Information By: HEATHER GRIFFIN / RICK WARE RACING – DARLINGTON, SC
RICK WARE RACING
Goodyear 400
Date: May 12, 2024
Event: Goodyear 400 (Round 13 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Cup Series
Location: Darlington (S.C.) Raceway (1.366-mile oval)
Format: 293 laps, broken into three stages (90 laps/95 laps/108 laps)
Race Winner: Brad Keselowski of RFK Racing (Ford)
Stage 1 Winner: Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 2 Winner: Tyler Reddick of 23XI Racing (Toyota)
RWR Race Finish:
● Justin Haley (Started 28th, Finished 9th/ Running, completed 293 of 293 laps)
● Kaz Grala (Started 34th, Finished 18th/ Running, completed 293 of 293 laps)
RWR Points:
● Justin Haley (32nd with 162 points)
● Kaz Grala (34th with 119 points)
Haley Notes:
● Haley earned his first top-10 of the season and his second top-five in seven career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Darlington.
● This was Haley’s best finish so far this year. His previous best was 17th, earned March 17 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.
● This was Haley’s third consecutive top-10 in the May race at Darlington. He finished eighth last May and third in May 2022.
● Haley’s ninth-place finish was the best result for RWR on a non-superspeedway-type track and a new best finish for the team at Darlington.
Grala Notes:
● Grala earned his third top-20 of the season in his first NASCAR Cup Series start at Darlington.
● Grala’s 18th-place finish also surpassed the previous best result for the RWR at Darlington, a 19th-place finish earned by Cody Ware in May 2022.
Race Notes:
● Brad Keselowski won the Goodyear 400 to score his 36th career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his first of the season and his second at Darlington. His margin of victory over second-place Ty Gibbs was 1.214 seconds.
● Keselowski’s victory was the first by a NASCAR Cup Series driver/owner since Tony Stewart won at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway on June 26, 2016.
● This was Ford’s 729th all-time NASCAR Cup Series victory and its first of the season.
● This was Ford’s 33rd all-time NASCAR Cup Series victory at Darlington. Ford won its first race at the 1.366-mile oval on Sept. 3, 1956 with NASCAR Hall of Famer Curtis Turner.
● There were six caution periods for a total of 38 laps.
● Twenty-eight of the 36 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.
● Kyle Larson remains the championship leader after Darlington with a 30-point advantage over second-place Martin Truex Jr.
Sound Bites:
“We had a really good Rick Ware Racing No. 51 Ford Mustang Dark Horse today. From the moment we unloaded it was super into the track and fast. We kind of decided to go with the No. 6 team’s setup and in the end, he won and we had a great race. Overall good day, great execution on pit road and we cleaned up a lot of little things. It’s really cool to bring home a top-10 for Rick, everyone on the team, and all of the guests from NC Fraternal Order of Police and the families and friends of the fallen officers who we carried with us on the car today.” – Justin Haley, driver of the No. 51 NC Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 9 Ford Mustang Dark Horse
“Really good recovery today by our No. 15 group. We started the race a little behind but dialed in our handling by the third stage. RWR brought two excellent cars this weekend, and we both brought home great points. We’ll keep the momentum rolling into the next few races.” – Kaz Grala, driver of the No. 15 N29 Capital Partners Ford Mustang Dark Horse
Next Up:
The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the non-points NASCAR All-Star Race on Sunday, May 19 at North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway. The race starts at 8 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FS1 and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio beginning at 5:30 p.m. with the undercard NASCAR All-Star Open.