The regular season comes to a close this weekend at Darlington Raceway for NASCAR Cup Series teams and drivers.
The Southern 500, a crown jewel race, will close out a weekend also featuring the Xfinity Series. Craftsman Truck Series teams are idle after kicking off the playoffs last weekend at the Milwaukee Mile Speedway.
This is the second race of the season at Darlington for both the Xfinity and Cup Series teams. Justin Allgaier won the spring Xfinity race at the South Carolina track. Brad Keselowski won the spring Cup race.
The Xfinity race will continue the regular season. Four races remain before the playoffs begin. The Cup Series teams have one more race remaining before the start of the playoffs. This race will determine the final three playoff drivers.
Darlington Raceway forecast and schedule
Friday forecast: Mostly sunny skies with the possibility of a stray shower. A high of 93 degrees and a 15% chance of rain.
Saturday forecast: Partly cloudy skies with a possible stray thunderstorm. A high of 91 degrees and a 15% chance of rain at the start of the Xfinity race.
Sunday forecast: Sunny skies with thunderstorms developing into the night. A high of 90 degrees and a 10% chance of rain at the start of the Cup race. A 50% chance of rain and thunderstorms as the race continues into the night.
Friday, Aug. 30, schedule (Eastern Time)
- 11:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. -- Xfinity Series garage hours
Saturday, Aug. 31, schedule (Eastern Time)
- 7 a.m. - 3 p.m. -- Cup Series garage hours
- 9 a.m. -- Xfinity Series garage hours
- 10:30 - 11:05 a.m. -- Xfinity Series practice (Streaming on NBC Sports app)
- 11:10 a.m. - 12 p.m. -- Xfinity Series qualifying (Streaming on NBC Sports app)
- 12:35 - 1:20 p.m. -- Cup Series practice (USA Network, streaming on NBC Sports app, radio coverage on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
- 1:20 - 2:30 p.m. -- Cup qualifying (USA Network, streaming on NBC Sports app, radio coverage on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
- 3:30 p.m. -- Xfinity Series race (147 laps, 200.8 miles. USA Network, streaming on NBC Sports app, Radio coverage on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Sunday, Sept. 1, schedule (Eastern Time)
- 3 p.m. -- Cup Series garage hours
- 6 p.m. -- Cup Series race (367 laps, 501.32 miles. USA Network, streaming on NBC Sports app, Radio coverage on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)