After 13 years, NASCAR has finally returned to the "Chase" postseason format, and it all starts today with Darlington Raceway's Cook Out Southern 500.
The points have been reset ahead of the 10-race playoffs, and unlike under the old "win and in", knockout-style format, there are no playoff rounds and thus no more points resets from now until the end of the season.
23XI Racing's Tyler Reddick, who won at the four-turn, 1.366-mile (2.198-kilometer) egg-shaped Darlington, South Carolina oval back in March, took the pole position for Sunday's 367-lap crown jewel after Saturday's qualifying session was rained out.
Spire Motorsports' Daniel Suarez, another playoff driver, joined him on the front row, as the full 38-car starting lineup was determined by the qualifying metric.
Follow along with our Cook Out Southern 500 race updates from Darlington. The start time was notably bumped up due to the increased threat of inclement weather as the evening progresses.
NASCAR Cup Series at Darlington: Cook Out Southern 500 Stage 1 results
NASCAR Cup Series at Darlington: Cook Out Southern 500 Stage 2 results
NASCAR Cup Series at Darlington: Full Cook Out Southern 500 results
World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway is scheduled to host the second race of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs on Sunday, September 13, with live coverage of the Enjoy Illinois 300 set to begin on USA Network at 3:00 p.m. ET.
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