NASCAR Cup Series: 2018 Bojangles’ Southern 500 entry list

The 25th race on the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. Here is the entry list for that race.

With 24 of the 36 races on the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series schedule having been completed, just two races remain in the regular season before the 10-race playoffs begin. The first of those two races is the Bojangles’ Southern 500.

The Bojangles’ Southern 500 is scheduled to take place this Sunday, September 2. The race is set to be a 367-lap race around the four-turn, 1.366-mile (2.198-kilometer) Darlington Raceway, also known as the “Lady in Black” and “The Track Too Tough to Tame”, in Darlington, South Carolina.

Entering the race, a total of 12 of the 16 Cup Series playoff berths have been secured. Nine drivers have done so as a result of the fact that they have won at least one race so far this year, and three drivers have done so as a result of their point totals. Four playoff berths will be up for grabs over the course of the regular season’s final two races.

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A total of 41 cars with 40 confirmed drivers are on the entry list for the Bojangles’ Southern 500, meaning the race will feature a full field of 40 drivers. Only seven races so far this season have featured full fields of 40 drivers.

Those seven races were the first races at Daytona International Speedway, Talladega Superspeedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway as well as the second races at Daytona International Speedway, Pocono Raceway, Michigan International Speedway and Bristol Motor Speedway.

Four of those seven races have taken place in the last seven-race span and three of them have taken place in the last four-race span. In fact, this Sunday evening’s race is set be the third Cup Series race in a row with a full field of 40 drivers.

Prior to the most recent race two weeks ago at Bristol Motor Speedway, the 2018 season had not featured consecutive races with full fields of 40 drivers. The fact that this weekend’s race is set to be the third consecutive race with a full field of 40 drivers bodes well for the future of the Cup Series and should certainly build momentum for it as the playoffs quickly approach.

So far this season, a total of 30 drivers have driven in each of the 24 Cup Series races that have been contested, and all 30 of those drivers are set to compete in the Bojangles’ Southern 500.

In addition to those 30 full-time drivers, 11 part-time drivers are set to attempt to qualify for the race, although it is not yet known who one of them will be. All 10 of the confirmed part-time drivers who are set to attempt to qualify for the race have driven in at least one Cup Series race so far in 2018.

Here is a list of the 10 part-time drivers who are set to attempt to qualify for the Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway this Sunday, September 2.

NOTE: The one part-time car without a confirmed driver for the race are also featured on this list.

NBC Sports Network is set to broadcast the 2018 Bojangles’ Southern 500 live beginning at 6:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, September 2, so be sure to tune in so you do not miss any of the action from Darlington Raceway in what is always an exciting race.