While Chase Briscoe made his Playoff situation much clearer by winning at Darlington to clinch a berth, he made it much fuzzier for the drivers fighting for points.
The race to defend his points advantage was over for Martin Truex Jr. almost before it began.
NASCAR released its 2025 schedule on Thursday, and its drivers have studied it – for the most part.
Since 2020, the regular season has concluded at Daytona, which has provided plenty of excitement as drivers scramble to win and get into the Playoffs.
Sheldon Creed had the win at Darlington in the Xfinity Series, until he didn’t.
Tyler Reddick, Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott enter Sunday’s Cook Out Southern 500 in a pitched battle for the NASCAR Cup Series regular-season championship.
Erik Jones comes to Darlington ranked 26th in the championship standings, yet he is as optimistic about this weekend as he could possibly be to pull off a walk-off home run of sorts and win his championship chance.
Kyle Busch is another former Darlington winner capable of pulling off a victory that would propel him into Playoff contention.
The margin between the last driver currently eligible for the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs and the first driver out is a mere 21 points.
Christian Eckes will be Kaulig Racing’s third Xfinity Series driver in 2025, the team announced at Darlington on Saturday.