NASCAR has changed the scheduled start time for Wednesday’s Toyota 500 at Darlington Raceway to 6 p.m. ET because of inclement weather in the Wendesday night forecast for the Darlington, S.C., weather. The race, originally scheduled for an approximate 8 p.m. start, still is expected to be shown live on FOX Sports 1.
When the race takes the green flag, it will do so with Ryan Preece and Ty Dillon on the front row. The starting lineup was determined by the finishing order of Sunday’s The Real Heroes 400, also at Darlington. Preece finished that race in 20th, and Dillon was 19th. The top-20 finishers in Sunday’s race will start Wednesday’s race in the top-20 but in reverse order, while the 21st through 40th-place finishers in Sunday’s race will start Wednesday’s race in the positions in which they finished Sunday.
If inclement weather interrupts the Toyota 500, NASCAR has the option of calling it an official race upon the completion of lap 114, the halfway point of the race. NASCAR rules allow for calling races official at the halfway point of the race or the end of the second stage, whichever comes first in a particular race. The second stage is scheduled to conclude on lap 125 of the 228-lap race.
Wednesday’s race will be the second Cup Series race since NASCAR returned to action after a 10-week hiatus because of the coronavirus pandemic. The first race since the resumption of action, Sunday’s race at Darlington, was won by Kevin Harvick. With the win, he became the fourth race winner of the season. The series ran four races before the break. Those races were won by Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano [2], and Alex Bowman.
