Darlington 101: Qualifying format, Goodyear tires, story lines and more

After 26 races, the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs are officially here.

The postseason kicks off with the Cook Out Southern 500 on Sunday at Darlington Raceway (6 p.m. ET, USA, NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). The event starts the Round of 16, which consists of three races before the first elimination from championship contention.

Prepare for the playoff opener with all the info you need here:

RELATED: Weekend schedule | Cup Series standings

TAMING THE TRACK TOO TOUGH TO TAME

Teams will have limited time to dial their cars in for a grueling 500 miles around the 1.366-mile Darlington Raceway. Competitors will have roughly 20 minutes to practice on Saturday (12:05 p.m. ET, NBC Sports App, 12:30 p.m. USA Network) with teams broken into Groups A and B. After each group practices, single-car, single-lap qualifying will begin to set the starting lineup (12:50 p.m. ET).

With the postseason set to begin, playoff drivers and teams will be ordered by their previous race metrics and assigned to Group A or B by the usual odd/even metric procedures. Playoff teams will be the final cars to qualify in their respective groups.

The five fastest overall drivers from each group will advance to the final round of qualifying, where those 10 drivers will each set one more timed lap to fight for the Busch Light Pole Award.

MORE: Paint Scheme Preview | Qualifying order

DARLINGTON STORY LINES

— Sixteen different drivers won through 26 races, tied for the record through 26 races set in 1961 and 2003.

— Denny Hamlin‘s average finish of 7.75 at Darlington is his best on an oval and his best of all tracks with more than two starts.

— The eventual race winner at Darlington scored stage points in each stage in every race.

— The pass for the win came in the final 10 laps in 15 of the 26 races in 2022.

— Twelve of the last 14 Darlington winners all had at least 24 career wins entering the race.

— Sixty-three percent of the races at Darlington were won by drivers who won a Cup Series championship.

— Hendrick Motorsports‘ last of a Cup-record 14 Darlington wins was in May 2012 when Jimmie Johnson got the team it‘s 200th Cup win. (Hendrick was runner-up both races there last year.)

— Four of the last 11 races at Darlington were won from pit stall 35; two of the last eight were won from stall 10 and only three of the last 13 were won from stall 1.

Source: Racing Insights

GOODYEAR TIRES

Darlington Raceway is known for devouring tires with its rough, abrasive surface and narrow racing groove. Teams will have 13 sets available to use throughout the course of the event, meaning they’ll have one set available per every 28.2 laps.

“This race is one of the biggest challenges for both teams and tires on the whole schedule,” Greg Stucker, Goodyear’s director of racing, said in a release. “Running 500 miles on such a narrow track is tough, but then teams have to deal with the abrasive track surface that wears tires like none other. We expect to see more than two seconds of fall-off a lap over the course of a fuel run, so drivers who manage their tires will benefit on long runs. With 13 sets for the race, pit road will be a very busy and important place as teams take four tires every chance they get.”

DARLINGTON HISTORY

— Darlington, also known as “The Track Too Tough to Tame” and “The Lady in Black,” is NASCAR‘s oldest superspeedway.

— The track’s first race was on Sept. 4, 1950, the 21st race in Cup Series history and 13th of the 1950 season.

— Darlington has hosted a NASCAR Cup Series race every year since.

— Darlington native Harold Brasington quit racing in the late 1940s to concentrate on peanut farming and his construction business. He got the idea for a speedway after he noticed the huge crowds at the Indianapolis 500. In 1949 he leased cotton and peanut farmland on the west side of town from his poker playing buddy Sherman Ramsey. He created an egg-shaped oval with one corner tighter, narrower, and more steeply banked because he promised Ramsey that the new track wouldn’t disturb his minnow pond at the west end.

— The first NASCAR race held on an oval track more than 1-mile long and the first on a paved track took place on the 1.25 mile speedway before 25,000 fans on Sept. 4, 1950. Qualifying for the first race was held ‘Indianapolis style‘ over 15 days from Aug. 19th-Sept. 2nd. The five fastest cars each day qualified for the race. Curtis Turner was the fastest on the first day and won the pole. The fastest qualifier was Wally Campbell. Many competitors drove their race cars to the track.

— Seventy-five drivers started three-abreast in the first ever 500-mile stock car race which lasted six hours and 38 minutes. Crews underestimated how many tires the gritty surface would chew up and went through the infield buying spare tires from fans.

— The inaugural 500-miler was won by Indianapolis 500 driver Johnny Mantz, the slowest qualifier of the field, who chose much harder Indy-style tires. Mantz won $10,100 from the $25,000 purse. His average speed of 73 mph was faster than his qualifying speed.

— The last four Darlington races were won by different drivers.

— Erik Jones in 2019 is the only Darlington winner under the age of 30 in the last 14 races.

— Joey Logano passed William Byron with two laps to go at Darlington in May, the latest the pass for the win was made in the last 20 Darlington races.

Source: Racing Insights

LUCK BE THE LADY IN BLACK SUNDAY NIGHT

Kyle Larson is still searching for his first win at Darlington Raceway, but he enters the Southern 500 as the odds-on favorite at 6-1, according to BetMGM.

Larson hounded Denny Hamlin in the closing quarter lap in last year’s race but wound up finishing P2. In fact, Larson has finished second or third in five of his last seven Darlington starts. Perhaps this is the year he breaks through.

The obvious steal of the week, however, is Kevin Harvick. Harvick is a two-time Southern 500 champion and three-time winner at Darlington overall. The 2014 winner of the Cup title enters listed at 20-1 odds but holds a streak of 13 straight top-nine finishes.

MORE: Complete list of odds for Sunday

FANTASY LIVE

Want to manage a team and race your way to the top of the leaderboards? Check out NASCAR Fantasy Live, which resets for the playoffs. The free-to-play game lets you choose your drivers each week and show off your crew-chief instincts by garaging a driver by the end of Stage 2, and there is a $10,000 prize for the playoff winner.

The 2022 Fantasy Live points leaders are Chase Elliott (933), Joey Logano (802), Martin Truex Jr. (793) and Ryan Blaney (793).

In addition to Fantasy Live, NASCAR.com is offering the Playoffs Grid Challenge presented by Ruoff Mortgage during the playoffs.

How to play: Fantasy Live | Set up a team today!

ALSO ON NASCAR.COM

Get additional camera views by logging on to NASCAR Drive, where each week a select number of in-car cameras will be available — as well as a battle cam and an overhead look.

NASCAR has partnered with LiveLike to add fan engagement in the NASCAR Mobile App. Log in to the mobile app during the race for polls, quizzes, the cheer meter and more — and see instant results from NASCAR fans like you.