The NASCAR Cup Series regular season ends Sunday with the Cook Out Southern 500 at the Darlington Raceway.
There will be two battles of note in the regular season standings that we will keep tabs on during Sunday’s race. First, three playoff spots are available with five drivers still in range to earn a wild-card berth. Martin Truex Jr. is the most comfortable of the five drivers in the standings, but a new winner from outside the top 18 in points could flip the playoff picture once more. Bubba Wallace, 21 points out of the final wild-card spot, is on the pole on Sunday.
Atop the standings, Tyler Reddick holds a 17-point lead over Kyle Larson and 18 over Chase Elliott for the regular-season points title. The regular season champion earns 15 playoff points that carry over through each round of the playoffs, a crucial amount in a pretty level championship battle to this point.
Follow along with our live race updates, with green flag set for after 5 p.m. CT at Darlington.
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NASCAR Cup Series race at Darlington: Live updates, highlights, live leaderboard for the Southern 500
LIVE LEADERBOARD:Â Full field leaderboard of NASCAR Cup Series Southern 500 at Darlington
Bubba Wallace on the pole; full NASCAR Cup Series Southern 500 in Darlington starting lineup
Bubba Wallace is on the pole after winning the session on Saturday, an important first step toward a much-needed good weekend.
The top 10:
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Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota
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Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
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Chase Briscoe, No. 14Â Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
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Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
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Martin Truex Jr., No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
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Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota
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Ryan Blaney, No. 12Â Team Penske Ford
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William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
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Christopher Bell, No. 20Â Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
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Chris Buescher, No. 17 Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Ford
Find the full starting lineup here.
NASCAR race radio coverage: How to listen to NASCAR Cup race at Darlington
The Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway will be aired on the radio by the Motor Racing Network. MRN has affiliates all across the country, and their feed can also be streamed on NASCAR.com as well as the NASCAR app. The race can also be heard on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.
NASCAR Cup Series Darlington race TV schedule, start time
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Green Flag Time:Â Â Approx. 5 p.m. CT on Sunday, September 1
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TV coverage:Â USA Network (Watch FREE on Fubo)
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Radio:Â Motor Racing Network (102.5 FM in Nashville)
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Streaming:Â FUBOÂ (free trial available); NBC Sports app (subscription required); NASCAR.com and SiriusXM for audio (subscription required).
The Southern 500 will be broadcast nationally on USA Network. Streaming options for the race include the NBC Sports app and FUBO, which offers a free trial to potential subscribers.
Recent NASCAR Cup Series winners at Darlington
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2024 spring: Brad Keselwoski
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2023 Southern 500:Â Kyle Larson
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2023 spring:Â William Byron
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2022 Southern 500:Â Erik Jones
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2022 spring:Â Joey Logano
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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: NASCAR Cup Series race at Darlington: Live updates, highlights, leaderboard
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