NASCAR: Several lineup changes since Sunday’s race

Not every driver who competed in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway is set to compete on Wednesday night at the track.

For the first time in 10 weeks, there was live NASCAR action this past Sunday, May 17 with a Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway, the The Real Heroes 400.

Now the Cup Series is set for its first Wednesday race since 1984 this evening at the same four-turn, 1.366-mile (2.198-kilometer) oval in Darlington, South Carolina.

This race, the 228-lap Toyota 500, is the second of four in an 11-day span. NASCAR hasn’t seen four Cup Series races in an 11-day span since 1971.

The starting lineup for this evening’s race was set based on the finishing order of Sunday’s 293-lap event. The top 20 drivers are set to start in the top 20, but in reverse order, so the 20th place finisher is set to start on the pole position while the winner is set to start in 20th.

Every driver who did not finish in the top 20 is set to start where he finished.

However, the drivers in the field for tonight’s race are not all the same as the drivers in the field for this past Sunday’s race.

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Sunday’s race featured the first full field of 40 drivers since the season-opening Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway back in mid-February while tonight’s race is set to feature only 39 drivers. Not all of those 39 drivers are the same as they were Sunday, either.

J.J. Yeley finished in 28th place driving the #27 Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet on Sunday. But he is set to be replaced by Gray Gaulding for tonight’s race. Yeley, however, is still set to compete this evening. Reed Sorenson, the lone part-time driver who didn’t miss any one of the season’s first five races, drove the #77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet to a 29th place finish on Sunday. Yeley is set to replace him.

Finally, Tommy Baldwin Racing competed in their first race since 2017 by fielding the #7 Chevrolet on Sunday. Josh Bilicki drove the car and finished in 34th place. However, neither the team nor Bilicki will be back for tonight’s event.

Gaulding is set to roll off in 28th place while Yeley is set to roll off in 29th, but they are set to take the green flag at the back of the field because of the driver changes that placed them in their respective cars for tonight’s race.

Tune in to Fox Sports 1 at 6:00 p.m. ET this evening for the live broadcast of the Toyota 500 from the track “Too Tough To Tame”, weather permitting.