Darlington Southern 500 Confidence Rankings / Post Practice Predictions
On Sunday night under the lights, NASCAR will be racing at Darlington for the Cook Out Southern 500 to start the 2026 Chase. Darlington is a unique 1.33-mile egg shaped oval where tire wear is extreme, and the driver is a difference maker.
This weekend, there was no practice due to lightning throughout the session.
Here’s Darlington Qualifying Results/ Starting Lineup. The starting order was set via the metric.
Darlington Cook Out Southern 500 Full Field Fantasy Rankings
1) Tyler Reddick
Start 1st / Projected Finish Range 1-6 / Dominator Potential – High
Darlington Outlook – Tyler Reddick is a super elite performer at Darlington and on Sunday night, the road to victory lane might very well go thru him. Reddick raced his way to victory lane in dominant fashion this spring and over the Next Gen era he ranks #1 across the board for Speed, Average Finish (8.7) and Driver Rating. Over the last three, Reddick’s average finish is a stellar 2.3. This spring, Reddick was the class of the field and raced his way to victory lane despite major electrical issues. In the race, Reddick started on the pole, complained about voltage issues on lap 1, led the opening 45 laps, had a slow green flag pit stop in Stage #1 that dropped him from 1st to 7th, did a battery change during the Stage #1 caution that dropped him to the back, rebounded to finish 5th in Stage #2 and then over the last Stage, he hit the afterburners and raced his way to victory lane. Additionally, Reddick led the 2nd most laps (77) and earned the 2nd best Driver Rating. In terms of speed stats, Reddick was the fastest driver late in a run and ranked 2nd for Total Speed Rankings, with his speed over the segments being 1st, 8th (when he was back in traffic), 1st and 1st. Last summer, Reddick finished 2nd in Stage #1, finished 2nd in Stage #2, earned the 2nd best Driver Rating, had the 2nd best average running position (4.6) and then finished 2nd overall. In terms of speed stats, Reddick ranked as the Fastest Driver Late In A Run and had the 2nd best Total Speed Ranking. Last spring, Reddick nearly raced his way to victory lane but finished 4th. In the race, Reddick earned the 2nd best Driver Rating, had the 2nd best average running position, led 42 laps, found himself in the lead following the final green flag pit cycle but was then reeled in by Blaney with a few laps to go and then lost a few more spots following the final restart. In terms of Total Speed Rankings, Reddick ranked 3rd.
DraftKings $10,500/ FanDuel $14,000
Further Recommended Reading – Darlington Projected Finish Ranges, DraftKings Darlington Scoring Projections, FanDuel Darlington Scoring Projections, Darlington Quick Rankings, Darlington Next Gen RPM, Darlington Next Gen Average Finishes, Darlington Next Gen Speed Rankings
2) Denny Hamlin
Start 4th / Projected Finish Range 1-6 / Dominator Potential – Medium-High
Darlington Outlook – 5-time Darlington winner, Denny Hamlin has been a super-elite performer at Darlington and on Sunday night, look for Hamlin to be a top five contender who’ll be a factor to win. Hamlin’s had quite a few misleading results here in the Next Gen but yet he ranks 2nd for average finish (10.0) and 3rd for both Speed and Driver Rating. This spring, Hamlin didn’t have an incident free race but still finished 11th. In the race, Hamlin started 9th, finished about 13th in Stage #1, had contact with Erik Jones on lap 111, was up to 4th on lap 170 but then shortly after that, Hamlin said something didn’t feel right and rapidly dropped back to 11th to conclude Stage #2. Then during the Stage #2 caution, Hamlin pitted early to diagnose the #11, which dropped him back to 24th. Then over the last Stage, Hamlin raced hard to come home 11th. In terms of Total Speed Rankings, Hamlin ranked 8th with his speed over the segments being 12th, 3rd, 23rd and then 6th. Last summer, Hamlin finished 7th, despite his race not being incident free. In the race, Hamlin started on the pole, led 12 laps, finished 3rd in Stage #1, was in 4th on lap 150 but then just right after that, Hamlin had a slow pit stop that dropped him back to 23rd which held him back for the remainder of the race. When the checkered flag waved, Hamlin finished 7th, earned the 7th best Driver Rating and had a 9.4 average running position. In terms of Total Speed Rankings, Hamlin ranked 6th. Last spring, Hamlin didn’t have the best car but that didn’t keep him out of victory lane. In the race, Hamlin started 3rd, finished 3rd in Stage #2, had the 4th best Driver Rating, had the 4th best Average Running Position, led 10 laps and was running in 3rd on lap 289, before the late caution came out. During that caution, Hamlin won the race off pit road and then hung on to win. In 2024, Hamlin had results of 7th (2nd best car performance wise IMO) and 4th. This year at intermediate tracks, Hamlin has the best Total Speed Ranking and a series best 3.3 average finish.
DraftKings $11,000/ FanDuel $13,000
3) Chase Briscoe
Start 7th / Projected Finish Range 1-6 / Dominator Potential – Medium-High
Darlington Outlook – Chase Briscoe has back-to-back Darlington Southern 500 wins and on Sunday night, look for the #19 to be fast and be a factor. The last time the series raced at an intermediate track back in July, Briscoe raced his way to victory lane under the lights of Chicagoland. At Darlington over the last five races, Briscoe has two-wins and minus 2025 #1, his average finish is 4.8. This spring before the #19 team was running well, Briscoe started 23rd, finished 4th in Stage #2 and then finished 12th overall. For whatever reason, Briscoe just wasn’t at his best to close out. In terms of Total Speed Rankings, Briscoe ranked 10th but it also tells the tale of his afternoon with his speed over the segments being 13th, 7th, 4th and then 21st. Last summer, Briscoe started 2nd, won Stage #1, won Stage #2, led 309 laps, earned a perfect Driver Rating, had a 1.8 average running position and of course finished 1st overall. In terms of Total Speed Rankings, Briscoe ranked #1. Last spring early in his #19 tenure, Briscoe didn’t run well and finished 28th. In summer 2024, Briscoe raced his way to victory lane, making a late pass for the lead and then hitting the afterburners. In the race, Briscoe had a 3.2 average running position, ranked 3rd for Total Speed Rankings and led 29 laps. In spring 2024, Briscoe finished 5th.
DraftKings $9,800/ FanDuel $13,500
