Much like the 1984 hit song “Sunglasses at Night” by Canadian singer Corey Hart, Denny Hamlin will have his sunglasses on to start Sunday’s Cook-Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.
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Vision is going to be just as important as tire wear and fuel mileage will be for drivers as they travel around Darlington’s unique 1.366-mile egg-shaped oval.
As late afternoon sunlight quickly transitions into dusk and then into darkness, drivers are going to have to be more alert than ever, as the track under fleeting sunshine can turn significantly different under the lights and as the clock and laps tick down.
Two other factors will be on the minds of drivers, crew chiefs and pit crews: weather and tire wear. The track should start under clear skies with a high mid-afternoon temperature forecast to be 85 degrees.
By the time the race begins at 6 pm ET, those temps will likely have dropped into the 70s and eventually will continue dipping downward to 58 degrees by the time the checkered flag falls, according to the National Weather Service.
The key to success at Darlington is adapting to the climate and atmospheric changes. Hamlin has that one nailed in a big way. He has been one of the Lady in Black’s favorites.
In 26 career Cup starts there she’s allowed him to win five times, along with having 14 top-fives and 19 top-10 finishes. That includes a win earlier this year in the spring race for the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing driver at the “track too tough to tame.”
Can Hamlin make it two in a row at Darlington?
Hamlin will be looking for his sixth career win at Darlington on Sunday, where he will start from the pole. While adjusting to the change from sunlight to dark is significant, tire wear is also going to be front of mind for Hamlin due to Darlington’s abrasive racing surface.
“This track definitely goes through changes when rubber is on it versus not,” Hamlin said after Saturday’s qualifying session.
“Even the advantage that you have going out later in qualifying versus early is a big, big difference, and then at the start of this race, there will be some sort of sunlight and then we are going to go into full night to build some adaptability in your car.
“We always plan for the end of the race and we figure out how to make it work at the very beginning, so certainly, when you start up front like we are, that is going to help us band-aid the car for a little while until (the track) comes in.”
Hamlin pointed to William Byron qualifying on the pole in the spring race and leading 243 of the total 297 laps before finishing second. This was a motivational factor for Hamlin to grab the pole during Saturday’s qualifying.
“We saw in the Spring the #24 (Byron) was hard to pass until he got in traffic and that is when it changed,” Hamlin said. “Luckily, we have that type of an advantage at the race.
“It could end on Lap 1, and we could be second, but you just never know. I feel like it gives you the advantage to set the pace and then once you get the lapped cars, hopefully, you have something left.”
