It’s an early start for NASCAR at Darlington Raceway, which will welcome the Truck and Cup series Saturday.
Cup cars will be on the 1.366-mile oval for practice starting at 9 a.m., followed by qualifying at 10:10 a.m. for the Southern 500.
The Craftsman Truck Series race will begin at noon. It’s the first time since 2021 that the trucks will run in late summer at Darlington and the first time as the lone companion event to Cup. The 200-mile warmup to the Southern 500 tradtionally has been a race for the Xfinity Series, which is in Portland International Raceway this weekend.
Darlington Raceway Saturday schedule
(All Times Eastern)
Saturday, Aug. 30
Garage open
- 7 – 11:30 a.m. — Cup Series
- 10 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. — Truck Series
Track activity
- 9 – 10 a.m. — Cup practice (truTV, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
- 10:10 – 11 a.m. — Cup qualifying (truTV, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
- Noon — Truck race (147 laps, 200 miles; Stage 1 at Lap 45, Stage 2 at Lap 90; FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Weather
Saturday: Partly cloudy skies with a 12% chance of rain. A high of 85 degrees with winds from the northeast a 5 to 10 mph. It’s expected to be 80 degrees with a 2% chance of rain at the start of the Truck race.
