Race Week Briefing - Darlington Raceway

Event: Cook Out Southern 500

Date/Time: Sunday, September 6, 2026, 5 p.m. ET

Location: Darlington Raceway, Darlington, South Carolina

Layout: 1.366-Mile Oval

TV/Radio: USA, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Josh Berry and the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane team will look to extend their streak of consecutive top-10 finishes to six in Sunday’s Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.

Berry and the Wood Brothers team have been one of the most consistent performers in the NASCAR Cup Series over the past five races, a stretch that began with a seventh-place finish in the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. They followed that with finishes of fourth at Iowa, eighth at Richmond and third at New Hampshire before navigating the unpredictability of Daytona to finish ninth last weekend.

“We’ve been able to go to a bunch of different race tracks and find a way to come away with solid finishes, and that’s been encouraging,” Berry said. “Daytona is always a little bit of a wild card, so it was good to get through everything at the end and bring home another top-10.”

This weekend presents an entirely different test as the Cup Series heads to Darlington, the egg-shaped, 1.366-mile oval known as both the Lady in Black and the Track Too Tough To Tame.

At 500 miles, the Southern 500 is one of the longest and most demanding races on the schedule, with changing track conditions and Darlington’s abrasive surface adding to the challenge over the course of the evening.

“The Southern 500 is obviously a completely different challenge,” Berry said. “It’s a long, grueling race at a place that demands a lot out of you, and you have to stay on top of the race track as it changes throughout the evening.”

Darlington has historically been a strong track for Wood Brothers Racing. The team leads the Ford camp with eight victories at the historic South Carolina track, seven of which came with Mercury. The Wood Brothers also have recorded 22 top-five finishes, 34 top-10s and 12 poles at Darlington.

The team’s most recent Darlington top-10 came in 2023, when Harrison Burton finished sixth. Berry has also enjoyed success at the track, highlighted by a career-best Darlington finish of third in 2024.

Practice for the Cook Out Southern 500 is scheduled for Saturday at 4:30 p.m. ET, followed by qualifying at 6 p.m. Coverage of both sessions will be available on truTV and HBO Max.

Sunday’s 367-lap, 500-mile race is scheduled to take the green flag shortly after 5 p.m. ET, with television coverage on USA Sports.

Stage breaks are scheduled for Laps 115 and 230.