Denny Hamlin was out of fresh tires. He had no choice but to stay out of pit road under the second to last caution period of the night at the Darlington Raceway. With rain in the area, a win already this season in the Daytona 500 and no gain by pitting for scuffed Goodyear’s, it was a no brainer.

Hamlin, lucked out that we had a crash shortly after the ensuing restart when Kyle Busch got into the back of Chase Elliott at the start/finish line, causing Elliott’s No. 9 Chevrolet to spin across the inside of the race track and make heavy contact with the inside SAFER barrier ending his night.

While under caution, rain began to fall, which consequently ended the race 20 laps early with Hamlin as the winner of the rain shortened and delayed Toyota 500.

The win was Hamlin’s 39th of his career, tying him with Tim Flock and Matt Kenseth for 20th on the all-time wins list. Three of those 39 wins have now come at Darlington, as he also has three Daytona 500 victories to his credit as well. The only main thing missing from Hamlin’s resume is a series championship. Maybe that comes this year.

The Virginia native led 12 laps all night, all coming at the end of the race.

Busch, would settle for second in his No. 18 Toyota for his third top three finish in the last four races on the season, dating back to March obviously. It was also Busch’s second top three in his last three Darlington starts as well.

Sunday’s winner Kevin Harvick was third in his No. 4 Ford for his eighth straight top 10 finish on the 1.366-mile South Carolina race track. Harvick, led 159 of 293 laps on Sunday but only 10 on Wednesday night.

Brad Keselowski and Erik Jones rounded out the top five.

Wednesday night’s race was the first Wednesday race since Richard Petty’s 200th career Cup victory at Daytona for the Firecracker 400 on July 4, 1984. The race was also delayed by almost 90 minutes due to rain in the area for most of the day.

Toyota 500 Results

1. 11 Hamlin
2. 18 KyBusch
3.  4 Harvick
4.  2 Keselowski
5. 20 Jones
6. 22 Logano
7. 10 Almirola
8. 48 Johnson
9. 21 DiBenedetto
10. 19 Truex Jr.
11. 95 Bell R
12. 24 Byron
13.  8 Reddick R
14.  6 Newman
15.  1 KuBusch
16. 43 Wallace Jr.
17. 34 McDowell
18. 88 Bowman
19. 13 TDillon
20.  3 ADillon
21. 12 Blaney
22. 14 Bowyer
23. 17 Buescher
24. 32 LaJoie -1
25. 47 Stenhouse Jr. -1
26. 00 Houff R -1
27. 96 Suarez -1
28. 77 Yeley -1
29. 51 Gase -1
30. 42 Kenseth -2
31. 41 Custer R -2
32. 27 Gaulding -2
33. 66 Hill -4
34. 53 Smithley R -4
35. 38 Nemechek R -6
36. 78 McLeod -6
37. 15 Poole -7
38.  9 Elliott OUT
39. 37 Preece OUT

Toyota’s Wake Up

We’ve been wondering through the first five races of the 2020 season if the Toyota’s lost a step in comparison to the record setting 2019 season. Toyota put three of their four drivers in the Championship 4 a year ago, as they combined to win a NASCAR record 19 of the 36 races run in 2019 including the Daytona 500, Coke 600, Bristol Night Race and the Southern 500. Without much of a change to the aero package in 2020, you would think that they would dominate this season right?

Instead, heading into Wednesday night’s race, they were just 1-for-5.

Was it a lack of pace for some reason or did Chevrolet’s gain take away spots that were reserved for Toyota drivers last year? They needed to show us something in the two races at Darlington and after a solid outing on Sunday, they showed out on Wednesday night.

293 laps were run on Sunday and they led none of them. They did finish 5-6-8-26 though. Three cars in the top eight is good, but if you look at them going 1-2 on this same 1.366-mile race track last September and scoring three wins in the last four Cup races at Darlington heading into 2020, not contending for the win was a bit concerning.

Despite that, now that Wednesday night’s race is over, I don’t see any more concerns. The Toyota’s were strong.

They finished 1-2 again for the second time in the last three Darlington Cup races and even put three of their four cars inside of the top five and all four in the top 10.

Martin Truex Jr. charged up from a mid pack starting spot to finish second in Stage 1. He was third in Stage 2. He finished 10th in his No. 19 Toyota for his fifth top 10 finish in his last seven Darlington starts. Truex, also finished sixth on Sunday afternoon.

Hamlin started right behind Truex on Wednesday with him too coming through the field early. Hamlin, was eighth and seventh respectively in the two stages and brought his No. 11 Toyota home with the victory. It was his sixth top 10 finish in his last seven Darlington starts.

Busch started off struggling through the first half of the race. In four stages run this week at Darlington, the defending Cup Series champion crossed the finish line 15th, 16th, 26th and 13th respectively in each. That didn’t derail him though in the end. On Sunday, he made his way up towards the top 10 in the final laps but a loose wheel cost him a good finish. Wednesday, he made sure that didn’t happen again. Busch, finished runner-up in his No. 18 Toyota for his sixth top 10 in his last nine Darlington tries.

The most consistent though is Erik Jones. He started 35th after his car was moved to the back at the start for unapproved adjustments. He climbed up without his crew chief as Chris Gayle was suspended for the night due to a couple of lugnuts being off following Sunday’s race. That didn’t stop Jones from his usual Darlington trek towards the front of the field. Jones, finished fifth in his No. 20 Toyota for his fifth top 10 in as many tries at Darlington.

Stewart-Hass Racing Camp Surprises, Bowyer Can’t Finish

SHR knew that they’d have a shot to win both races at Darlington due to Kevin Harvick’s strength on the “Lady in Black.” Harvick, has ran eight races at Darlington with Stewart-Haas Racing, including tonight’s third place run. The 2014 series champion has finished in the top 10 in all of them. He led 159 of the 293 laps in a dominating win on Sunday. He’s now led 687 laps in those races. In comparison, in 16 previous starts with Richard Childress Racing, he only led 63 circuits.

His three teammates though, well Darlington isn’t one of their better tracks.

Cole Custer is a rookie and not expected to do much in his Darlington Cup debut. He didn’t have any practice time either. Custer, was 22nd on Sunday and 31st on Wednesday.

Almirola, had never earned a top 10 finish at Darlington coming into Wednesday night’s race. His best result in nine previous tries was 11th. The Florida native did finish 12th on Sunday and was even stronger on Wednesday. Almirola, was sixth and 11th respectively in the two stages on Wednesday and brought his No. 10 Ford home with his first career top 10 in seventh.

Bowyer, has one top 10 finish in his last 13 Darlington starts with his last three being 22nd, 40th, 36th and 17th respectively. But, he had a fast No. 14 Ford though this year.

Bowyer, did only finish 17th on Sunday but he was seventh and fifth in the two stages this past weekend too. He just had some debris get on his car towards the end of the race and he fell back. On Wednesday, he swept both stages but bad luck found him agin as he scrapped the wall on Lap 191, which in turn, led to trouble as he brought out a caution for an incident on Lap 195 instead. Bowyer, would finish a disappointing 22nd.

Penske Drivers Quiet In Darlington, Blaney Still Not Good There

If you remember way back to March, you would have seen that Ryan Blaney has had the quickest race car each race, Joey Logano has won almost half of the races run and Brad Keselowski has three finishes of 11th or better.

But, can that translate well over to Darlington? Their speed was lacking overall on Sunday. By virtue of that, they all had some good starting spots on Wednesday.

All three Penske cars will rolled off inside of the top eight. That’s because they didn’t finish up front on Sunday.

Unfortunately, they never were factors on Wednesday night. Joey Logano jumped out to an early lead in leading 19 of the first 27 laps. That’s because he started up front and was around guys who normally aren’t. His No. 22 Ford faded to fifth in Stage 1, ninth in Stage 2 and was outside the top 10 for most of the final stage before lucking out to grab a lucky sixth place result. Logano, was 12th and eighth respectively in the two stages on Sunday and just 18th in the race. While he’ll take the top 10, the speed just wasn’t there.

Keselowski was great with clean air on Sunday, but he faded to a 13th place finish in the end. He started eighth on Wednesday by virtue of that. The Michigan native was fifth and first respectively in the two stages and even led 80 laps this past weekend. But, as the race went on, his No. 2 Ford went away. He was a non factor all night with a finish of 16th and 14th in the two stages. He got a fourth place result via a gamble to stay out on a longer fuel stint which was helped by a caution in the middle of it.

Blaney, still has failed to score a top 10 at Darlington as he came away 16th on Sunday and 21st on Wednesday. He now has finishes of 30th, 13th, 31st, 15th, 13th, 16th and 21st respectively on the “Lady in Black.”

Next up is Charlotte, a track that Penske has struggled at in the past. They may not get out of a slump until June.

Top Drivers At Darlington Remain That Way

Darlington isn’t an easy track to race at. There’s a reason it’s called “Too Tough To Tame.” So, without any practice and not racing for over 70 days before this weekend’s resumption of the season, the veterans of the sports were expected to shine.

They did just that.

Kevin Harvick led 159 of 293 laps on Sunday en route to his second career Darlington win. Harvick, has led 687 laps on the “Lady in Black” over his eight career starts with Stewart-Haas Racing. He only led 63 total laps in 16 tries with RCR. He’s yet to finish outside of the top 10 since joining SHR too, so it’s not surprising that he was first and third respectively in the first two races back.

Denny Hamlin has nine top six finishes in his last 12 Darlington starts now including three of those being wins. Yes, he lucked out in the end of Wednesday night’s race, but a win is a win.

In terms top active drivers, the two of the top three active lap leaders are Harvick and Hamlin. In terms of top fives at Darlington among active drivers, four of the top six finishes in the top five on Wednesday night. Harvick, tied Jimmie Johnson with nine each, most among all drivers, Hamlin earned his eighth top five, Keselowski and Busch their fifth.

Inverting/Shorter Race Worked

NASCAR used a unique way of starting Wednesday night’s race. The top 20 finishers from Sunday were inverted. Finishers 21st through 40th started in those spots. Well, Wednesday showed that this paid off.

Darlington is known as a track position race track. 99 of 118 times (84%) now has the race winner come from a top 10 starting spot. Furthermore, only six times has someone started outside of the top two and won.

Well, when looking at the starting spots of the top finishers, you’d see – 16th, 26th, 20th, 8th and 13th in the top five. Nine of the top 13 finishers overall came from Row 7 or further back at the start. That meant mission accomplished.

Plus, when you have a shorter race distance in 300 miles or 500 kilometers, it meant the guys that were coming from midpack on back, had to go and go quickly. In turn, it gave us a wild yet entertaining race all the way through.

This could be the future of the sport, as one day shows without practice or qualifying and using these unique situations were as entertaining as we’ve seen in a while.

Rookies Not As Strong

Tyler Reddick and John Hunter Nemechek were big storylines following Sunday’s race. Neither driver had ever raced a Cup event at Darlington before. Neither have been inside of a race car in 70 days. Still, they both earned a top 10 finish. On Wednesday, the rookies weren’t as strong.

Nemechek, found the wall just two laps into the race. Eight laps later, he brought out the caution again. The first year driver finished 35th this time. He was joined in the back by Cole Custer who finished 31st after incurring a problem himself. Garrett Smithely was 34th, while Brennan Poole was 37th. Throw in Quin Houff in 26th and you get five rookies finishing outside of the top 25 on Wednesday night.

Still, Christopher Bell did have a solid night in 11th while Reddick was 13th.