The Chase for the NASCAR Cup Series championship is officially here. Beginning with this weekend’s Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, 16 drivers will duke it out over a 10-race stretch. The driver with the most points at the conclusion of the 10 races will be crown the series champion.
Darlington Raceway, known as “The Lady In Black”, due to the outer wall getting a fresh coat of black Goodyear rubber each time NASCAR visits, and the track “Too Tough To Tame” due to the difficult egg-shaped layout of the track, will be quite the test of the championship mentality for those battling it out.
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Denny Hamlin, who comes into this event as the No. 1 seed in the Chase, is the winningest active driver at Darlington Raceway with five career victories. Hamlin is still seeking his first career NASCAR Cup Series championship, and a win Sunday at Darlington would go a long way toward improving his chances of pulling that feat off.
Ryan Preece won the most recent NASCAR Cup Series event, which took place at Daytona International Speedway last Saturday night. With the win, Preece secured his place in the 16-driver Chase for the Championship, and he enters the battle as the No. 16 seed.
In addition to the NASCAR Cup Series, the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series will also kick off its nine-race Chase for the Championship this weekend. 12 drivers are battling for the championship in that series.
For fans looking to catch all of the action this weekend from the 1.366-mile oval in Darlington, SC, the on-track action will begin on Saturday at 1:30 PM ET with NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series practice and qualifying, and the entire race weekend will cap off with the NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out Southern 500 on Sunday, September 6 at 5 PM ET.
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Here is the full weekend schedule for all of the televised on-track activity including television/streaming information, start times, and radio networks.
Saturday, September 5
1:30 PM ET: NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Practice
TV: The CW (limited markets), Streaming: ESPN Unlimited, Radio: MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
2:35 PM ET: NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Qualifying
TV: The CW (limited markets), Streaming: ESPN Unlimited, Radio: MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
4:00 PM ET: NASCAR Cup Series Practice
TV: TruTV, Streaming: HBO Max, Radio: MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
5:10 PM ET: NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying
TV: TruTV, Streaming: HBO Max, Radio: MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
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7:30 PM ET: NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Fleetio 200 at Darlington
TV: The CW, Streaming: ESPN Unlimited, Radio: MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Sunday, September 6
5:00 PM ET: NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington
TV: USA Network, Streaming: HBO Max, Radio: MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
NASCAR Driver Cam: HBO Max
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/onsi/racing-america as How to Watch the NASCAR Cup Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington.
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