Best NASCAR drivers at Darlington are Kevin Harvick, Erik Jones, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, Tyler Reddick and William Byron.
Also known as The Track Too Tough to Tame, Darlington has been a historic racetrack and a significant part of the NASCAR schedule.
Many popular and underrated drivers have achieved phenomenal achievements at this raceway and placed them in the track’s annals of history.
Just like the NASCAR drivers at Kansas Speedway require driving skills and fast reflexes, the same goes for Darlington racers to get through the challenging track and make their place in NASCAR history.
The 13th race of the 2023 NASCAR season is all set in the form of the Goodyear 400 on 14 May 2023 at Darlington Raceway, South Carolina. 36 drivers will compete in this week’s Cup Series race going around the 1.366-mile oval track for over 293 laps.
The best average finish at Darlington is:
- Kevin Harvick – 197.621
- Erik Jones – 176.298
- Kyle Busch – 177.171
- Denny Hamlin – 176.280
- Joey Logano – 180.385
- Tyler Reddick – 180.608
- William Byron – 178.926
- Christopher Bell – 179.659
- Ryan Blaney – 177.655
- Austin Dillon – 179.695
Kevin Harvick – Hass Racing Ford
Kevin Harvick is the Darlington Raceway past winner having won twice in 2020 and once in 2014. Harvick drives the No. 4 Ford Mustang for Hass Racing Ford in the NASCAR Cup Series.
He started racing in NASCAR in 1992 and is one of just six drivers to have won in both the Cup Series and the Xfinity Series. The Closer recently finished in 12th position at the 2023 Daytona 500.
Harvick has announced to retire at the end of the 2023 season bidding adieu to the fantastic career spanning nearly three decades.
In 2020, at The Real Heroes at Darlington, he scored his 500th career win. The same year he began the first round of the playoffs on a high note by holding off Austin Dillon to win his second Southern 500 after finishing 20th at Daytona.
Erik Jones – Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
Erik competes in the NASCAR Cup Series driving Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Legacy Motor Club. Jones began his racing career at the age of seven.
Spending his entire NASCAR and ARCA career with Toyota Motor Corporation, the American racer won the 2015 Nascar Camping World Truck Series championship.
Beginning his racing career at a young age, he began competing in ASA Late Model Series at the age of 13. Moreover, Erik is the youngest driver to win Lucas Oil 150 at Phoenix International Raceway in 2013.
He qualified for the 2019 Playoffs on 2nd September 2019 in Darlington, due to his second Cup Series victory of his career. In 2022, Erik Jones edged over Danny Hamlin to win for the third time in his NASCAR Cup career at Darlington.
Kyle Busch – Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
Kyle Busch nicknamed ‘Rowdy’ and ‘Wild Thing’ for his staggering driving skills is ninth on the all-time NASCAR Cup Series win list.
Beginning his career in 1998 he won two track championships at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2001. Busch also won the 2015 and 2019 Cup Series and the 2009 NASCAR Nationwide Series championship.
Busch holds a number of NASCAR competition records, including the most race victories in a season among the top three NASCAR series. He has the record for the most career laps led in the Daytona 500 with 324 laps in 2022.
Denny Hamlin – Toyota Camry
The 42 years old Denny Hamlin is a professional stock car racer who competes in the NASCAR Cup series driving the No.11 Toyota Camry.
Hamlin has won 49 Nascar Cup series races to date. In 2013, he competed in his first race since his injury at Darlington and finished sixth.
Danny Hamlin is the active racer with the most wins at Darlington Raceway having won four times in 2021, 2020, 2017 and 2010.
With his second Daytona 500 victory, he began the 2019 season by breaking a 47-race winless run. At the 2022 Daytona 500, Hamlin finished in 37th place to kick off the 2022 season.
Also at the 2023 Daytona 500, Denny finished in 17th place to kick off the 2023 season. He was selected as one of NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers.
Joey Logano – Ford Mustang
Joey Logano is the youngest racing driver to win the 2009 Lenox Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway at the age of 19.
Logana competes full-time in the Nascar Cyp series and part-time in the Nascar Craftsman Truck Series He is the 2018 and 2022 Nacar Cup series champion who drove the No. 20 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racings.
In the 2009 season at Darlington, he led 19 laps late in the race and finished ninth, and won a fan vote for the 2009 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race.
Logano won the 2022 Busch Light Clash at The Coliseum to kick off the 2022 racing season. At Darlington, he pushed William Byron into the wall with two laps remaining to claim his first victory of the year.
Tyler Reddick – Toyota Camry
Tyler Reddick drives the No. 45 Toyota Camry for 23XI Racing and Toyota Supra for Sam Hunt Racing. Tyler has won two consecutive titles in Nascar Xfinity Series.
Making his ARCA Racing Series debut in 2012, Reddick won his first career start in Nasar K&N Pro Series East at Rockingham Speedway.
During the 2018 Xfinity Series season at Daytona International Speedway, Reddick defeated Elliott Sadler to win the closest finish in NASCAR’s top three series.
For the Xfinity Series in 2023, Tyler drove the No.24 Toyota for Sam Hunting Racing. Reddick placed seventh in the opening Darlington spring race in 2020, scoring his first top-ten finish of the year.
William Byron – Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
William Byron is a professional stock car racing driver who competes full-time in the Nascar Cup Series and part-time in the Xfinity Series.
He was interested in car racing from a very early age after seeing a stock car race on television and later attended a race at Martinsville Speedway in 2006.
Byron won the 2016 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and the 2015 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Championship. He also received the highly coveted Sunoco Rookie of the Year award.
He had two DNFs to start the 2022 season at the Daytona 500 and Fontana, but he recovered to win at Atlanta and Martinsville.
Christopher Bell – Toyota Camry
American racer Christopher Bell drives the No. 24 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing. Christopher competes full-time in the Nascar Cup Series.
Bell was the first Oklahoman to win the Chili Bowl Nationals in 2017. He raced for Bill McAnally Racing in the No. 54 and made two starts in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West at Irwindale and Iowa Speedways in 2015.
He drove the No. 20 vehicle for Joe Gibbs Racing in the Xfinity Series full-time in 2018. When Bell faced a must-win situation during the playoffs, he won at the Charlotte Roval to move on to the Round of 8.
Bell finished third in the 2023 Daytona 500 to kick off the 2023 season. At the Dirt Track race in Bristol, he achieved his first victory of the year.
Ryan Blaney – Ford Mustang
Ryan Blaney drives the No.12 Ford Mustang for Team Penske. Ryan won his first race at the age of nine competing at quarter midget racing.
Blaney made his Nascar debut driving part-time for Brad Keselowski Racing in 2012. At Bristol Motor Speedway in August 2014, he defeated Kyle Busch to win the second Nationwide race of his career in a green-white-checkered finish.
At the 2022 Daytona 500, Blaney placed fourth and finished with four top-fives and six top-10 finishes in the first 13 races.
Austin Dillon – Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
Austin Dillon drives the No. 3 Chevrolet Camaro Z1 for Richard Childress Racing. He is the younger brother of fellow NASCAR driver Ty Dillion.
Dillon won the 2013 NASCAR Nationwide Series and 2011 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. He won his first career start in the Nascar Sprint Cup Series at the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway on October 9, 2011.
When Austin finished 12th in the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 16, 2013, he was awarded the NASCAR Nationwide Series Championship.