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Of all the adjectives to call a woman in the vernacular, there is a certain special quality in when a gentleman calls her a lady. It implies not just a sense of propriety, elegance, and beauty -- hearkening back to classic courtship in the process -- but it also can carry a certain elusiveness, mystery, and all else which enthralls a man with an especially beautiful woman. Hence why the oldest speedway in NASCAR is referred to as "The Lady in Black" -- an especially alluring and challenging femme fatale for a stock car racer to try and charm.

Just as generations of drivers have tried to do from 1950 onward, the stars of today's NASCAR Cup Series will try and tame The Lady in Black in this weekend's Goodyear 400 at the one and only Darlington Raceway. As this track more than any other signifies tradition in stock car racing, Darlington's spring date serves as NASCAR's annual throwback weekend, with many in the Cup Series field paying homage to the stars of the past and their own grassroots racing histories with a new wave of throwback paint schemes.

This year's celebration of NASCAR's history intersects directly with a new page in the sport's history being written a mere week ago. Darlington directly follows the closest finish in NASCAR Cup Series history last week at Kansas, in which Kyle Larson beat Chris Buescher to the finish line by a mere 0.001 -- a margin that sets a new narrowest difference between victory and defeat, and bests the one that had been set at Darlington more than 20 years ago.

How to Watch the NASCAR Cup Series at Darlington

Date: Sunday, May 12
Location: Darlington Raceway -- Darlington, S.C.
Time: 3 p.m. ET
TV: FS1
Stream: fubo (try for free)

What to watch

A big part of what makes Darlington what it is, and one of NASCAR's most cherished racetracks, is that it habitually lends itself to close finishes. Multiple Darlington races over the last several years have been decided by mere carlengths, and no one -- even with last week's closest finish in Cup history at Kansas -- will ever be able to forget the race between Ricky Craven and Kurt Busch here in 2003, which ended in Craven beating Busch by 0.002 and setting a record for the closest finish in history that lasted 21 years.

Darlington's history of thrilling finishes is especially relevant given that the first 12 races of the 2024 season have produced two of the top five closest finishes ever, which have put the technology of NASCAR's photo finish camera system in focus. As explained by NASCAR.com, the sanctioning body currently uses a line-scan photo-finish camera and software system called FinishLynx, which produces thousands of vertical timestamped image slices upon the first sign of motion at the finish line focus point. 

The camera's line serves as the final judge in photo finishes, as it eliminates the influence of imperfections in the on-track line painting -- which briefly became an issue when some pointed out that there appeared to be less paint on the line at the apron of Kansas (where Buescher was running) compared to the banking where Larson was running. The painted line is not laser-measured by the grounds crew, and can also be altered by written fan messages and wear-and-tear from tire rubber.

Considering that three races across NASCAR's three national series have featured margins of victory of 0.003 or less -- Sam Mayer beat Ryan Sieg by just 0.002 a few weeks ago at Texas -- the photo finish system has received quite a workout already this season. And if Darlington holds true to its reputation, it may very well receive even more work this weekend.

News of the week

  • This week saw Silly Season kick off well ahead of the 2025 season, as Michael McDowell announced he will leave Front Row Motorsports at the end of 2024 and move to Spire Motorsports to become the new driver of the No. 71 Chevrolet starting next year. The 2021 Daytona 500 champion will take the place of Zane Smith, who is currently on loan to Spire from Trackhouse Racing, while the Front Row No. 34 instantly becomes the most high-profile open seat available for next year.
  • McDowell's move from Front Row to Spire may not even be the biggest move of consequence for 2025, let alone the biggest in the Ford camp. The future of Stewart-Haas Racing is a subject of enormous uncertainty, and rumors of the team's downsizing or outright demise continue to spread.

    According to Bob Pockrass of Fox Sports, SHR -- which has not renewed its existing deal with Ford -- is "at least listening" to offers for the charters it currently holds, and has sent information to prospective buyers on what it would take to purchase a charter. Matt Weaver of Sportsnaut, meanwhile, reports that SHR's "entire building and operation" is said to be on the market as well.

    Among the reported teams looking to acquire charters to expand include Trackhouse Racing, 23XI Racing, Front Row Motorsports and Legacy Motor Club.
  • As the automotive industry continues to pursue hybrid technologies, Sports Business Journal reports that prospective new OEMs have told NASCAR that they will only join the sport if it can "offer a compelling narrative for consumers with hybrid cars or sustainable fuels." Presently, NASCAR uses fairly dated engine technology, as the eight-cylinder internal combustion gas engine lacks compatibility with engines now being used in newer street cars.

    As of now, NASCAR reportedly remains in discussions with Honda to try and persuade the Japanese automaker to join the sport alongside Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota.
  • NASCAR has revealed the current top 10 vote-getters for the All-Star Race Fan Vote, a little more than a week out from All-Star Race weekend at North Wilkesboro. The current top 10 in alphabetical order are Josh Berry, Alex Bowman, Chase Briscoe, Ty Gibbs, Noah Gragson, Justin Haley, Carson Hocevar, Erik Jones, Corey LaJoie and Bubba Wallace.

Pick to win

Kyle Larson (+400): Kyle Larson finally charmed The Lady in Black when he won last year's Southern 500 for his first victory at Darlington, and his breakthrough at the speedway was a long time coming. Larson had contended for plenty of Darlington wins through the years, including some dominant performances -- 284 laps led in the 2018 Southern 500 comes to mind -- but he had either run second or had something happen to take him out of contention. That includes this race last year, where he and Ross Chastain collided with each other while racing for the win on a late restart.

Mix Larson's Darlington experience -- one win, six top fives, eight top 10s and 770 laps led in 12 starts -- with the high of winning in the closest finish in NASCAR Cup Series history last week, and sprinkle in a dash of buildup for his much ballyhooed attempt at the Indy/Charlotte Double later this month, and there's no reason to pick against Larson this weekend.