryan Newman made his return to NASCAR Cup Series racing for the first time since the 2021 Season Finale at Phoenix, driving the No. 51 Ford for Rick Ware Racing. Newman spun and hit the wall with 18 laps to go as he finished 28th. 

The NASCAR Cup Series returns to the historic North Wilkesboro Speedway for the first time since 1996 for the annual NASCAR All-Star race this coming weekend.