NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Darlington, S.C.: Southern 500 at a glance

Southern 500

Distance: 367 laps, or 501.3 miles.

Where: Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, a 1.366-mile, egg-shaped paved track.

When: 7 p.m.

TV: NBC.

Radio: Motor Racing Network.

Last year’s winner: Kevin Harvick.

Also this week: VFW Help A Hero 200, Xfinity Series, Darlington Raceway, Saturday, 3:30 p.m., NBC.

Worth mentioning: Low-drag aerodynamic package will be tested at Darlington, similar to the one used at Kentucky in July.

Who’s Hot/Who’s Not

HOT

Paul Menard: Won Xfinity race on Road America’s road course, near his hometown of Eau Claire, Wis.

Erik Jones: Winner at Ontario vaults to the top of the Truck series points standings.

Throwbacks: Several cars will have old-school paint schemes from 1970s and ’80s at Darlington to celebrate the Southern 500’s return to Labor Day weekend.

NOT

Kyle Larson: 41st-place finish at Bristol (Tenn.) put bigger dent into already-slim hopes for making Chase.

Blake Koch: Was in line for first Xfinity victory when car’s battery became disconnected late in the race. Finished 21st.

Alex Tagliani: Could have pushed Jones out of the way for potential Truck win (like Regan Smith did to Tagliani recently), but didn’t.

David Scott

This story was originally published September 3, 2015 at 5:50 PM with the headline "NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Darlington, S.C.: Southern 500 at a glance."