The Post Race Inspection - 2025 Goodyear 400 at Darlington

Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

By Adam Carabine & Logan Morris

Logan Morris: Hey Adam, after a wild ending to Throwback Weekend, Denny Hamlin came from what felt like nowhere and doubled up. It’s his first time going back-to-back since 2012. I think Ryan Blaney had it in the bag, but the Bubba Wallace/Kyle Larson incident made that moot. What were some of your thoughts?

Adam Carabine: Hello to you as well, Logan!  We had what looked to be a bit of a snoozer on our hands, but you’re right in saying the ending was wild.  William Byron nearly accomplished the NASCAR equivalent of the Perfect Game, and then Tyler Reddick looked like he might have it, followed by Ryan Blaney taking over the lead and surely heading to victory.  How did we wind up here!

While there’s something to be said about the impressive run that Byron was on, I’m glad that Darlington gave us a little more drama in the last quarter of the race.  Certainly credit is due to Denny Hamlin’s pit crew, who got him into position to challenge for the win in the Overtime.  Anything stand out to you?

LM: Clean air was king in a major way! Yes, it always is. However, something was different this week. The leads that Byron, Reddick, and finally Hamlin were able to get out made it look as though they were capable of lapping the field. Again, I know track position in this era means more than ever but Holy Moses, it’s like the rest of the field was tied to a boat anchor.

AC: I’m pretty sure Blaney passing Reddick was the only green-flag pass for the lead.  And at that point, Blaney’s car was just so much better than anyone else’s, it was inevitable.  Do you think that’s a problem with this car or current package? Is there a NASCAR problem right now with not being able to overtake the leader?

LM: I never want to make too much of one race. If this is something we see again during the Southern 500 then maybe it’s something we should take a look at. But, as you know, sometimes it’s just the right weekend for dominance. I know we’re all in the business of overreacting these days but, it’s one race. Let’s give it at least one more before we bust out the pitchforks. However, if this were to get NASCAR to add more horsepower it would be a positive.  

AC: You’re right that this is just one race, but it’s certainly not the first time we’ve heard about how difficult it is to pass for the lead in this car.  Darlington just proved to be the most glaring example of it we’ve seen so far.  I’m all for NASCAR looking at things and adjusting, and I’ve always been on board with more horsepower.  Whether this one race tips the scales, it’s hard to know. 

IndyCar has the push-to-pass system, Formula One has DRS - there are many different options out there, but I’m not sure if NASCAR brass (or the fans, for that matter) are ready to embrace something like that just yet.  Part of the design of this next-gen car is to keep everyone closer together and increase parity.  Unfortunately, that came at the cost of easy green flag passes, at least for now.  

I want to circle back to what you said at the beginning about the Kyle Larson/Bubba Wallace incident.  Who do you blame for the incident?

LM: I don’t blame either party, overall. But if I lean toward placing blame, it would be with Larson. The reality is they were somewhere in the ballpark of 160 laps down. Their goal is to ride and hope for incidents at that point. Take it easy and just get some notes for the notebook.  

AC: I think there is a subsect of NASCAR fans that are quick to jump on Bubba Wallace for anything, but I don’t think he did anything wrong here.  Larson came right out of the gas and it caught Wallace off guard - Larson just happened to be in a bad spot when it happened, and it was deja vu as he spun in exactly the same spot that put him 160 laps down in the first place.  

I know we had a chat last week in this spot about who we should be worried about.  I mentioned Brad Keselowski, and unfortunately he followed up with a P33 finish at Darlington this past weekend.  What is going on with the 6 team? Especially since Buescher is putting up solid numbers.

LM: I don’t want to push the panic button on the 6 team just yet. However, without question, their start is concerning. Could it just be taking time to find their footing? Absolutely that’s possible.  But, if this continues as we head toward summer, the whispers about what Brad Keselowski has left in the tank will crop up and become a topic on social media, if nothing else.

AC: I mean, it’s been eight races now.  And it’s not like Brad is a rookie.  Find his footing? He might need to find his feet first.  I’m not sure what’s going on there, but it’s a bad start.  Of course, under the win-and-you’re-in format, a win can undo any of this in the blink of an eye.  But in previous years, a win might not have even been enough for him.  He’s outside of the Top 30 in points right now, and it used to be win-and-you’re-in-as-long-as-you’re-in-the-Top-30.  Didn’t quite have the same ring to it back then, though.

Did you have anyone else you are keeping an eye on?

LM: I know Chase Elliott keeps finding a way to have respectable finishes. But, something seems a little off at the 9 team compared to his teammates. He’s fighting proverbial wars to squeak into the top ten.

AC: It might have been that god-awful paint scheme. I know I moaned about it last week so I’ll keep that to a minimum!  

Let’s move on and get to our weekly awards!

Best Performer

LM: I know he didn’t win the race, but William Byron was the best performer on Sunday, no question. He put on a clinic. 

AC: You’re not wrong.  I do wonder, though - did the idea of the ‘Perfect Race’ get in their heads a bit? Staying out during that first green flag pit cycle paid off for him, as a caution came out and he was able to stay in the lead.  But I felt like they botched the call the next time around, and should have been more reactive.  I worry that they were more concerned with giving up the lead than with actually winning the race.

My best performer might have been Byron if not for that call, so I’m going to go with Ryan Blaney.  I’m not at all surprised that NASCAR took that car to R&D for a full teardown.  There was some magic in that there engine!

Biggest Move of the Race

LM: My biggest move of the race goes to Denny Hamlin’s pit crew. During the money stop they earned every cent. The stop got Denny that clean air and it was a fight for second at that point. 

AC: Solid choice, and it’s hard to argue against it.  I’m going to say something different just to keep it fresh.  Earlier on in the race, Christopher Bell was nearly getting lapped by William Byron.  Bell fought really hard to stay on the lead lap, and while it probably annoyed the heck out of Byron, it saved Bell from being mired in the back for the rest of the day.  He rallied back to a P3 finish, and had he been lapped there his day may have been as good as done.

Biggest Disappointment

LM: My biggest disappointment goes to Josh Berry this week. He had one of the great schemes of the weekend for my money. On a day when NASCAR celebrated and paid tribute to 75 years of Wood Brothers Racing, he had that incident that ruined his day. I’m sure he was feeling some pressure as anyone would be. It’s disappointing he couldn’t have a better day nonetheless. 

AC: I’m going to go with Alex Bowman.  He tagged the wall, had some toe link damage, and wound up finishing 17 laps down.  Maybe I missed it on my TV broadcast, but did you see any mention of this during the race?  Not only am I disappointed for Bowman, who I think has had a pretty solid year so far, but that feels like a big miss on the TV side of things.

What to Watch for Next Weekend

LM: Next week we’re onto the Last Great Coliseum. Don’t look now, but Denny Hamlin is strong there too. Could we have a second three-peat during this still fairly young season? That’s wild to think about. Short tracks with this package give a lot of us anxiety. What do you have your eyes on for next week?

AC: Denny is certainly a contender at Bristol, and not only would it be the second three-peat of the season, but both of them would come from Joe Gibbs Racing.  Craziness.  I wouldn’t count out a strong performance from Kyle Busch, though, as he’s the winningest (current) driver there with 9.  

Also something to keep an eye on - last year’s spring Bristol race was the one with the absolutely insane tire degradation.  We had tires blowing up here, there and everywhere. I know things were settled down at the Night Race in the fall, but this will be a daytime race, and similar temperatures to last year’s race.  Could we see some more tire issues again?  

Regardless, I’m excited.  I do enjoy Bristol quite a bit!  See you next week, Logan!

LM: It’s Bristol, Baby!