Best of the Rest: Darlington Weekend

As we march towards a 2024 series champion, NASCAR’s Xfinity and Cup Series teams attempted to tame “the track to tough to tame” this past weekend.

Xfinity Series (SportClips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200)

1. Ross Chastain (#92 DGM Racing Chevrolet): Cup Series star Ross Chastain jumped into Mario Gosselin’s #92 Chevrolet at Darlington, and provided one of the teams better runs this season. While Chastain made just his third series start, the team had a strong run finishing 12th.

   

2. Carson Kvapil (#88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet): Upstart driver Carson Kvapil had a strong run in JR Motorsports’ part-time #88 entry. Making his Xfinity debut at the legendary track, Kvapil scored an impressive 14th place finish.
3. Ryan Ellis (#43 Alpha Prime Racing Chevrolet): Making another appearance in this article series, Ellis had another solid day. With Darlington being such a tough track, Ellis and his #43 Camaro made the most of the day and finished 21st.

Cup Series (Cook Out Southern 500):

1. Chase Briscoe (#14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford): For the second week, the race winner gets top billing in this series. Briscoe and his SHR #14 Mustang had one of their best runs of the season. Briscoe had a presence within the top five cars the entire event, and ended with an impressive win after leading 29 laps (including the final 26).

   

2. Corey LaJoie (#7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet): After a long run of bad luck and controversy, LaJoie had a much needed strong day at Darlington as well. LaJoie’s #7 Chevrolet came home 9th after qualifying 19th.

   

3. Ryan Preece (#41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford): Briscoe’s teammate Preece also had a badly needed good run while potentially looking for a 2025 job. While the #41 Mustang qualified 30th, Preece survived all the late race drama and carnage, earning a 12th place finish.