A 31-race winless streak ended last week when Denny Hamlin claimed victory at Martinsville Speedway. Now NASCAR heads to Darlington Raceway, known as The Track Too Tough to Name and The Lady In Black. The challenging circuit will test NASCAR’s best as they look to reach Victory Lane in the 2025 Goodyear 400.
Will we see another new winner in 2025 or can one of our previous winners add to their total? Let’s dive in.
2025 Goodyear 400 Entry List
We have two open entries for this weekend. JJ Yeley makes another appearance in the #44 at Darlington while Xfinity Series regular Austin Hill makes his first Cup start of the season in the #33 for Richard Childress Racing.
Hill stole the win in the much-maligned Xfinity series race at Martinsville last week and has appeared in the Cup Series occasionally in previous seasons.
Sharp dressed for Darlington. pic.twitter.com/GVtK7E0QHk
— Team Penske (@Team_Penske) April 4, 2025
Darlington represents one of my favorite weekends on the Cup Series circuit. The track is incredibly unique, with an oblong shape owing to a minnow pond interfering with the original construction of the track.
NASCAR’s teams also run throwback paint schemes to honor the history of this track, with this weekend in particular showcasing some awesome designs. From Kyle Larson’s tribute to Terry Labonte’s old Kellogg’s #5 in the Cup Series to old-school schemes calling to mind other sponsors in the Xfinity Series – we get treated with some unique tributes to the sport.
Of course, the racing on track should be exciting as well.
2025 Goodyear 400 Race Predictions
Last year in this race, Brad Keselowski claimed victory after Chris Buescher and Tyler Reddick made contact in the closing stages allowing the #6 to sneak in and steal the win. With how well the RFK Racing cars ran here in 2024, I expect Buescher and Keselowski to be a threat once again. With Ryan Preece now in the fold at RFK, expect him to be a factor also.
Big moments live on at a place like @TooToughToTame. pic.twitter.com/Gii2WEacfh
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) April 5, 2025
In the fall race at Darlington in 2024, Chase Briscoe found a surprise win and punched his playoff ticket. Briscoe now drives for JGR and will likely factor into the weekend’s events as well.
However, for my race winner, I’m taking Tyler Reddick. The driver of the #45 was on track for the race win before the incident with Buescher in 2024 when he was passing the #17 for the lead. I think he finishes the story this Sunday at Darlington.
Check out the schedule below so you don’t miss any on-track action this weekend.
Saturday 04/05
NASCAR Xfinity Series Qualifying – 10:10 a.m. CT on the CW APP
NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying – 12:40 p.m. CT on Prime
Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help A Hero 200 (NASCAR Xfinity Series) – 2:30 p.m. CT on The CW
Sunday 04/06
Goodyear 400 (NASCAR Cup Series) – 2:00 p.m. CT on FOX and Max
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