I'm pretty sure I'm getting raped tonight.....do not call 911. I'll just see you at Darlington tomorrow if you are going.. Oh for God's sake.....

check that....call an ambulance. I'm about dead


Lord, please give me the energy to go to tomorrows race.

ncsupack1 said:

---

Ford adding a team. Two cars next year.

Alpha Prime Racing is aligning with Ford and will field two full-time Ford-supported O'Reilly Series teams in 2027.

— Jordan Bianchi (@Jordan_Bianchi) September 5, 2026

---

Not a Ford guy, but I think this is great for the sport. Not enough Ford's running in the Cup Series this current year, IMO...

this is perfect race morning weather....thank god it's gonna stay in the mid 80's today

FknWeirdErnie said:

---

this is perfect race morning weather....thank god it's gonna stay in the mid 80's today

---

Glad to hear that you made it through the night. Hope she wasn't too rough on you...

Sunday, September 6
10:45 a.m., IMSA Ford Mustang Challenge: COTA Race 2, Peacock
4:30 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series: USA Sports Prerace, USA Network
5 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series: Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, USA Network
9 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series: USA Sports Post-Race, USA Network
8:30 p.m., ARCA Menards Series: Audubon Park 100 at DuQuoin State Fairgrounds, FS1
Editor's Note: The 2026 NASCAR TV Schedule is updated weekly throughout the season.

I was wondering about the early start time.

Some have asked about the 5p ET start for for Southern 500. NASCAR says it and TV partner, with the length of the race (race goes more than 4 hours), they wanted it to end earlier, considering the TV audience and fans at-track.

— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) September 6, 2026

ncsupack1 said:

---

I was wondering about the early start time.

Some have asked about the 5p ET start for for Southern 500. NASCAR says it and TV partner, with the length of the race (race goes more than 4 hours), they wanted it to end earlier, considering the TV audience and fans at-track.

— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) September 6, 2026

---

Damn. It's like the brass is finally starting to think it's important for people to watch... using a little common sense for once.

Great start time for me.

*Now if you and ernie end up hooking up down there, one of the two of you better post about it. I guess ge_traveller will be there today also?

TheStorm said:

---

ncsupack1 said:

---

I was wondering about the early start time.

Some have asked about the 5p ET start for for Southern 500. NASCAR says it and TV partner, with the length of the race (race goes more than 4 hours), they wanted it to end earlier, considering the TV audience and fans at-track.

— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) September 6, 2026

---

Damn. It's like the brass is finally starting to think it's important for people to watch... using a little common sense for once.

Great start time for me.

*Now if you and ernie end up hooking up down there, one of the two of you better post about it. I guess ge_traveller will be there today also?

---

Unfortunately, I'm at the house this weekend. Came down with something, sucks. I hope that everyone down there this weekend sees a good one.

Green flag is now 5.

Martinsville up next

TheStorm said:

---

FknWeirdErnie said:

---

this is perfect race morning weather....thank god it's gonna stay in the mid 80's today

---

Glad to hear that you made it through the night. Hope she wasn't too rough on you...

---

she was perfect...and the perfect race day partner. we had a lot of fun at Darlington

TheStorm said:

---

ncsupack1 said:

---

I was wondering about the early start time.

Some have asked about the 5p ET start for for Southern 500. NASCAR says it and TV partner, with the length of the race (race goes more than 4 hours), they wanted it to end earlier, considering the TV audience and fans at-track.

— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) September 6, 2026

---

Damn. It's like the brass is finally starting to think it's important for people to watch... using a little common sense for once.

Great start time for me.

*Now if you and ernie end up hooking up down there, one of the two of you better post about it. I guess ge_traveller will be there today also?

---

there was a Wolfpack tent few cars down from me backed up to the treeline for the front stretch parking lot. I was kinda afraid to approach them as they seemed like a wild bunch with tons of alcohol running thru their veins lol

Wish we made it, but I'm just now feeling well. Our next one is Bristol and we are ready. As for the race, I thought it was a good one. Ernie, where did you park?

ncsupack1 said:

---

Wish we made it, but I'm just now feeling well. Our next one is Bristol and we are ready. As for the race, I thought it was a good one. Ernie, where did you park?

---

we were backup to the treeline. Nice shade. Parked next to some VT fans

glad you are feeling better!!

Thanks. Looks like a great spot. How long did it take ya'll to get out?

Tell me that wasn't one of the best paint jobs you've ever seen in your entire life!

Didn't mind seeing Bell winning either, probably if I "had" to pull for a Toyota in NASCAR - he'd probably be the one... (I hope you are listening Hendrick, time to get our sht together - and soon!)

https://www.facebook.com/reel/2049901325638113

Aw heck... I figured you guys might enjoy seeing this. This is from Saturday evening, the EF1 lifted or whatever exactly 1650 Feet from where I'm sitting next to the window in my upstairs home office (facing that direction), watching the storm outside my window and flipping between college football games / weather alerts... no coverage of any rotation occurring on TV as this was apparently happening though, lol... and it had been absolutely pouring and blowing trees like crazy for 45 minutes to an hour already, so I never heard or noticed anything different than what I'd already been watching.

Based on where the path of the trees were down on the golf course after it lifted the rotation probably passed around 1225 Feet to the south of my house.

EF0 lifted / stopped about 2850 SF from (to the north) my house as far as I can confirm right now.

*ernie - glad you had a good trip and enjoyed the race Sunday evening...

ncsupack1 said:

---

Thanks. Looks like a great spot. How long did it take ya'll to get out?

---

about 2 hours,,,,but I had to drop off 2 cats I've been cat sitting in Mullins, plus we went into Florence to look around as I use to live on Dargan St there...so I took my time lol

Happy for Josh, but as a Ford fan I hate it.

Legacy Motor Club officially announces that Josh Berry has signed with the team to drive its No. 42 Toyota in 2027. https://t.co/L7UEb7wfi0

— Jordan Bianchi (@Jordan_Bianchi) September 8, 2026

Interesting. It must have been bad considering that LMC is buying him out.

https://www.nascar.com/standings/nascar-cup-series/

Quick look at "The Chase" standings after Race #1 of 10... I think this has the opportunity to become really dramatic down the stretch.

So in review - going INTO Darlington, Hamlin started with a 25 POINT spread over 2nd, a 35 POINT spread over 3rd and a 40 POINT spread over 4th (and then an additional 5 point lead for each subsequent position after that).

Now, AFTER Darlington, we now have THREE Drivers within that 25 Point barrier from Hamlin:
1) Hamlin (Leader)
2) Bell (-12)
3) Blaney (-16)
4) Reddick (-24)
*so the 25 point lead has already been cut in half, and 3rd & 4th are now closer than 2nd was before "The Chase" started.

Then you also have:
5) Briscoe (-37) *still in 5th, but now 8 points closer to 1st already
6) Gibbs (-39) *lost 2 spots in the standings, but still gained a point on 1st.
*so the next 5 cars after 1st are already now closer than just the next 3 cars after 1st were before "The Chase" started.

Then after that:
7) Larson (-49) *still in 7th, but gained 6 points on 1st - and was actually in the hunt at Darlington.
8) Logano (-72) *gained a position - but was the first position to actually LOSE ground (-7 points) to 1st.
9) Elliott (-72) *lost a position - and lost ground to 1st (-12 points)... must be a tie breaker already at play between Logano and Elliott?

So, how's my "anybody in the Top 9 - except for Elliot" decree holding up? So far, so good, with only Logano losing ground in the big picture.

Of course, all it takes is for Hamlin to win a race in the next week or two and he probably stretches it right back out even farther than where things started... if you are in that closing group, the extra 15 points that they are adding in "The Chase" to the normal 40 points for a win in the regular season are huge. Witness the fact that in this last race the winner accumulated 27 more points than the next highest point accumulator (only 5 of which were from his Stage points advantage).

Stage Points will be HUGE in "The Chase" as well. Yeah, Bell picked up 17 points from the stages (the most)... but Hamlin picked up 16 points from the stages himself! *just image if Hamlin had somehow whiffed in the stages in this race? We'd have a new points leader already!

Now, all the above being said - we all know the cream is going to rise to the top, and I'm fully expecting that 3-4 races in that there is going to be a distinct "breakaway" group of something like 4-5 drivers that this thing is going to start narrowing down to... and I'm definitely not "pulling against" Hamlin right now within this post either, I'm just saying that after 1 race this has gotten a hell of a lot more interesting already.

Larson can't afford to lose any significant ground over the next few weeks, and if he does - he's out. Logano already has his work cut out for him and even just one more subpar race out of him over the next few weeks, he's probably gone too. Elliott is not a threat - and either is anyone from 10th on back.

My #24 car and William Byron? Well... after being in the old Final Four each of the last three years (I had to get a positive comment in there for ncsupack1's mother-in-law, lol), we are already officially "parked in the garage" for the remainder of the season - and quite honestly have been for quite a while already.

I know that I'm getting over analytical here, especially after just one race - but I just love this stuff and like I said, these point spreads are going to start getting larger between the majority of these positions as we go from race to race, but everyone in the Top 7 picked up points on 1st during this race and I'm looking forward to watching this show early on like this while it still lasts.

So, just let me have my fun here for at least another 3-4 weeks hopefully... after all, right now it's all I have left!

All good points Storm.....love the analysis.

I agree, I think these next few weeks will be exciting as we watch the waters churn. With WWT, Bristol and Kansas coming up, things could flop around in the standings each week as we see how the drivers tackle each of the tracks.

Bristol was good to Gibbs earlier this season, and actually quite a few of the drivers did well there. 12 of the top 13 drivers from that race are now racing for the Chase. Bell didn't have a good day and neither did Byron.

Kansas proved to be much of the same, with again 12 of the top 13 drivers are now racing for the title. Reddick won that race. Bell finished 20th, Blaney 24th and Logano 30th so will be interesting to see how things go this time around.

Hamlin won WWT last year, with Larson & Bell winning at Bristol. Larson & Elliott won the Kansas races last year. All that to say, these next 3 weeks will be interesting and nobody can afford to have any issues on pit road or on the track.

You both make some really good points. One thing that I've noticed listening to some podcasts, the thought from some is that the pit crew is going to be the difference considering how close these cars are.

Yep, these pit crews will have a lot of pressure on them. The issues with loose wheels or miscommunication between taking 4 instead of 2 will cost someone for sure, especially when they happen late in the race.

I also saw that Carson Hocevar made himself another new friend on the track last weekend... better watch out there young man, because Keselowski (especially when he was younger) might have no problem punting you from the next race if an opportunity presents itself.

Kes has nothing to lose, but a little money at this point...

Nobody over there seems to care. His own team has fined him though.