The Cup Series playoffs start on Sunday night with a crown jewel race, the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.
This race kicks off the Round of 16, which also features World Wide Technology Raceway and Bristol Motor Speedway. If a playoff driver wins Sunday night's race at Darlington Raceway, they will automatically move on to the Round of 12. The remaining 15 drivers will look ahead to the next and see where they can gain more points.
"I've been licking my chops to go back to Darlington," Josh Berry said on Playoff Media Day. "We've had really strong races there the last three times.
"Two of the finishes we got in accidents and didn't get the finishes we deserved, but we spent laps in the top 5, we scored stage points, and we did all the things that we need to do Sunday night to keep ourselves in this deal, so I'm ready to get there."
Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway information
Weather: The WeatherUnderground forecast calls for partly cloudy skies throughout the day. A high of 78 degrees and an 8% chance of rain at the start of the Cup Series race.
Green flag time: The command to fire engines will take place at 5:55 p.m. ET. The honorary starter will wave the green flag at 6:05 p.m. ET.
Starting lineup: Qualifying will take place on Saturday at 10:10 a.m. ET.
Pre-race: The garage opens at 3 p.m. ET. Driver introductions will take place at 5:15 p.m. ET. Pre-race coverage begins with "Countdown to Green" on USA at 5:30 p.m. ET. Race coverage continues on USA at 6 p.m. ET.
The invocation will be at 5:47 p.m. ET. The national anthem will be performed at 5:48 p.m. ET.
Stages: The race will consist of three stages. The first stage ends at Lap 115. The second stage ends at Lap 230 The scheduled end of the race is Lap 367.
Playoff picture: Kyle Larson, the 2021 champion, enters the playoffs at the top seed. He is 26 points above the Round of 12 cutline. Regular-season champion William Byron slots in as the second seed, also at +26.
The other drivers currently above the cutline are Denny Hamlin (+23), Ryan Blaney (+20), Christopher Bell (+17), Shane van Gisbergen (+16), Chase Elliott (+7), Chase Briscoe (+4), Bubba Wallace (+2), Austin Cindric (+2), Ross Chastain (+1), and Joey Logano (+1).
The four drivers below the initial cutline are Josh Berry (-1), Tyler Reddick (-1), Austin Dillon (-2), and Alex Bowman (-5).
Past winners: Multiple Cup Series drivers have celebrated wins at Darlington Raceway. Briscoe is the defending winner of the crown jewel race, which he used to put himself into the playoffs last season.
Hamlin leads all active Cup drivers with five wins at Darlington Raceway (2010, 2017, 2020-21, 2025). Brad Keselowski (2018, 2024) and Erik Jones (2019, 2022) both have two trips to victory lane at The Lady in Black.
Larson (2023), Byron (2023), Logano (2022), and Kyle Busch (2008) are the other drivers who have won at the South Carolina track.