While Darlington is no stranger to most of the drivers who will compete this weekend at the 1.366-mile track sometimes known as the “Lady in Black,” Sunday will be the first time that Cup Series drivers compete at Darlington with the Next Generation Cup Series car that officially debuted in this season’s Daytona 500 and that drivers have raced in every event since. Given that Darlington is already widely considered the toughest track to navigate on the entire Cup schedule, throwing a new car into the mix will only make things all the more difficult for drivers and teams.
“I think Darlington is always a challenge,” Roush Fenway Racing driver Chris Buescher said. “More of the unknown of that racetrack might be the durability of the cars. We have seen it be pretty high, and you are not worried about a metal body cutting down tires if you do get into the fence. Something we have seen be very forgiving in the Xfinity Series. That is something to maybe think about for this Next Generation car. We have had some weak links that were exposed early that have been addressed and beefed up, and I think that is going to maybe change the way we look at how aggressive we are running the outside line that can create so much speed at Darlington. A little unknown there and a lot of questions yet.”
Questions that will be answered in short order, though, when the green flag waves on Sunday’s race at the track “Too Tough to Tame.”