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NASCAR Darlington 2026: Top 20 Driver Rankings for the Goodyear 400

Tire wear, track history, and 2026 momentum all factored in as we rank the top 20 drivers heading into NASCAR Throwback Weekend

Hey everyone, welcome back to Driving on Marbles! We’ve got a really fun race week ahead of us because the NASCAR Cup Series is heading to one of my absolute favorite stops on the entire schedule. Darlington Raceway is calling and I couldn’t be more excited about it.

If you’ve never watched a race at Darlington before, let me tell you, you’re in for a treat this Sunday. They don’t call it the Track Too Tough to Tame for nothing. The Lady in Black is a 1.366-mile egg-shaped oval that’s been humbling NASCAR’s best drivers since 1952, and she hasn’t gotten any easier with age. The racing groove is narrow, the walls are close, and if you push too hard for too long, the track will find a way to remind you who’s in charge. Tire management is everything here. Experience matters more at Darlington than almost anywhere else on the schedule, and Sunday’s race has all the ingredients to be an absolute barnburner.

Both Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe have already been talking about how severe the tire fall-off is expected to be this weekend, and if those two are excited about it, you know we’re in for something special. Sunday’s race runs 293 laps across three stages, with that final 137-lap stage being where races at Darlington are truly won and lost.

Green flag drops at 3:00 PM ET this Sunday March 22. Here’s my full top 20 breakdown heading into race weekend, based on the current NASCAR Cup Series standings.

Let’s get into it!

Pennzoil 400 Recap 2026: Hamlin Wins at Las Vegas, Bell Poles, and How My Picks Did

Well, what a Sunday afternoon in the Nevada desert. The Pennzoil 400 delivered exactly what Las Vegas Motor Speedway usually delivers, a fast, clean race with long green flag runs, a dramatic final stage, and a JGR Toyota in victory lane. Denny Hamlin overcame a pit road speeding penalty, drove from 21st back to the front, and held off a hard-charging Chase Elliott to win his 61st career Cup Series race. It was exactly the kind of motivated, gutsy performance I talked about when I put him on this week’s card, and I will get into all of that below.

Before we get into the pick-by-pick breakdown, let me walk you through how this race actually unfolded because the story of Hamlin overcoming that penalty and still winning the thing is genuinely one of the best performances of the early 2026 season.

NASCAR Las Vegas 2026: My Picks, Best Bets & Pool Lineup for the Pennzoil 400

Alright everyone, welcome back to Driving on Marbles. We are staying out west this weekend and heading to Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube, and after what happened last Sunday at Phoenix, I am feeling very locked in for this one.

Last week was one of our best weeks of the season. Ryan Blaney delivered as our Lock of the Week in the biggest possible way, winning the whole thing. Christopher Bell was the class of the field for most of the afternoon, leading 176 laps and winning Stage 2, only to come up just short at the end. Kyle Larson came home third. Denny Hamlin fifth. William Byron seventh. Five of six pool picks finished inside the top 10 and the only blemish was Chase Briscoe’s tire failure DNF, which was pure bad luck and nothing more. We are riding that momentum straight into Sin City.

Las Vegas Motor Speedway is a 1.5-mile tri-oval with 20-degree banking in the turns, making it the first true intermediate oval of the 2026 season. This is the track type that makes up the biggest chunk of the NASCAR schedule and Sunday’s race is going to tell us a lot about who the real championship contenders are. Speed, aero management, tire conservation, pit strategy. All of it matters across 267 laps here.

Let me walk you through exactly who I am riding with this weekend.

This Week’s Top 20 Rundown: Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Alright folks, welcome back to Driving on Marbles. We are staying on the West Coast this weekend as the NASCAR Cup Series rolls into North Las Vegas for the Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and I could not be more fired up about this one.

After a week at Phoenix where we got short track drama, tire failures, and a green-white-checkered finish, we shift to a completely different animal this Sunday. Las Vegas Motor Speedway is a 1.5-mile tri-oval with 20-degree banking in the turns, which makes it one of the most aero-dependent intermediate tracks on the calendar. This is where Hendrick Motorsports and Team Penske traditionally flex their muscles, horsepower matters, and clean track position is everything. The racing here is fast, the strategy battles are intense, and the final 100 laps almost always produce a shootout.

Let’s get into this week’s Top 20 Rundown.

Straight Talk Wireless 500 Recap 2026: Blaney Wins, Bell Dominates & My Picks Delivered at Phoenix

Well race fans, what a Sunday at Phoenix Raceway. The Straight Talk Wireless 500 had everything you could ask for. Lead changes all afternoon, multiple caution periods, a green-white-checkered finish, and a result that honestly had me pumping my fist for most of the second half of this race.

I am going to break down the race, walk through what happened, and most importantly let’s talk about how the picks did because I need you all to know this was one of the best collective weeks I have had putting a card together in a very long time. Let’s get into it.