The track “Too Tough to Tame” will put its moniker to the test in Sunday’s Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway (3 p.m. ET, FS1, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Added horsepower and reduced grip will combine for a thrilling show in South Carolina on Sunday, with NASCAR’s best asked to prove themselves all over again in a 293-lap showdown. Indeed, Racing Insights projects that familiar faces will be atop the leaderboard when the checkered flag waves, with prediction models eyeing polesitter Tyler Reddick to score his first Darlington victory.
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Will the man who scored a historic three-peat to open the season add his fourth 2026 trophy to the tally after six races? Here’s a look at others to keep an eye on and the full projected results for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race.
RELATED: Full starting lineup | Darlington preview
DRIVERS TO WATCH
BUBBA WALLACE: Wallace has had the hot hand to start the season. While he’s still seeking his first win of the campaign, the 23XI Racing driver sits second in points behind teammate Reddick and hasn’t finished worse than 11th through five races this year. Wallace, a new father of two, has finished inside the top 10 in five of the last seven Darlington races, with one pole and six top-10 starting positions in that span. He starts second Sunday and is projected by Racing Insights to place eighth.
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KYLE BUSCH: The No. 8 Richard Childress Racing driver will start eighth Sunday in search of snapping a 98-race winless streak. Busch has won just once at Darlington back in 2008, but the “Lady in Black” has treated him fairly well in recent years, scoring a runner-up and three straight top 10s in his last three Darlington appearances. Racing Insights projects another 10th-place finish for Busch Sunday.
BRAD KESELOWKSI: Keselowski scored his most recent Cup win in this race two years ago and seems poised to contend again despite an 11th-place projection from Racing Insights. The 2012 NASCAR Cup Series champion qualified fifth for Darlington, earning his first starting position inside the top 10 on a non-drafting track since Richmond Raceway in August 2025.
FULL PROJECTED RESULTS FOR 2026 GOODYEAR 400 (3 P.M. ET, FS1)
|
FINISH |
CAR NUMBER |
DRIVER |
|---|---|---|
|
1 |
45 |
Tyler Reddick |
|
2 |
11 |
Denny Hamlin |
|
3 |
5 |
Kyle Larson |
|
4 |
24 |
William Byron |
|
5 |
20 |
Christopher Bell |
|
6 |
9 |
Chase Elliott |
|
7 |
17 |
Chris Buescher |
|
8 |
23 |
Bubba Wallace |
|
9 |
12 |
Ryan Blaney |
|
10 |
8 |
Kyle Busch |
|
11 |
6 |
Brad Keselowski |
|
12 |
22 |
Joey Logano |
|
13 |
19 |
Chase Briscoe |
|
14 |
54 |
Ty Gibbs |
|
15 |
1 |
Ross Chastain |
|
16 |
60 |
Ryan Preece |
|
17 |
16 |
AJ Allmendinger |
|
18 |
43 |
Erik Jones |
|
19 |
3 |
Austin Dillon |
|
20 |
2 |
Austin Cindric |
|
21 |
38 |
Zane Smith |
|
22 |
7 |
Daniel Suárez |
|
23 |
71 |
Michael McDowell |
|
24 |
77 |
Carson Hocevar |
|
25 |
34 |
Todd Gilliland |
|
26 |
42 |
John Hunter Nemechek |
|
27 |
4 |
Noah Gragson |
|
28 |
47 |
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. |
|
29 |
21 |
Josh Berry |
|
30 |
41 |
Cole Custer |
|
31 |
97 |
Shane van Gisbergen |
|
32 |
35 |
Riley Herbst |
|
33 |
10 |
Ty Dillon |
|
34 |
48 |
Justin Allgaier |
|
35 |
51 |
Cody Ware |
|
36 |
88 |
Connor Zilisch |
|
37 |
66 |
Timmy Hill |
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