Five races into the 2026 season, the field has already run almost the gamut, from superspeedways to a road course to intermediate tracks. Now, the sport will head to the Darlington Raceway, also known as “The Track Too Tough To Tame,” where drivers are set to earn their stripes the hard way.
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The shift to a short-track package will pose another big challenge, but the payoff will make it worth the trouble.
According to Bob Pockrass of Fox Sports, the purse for the Cup Series race stands at $11,233,037, up from last year’s $11,055,250 allocated to the throwback weekend. The O’Reilly Auto Parts Series event carries a purse of $1,653,590, inching past last season’s $1,651,939 figure.
Meanwhile, the Craftsman Truck Series returns to the track with $839,700 up for grabs after sitting out last year. The payouts include race winnings, contingency programs, and contributions toward points funds, keeping the stakes high across the board.
Purses for Darlington weekend, including all payouts, all positions, contingency awards, year-end points fund contribution, etc., and for Cup, all charter payouts:
Cup: $11,233,037
OReilly: $1,653,590
Truck: $839,700
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) March 18, 2026
Favorites for the weekend
When it comes to history at Darlington, Ford holds the edge in terms of qualifying with 45 poles. Chevrolet trails them at 23. In recent weeks, however, Toyota and Chevrolet have taken turns in Victory Lane. Hence, it should be another scrap among manufacturers.
Denny Hamlin, who heads into the weekend on the back of a win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway last weekend, will enter as the favorite.
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver leads all active drivers with five wins at Darlington and carries an average finish of 7.9 across 27 starts. Tyler Reddick will also have another chance. He has yet to crack the code at Darlington, but an average finish of 11.5 in 13 starts shows he knows how to keep himself in contention at a venue that punishes mistakes.
With rivals closing the gap in the standings, fans can expect him to push the issue as he looks to hold serve. Kyle Larson has made a habit of finding his way around Darlington, and if his run at Las Vegas, where he led 62 laps before finishing seventh, is anything to go by, he could be right back in the mix. When he finds a rhythm here, he tends to make it count.
Then there is Bubba Wallace, Reddick’s teammate, who has kept the wheels turning with steady runs this season. A sixth-place finish in last year’s Southern 500 showed he can handle what Darlington throws his way.
