2020 Toyota 500 Explained

Type:	CUST
Description:	Race 6 of 36 in the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series
Race Name:	Toyota 500
Details Ref:	^[1] ^[2] ^[3] ^[4] ^[5] ^[6]
Year:	2020
Location:	Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina
Course Mi:	1.366
Course Km:	2.198
Distance Laps:	208
Distance Mi:	284.128
Distance Km:	457.162
Scheduled Laps:	228
Scheduled Mi:	311.448
Scheduled Km:	501.12
Avg:	104.984mph
Pole Driver:	Ryan Preece
Pole Team:	JTG Daugherty Racing
Grid From Inversion:	yes
Most Driver:	Clint Bowyer
Most Team:	Stewart-Haas Racing
Most Laps:	71
Car:	11
First Driver:	Denny Hamlin
First Team:	Joe Gibbs Racing
Network:	FS1
Announcers:	Mike Joy and Jeff Gordon
Ratings:	2.087 million^[7]
Radio:	MRN
Booth Ann:	Alex Hayden and Dave Moody
Turn Ann:	Dillon Welch (1 & 2) and Steve Post (3 & 4)

The 2020 Toyota 500 was a NASCAR Cup Series race held on May 20, 2020, at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina, replacing Richmond Raceway's Toyota Owners 400.^[8] Contested over 208 laps—shortened from 228 laps due to rain, on the 1.366miles egg-shaped oval, it was the sixth race of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season and the 57th edition of the event.

There were three stages: first two were 75 laps each & the final was originally scheduled 78 laps, but reduced to 58 laps by weather.

Report

Background

The event was the second NASCAR Cup Series race held following a hiatus brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, after the formal resumption of the season with The Real Heroes 400 three days earlier, also at Darlington.^{[9] [10] [11]} The race marked the first Cup Series event to be held on a Wednesday since the 1984 Firecracker 400 at Daytona (until 1987, the Firecracker 400 was always held on July 4, regardless of day) — a race also noted for hosting Richard Petty's 200th and final Cup Series victory. It was the 57th edition of the event, dating to the 1950 Southern 500 (races billed as the Southern 500 from 2005 to 2020 ware lineally related the 1957 Rebel 300; for the 2021 season, with two race meetings scheduled, Darlington swapped the lineage of both races). It was the first scheduled Cup Series Darlington race with scheduled 300 mile (or 500 km distance, which is similar) distance since 1963, when the Rebel 300 was run in two 150-mile heat races.^[12]

Entry list

• (R) denotes rookie driver.
• (i) denotes driver who are ineligible for series driver points.

	Driver	Team	Manufacturer
00	Quin Houff (R)		Chevrolet
1			Chevrolet
2			Ford
3			Chevrolet
4			Ford
6			Ford
8	Tyler Reddick (R)		Chevrolet
9			Chevrolet
10			Ford
11			Toyota
12			Ford
13			Chevrolet
14			Ford
15	Brennan Poole (R)		Chevrolet
17			Ford
18			Toyota
19			Toyota
20			Toyota
21			Ford
22			Ford
24			Chevrolet
27			Ford
32			Ford
34			Ford
37			Chevrolet
38	John Hunter Nemechek (R)		Ford
41	Cole Custer (R)		Ford
42			Chevrolet
43			Chevrolet
47			Chevrolet
48			Chevrolet
51	Joey Gase (i)		Ford
53			Chevrolet
66	Timmy Hill (i)		Toyota
77	J. J. Yeley (i)		Chevrolet
78	B. J. McLeod (i)		Chevrolet
88			Chevrolet
95	Christopher Bell (R)		Toyota
96			Toyota
Official entry list

Qualifying

Under modified operational procedures, no qualifying sessions were held for this race. The starting order was determined by the results of The Real Heroes 400, but with the order of the top 20 inverted.

Starting Lineup

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer
1	37			Chevrolet
2	13			Chevrolet
3	22			Ford
4	14			Ford
5	12			Ford
6	6			Ford
7	21			Ford
8	2			Ford
9	10			Ford
10	3			Chevrolet
11	42			Chevrolet
12	38	John Hunter Nemechek (R)		Ford
13	20			Toyota
14	8	Tyler Reddick (R)		Chevrolet
15	19			Toyota
16	11			Toyota
17	9			Chevrolet
18	1			Chevrolet
19	88			Chevrolet
20	4			Ford
21	43			Chevrolet
22	41	Cole Custer (R)		Ford
23	34			Ford
24	95	Christopher Bell (R)		Toyota
25	96			Toyota
26	18			Toyota
27	15	Brennan Poole (R)		Chevrolet
28	27			Ford
29	77	J. J. Yeley (i)		Chevrolet
30	51	Joey Gase (i)		Ford
31	32			Ford
32	17			Ford
33	66	Timmy Hill (i)		Toyota
34	24			Chevrolet
35	00	Quin Houff (R)		Chevrolet
36	53			Chevrolet
37	48			Chevrolet
38	78	B. J. McLeod (i)		Chevrolet
39	47			Chevrolet
Official starting lineup

Race

Stage Results

Stage OneLaps: 60

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Points
1	14	Clint Bowyer	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	10
2	19	Martin Truex Jr.	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	9
3	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	8
4	88	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	7
5	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	6
6	10	Aric Almirola	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	5
7	9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	4
8	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	3
9	42	Matt Kenseth	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	2
10	37	Ryan Preece	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	1
Official stage one results

Stage TwoLaps: 65

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Points
1	14	Clint Bowyer	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	10
2	9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	9
3	19	Martin Truex Jr.	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	8
4	20	Erik Jones	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	7
5	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	6
6	24	William Byron	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	5
7	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	4
8	88	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	3
9	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	2
10	21	Matt DiBenedetto	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	1
Official stage two results

Final Stage Results

Final StageLaps: 83

Pos	Grid		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Laps	Points
1	16	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	208	47
2	26	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	208	35
3	20	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	208	40
4	8	2	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske	Ford	208	33
5	13	20	Erik Jones	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	208	39
6	3	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	208	39
7	9	10	Aric Almirola	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	208	35
8	37	48	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	208	29
9	7	21	Matt DiBenedetto	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	208	29
10	15	19	Martin Truex Jr.	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	208	44
11	24	95	Christopher Bell (R)	Leavine Family Racing	Toyota	208	26
12	34	24	William Byron	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	208	30
13	14	8	Tyler Reddick (R)	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	208	24
14	6	6	Ryan Newman	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	208	23
15	18	1	Kurt Busch	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	208	22
16	21	43	Bubba Wallace	Richard Petty Motorsports	Chevrolet	208	21
17	23	34	Michael McDowell	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	208	20
18	19	88	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	208	29
19	2	13	Ty Dillon	Germain Racing	Chevrolet	208	18
20	10	3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	208	17
21	5	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	208	24
22	4	14	Clint Bowyer	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	208	35
23	32	17	Chris Buescher	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	208	14
24	31	32	Corey LaJoie	Go Fas Racing	Ford	207	13
25	39	47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	207	12
26	35	00	Quin Houff (R)	StarCom Racing	Chevrolet	207	11
27	25	96	Daniel Suárez	Gaunt Brothers Racing	Toyota	207	10
28	29	77	J. J. Yeley (i)	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet	207	0
29	30	51	Joey Gase (i)	Petty Ware Racing	Ford	207	0
30	11	42	Matt Kenseth	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	206	9
31	22	41	Cole Custer (R)	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	206	6
32	28	27	Gray Gaulding	Rick Ware Racing	Ford	206	5
33	33	66	Timmy Hill (i)	MBM Motorsports	Toyota	204	0
34	36	53	Garrett Smithley	Rick Ware Racing	Chevrolet	204	3
35	12	38	John Hunter Nemechek (R)	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	202	2
36	38	78	B. J. McLeod (i)	B. J. McLeod Motorsports	Chevrolet	202	0
37	27	15	Brennan Poole (R)	Premium Motorsports	Chevrolet	201	1
38	17	9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	200	14
39	1	37	Ryan Preece	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	69	2
Official race results

Race statistics

• Lead changes: 17 among 13 different drivers
• Cautions/Laps: 11 for 54
• Red flags: 1
• Time of race: 2 hours, 42 minutes and 23 seconds
• Average speed: 104.984mph It was the slowest hardtop race since the 1958 Southern 500.

Media

Television

The Toyota 500 was carried by FS1 in the United States. Mike Joy and five-time Darlington winner Jeff Gordon covered the race from the Fox Sports studio in Charlotte. Matt Yocum handled the pit road duties. Larry McReynolds provided insight from the Fox Sports studio in Charlotte.

Radio

The Motor Racing Network (MRN) called the race for radio, which was simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Alex Hayden and Dave Moody called the action for MRN when the field raced down the front stretch. Dillon Welch called the race from a Billboard outside of turn 1 when the field raced through turns 1 and 2, and Steve Post called the race atop of the Darlington Raceway Club outside of turn 3 when the field raced through turns 3 and 4. Kim Coon and Hannah Newhouse called the action on pit road for MRN.

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

	Pos	Driver	Points
	1	Kevin Harvick	258
1	2	Joey Logano	224 (–34)
1	3	Alex Bowman	219 (–39)
2	4	Denny Hamlin	201 (–57)
1	5	Chase Elliott	192 (–66)
1	6	Brad Keselowski	191 (–67)
	7	Aric Almirola	186 (–72)
3	8	Martin Truex Jr.	179 (–79)
	9	Matt DiBenedetto	170 (–88)
	10	Clint Bowyer	170 (–88)
3	11	Ryan Blaney	168 (–90)
	12	Jimmie Johnson	161 (–97)
1	13	Kyle Busch	157 (–101)
1	14	Kurt Busch	151 (–107)
2	15	Erik Jones	146 (–112)
	16	William Byron	129 (–129)
Official driver's standings

Manufacturers' Championship standings

	Pos	Manufacturer	Points
	1	Ford	221
1	2	Toyota	203 (–18)
1	3	Chevrolet	201 (–21)

• Note: Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings.

Notes and References

1. Web site: 2020 schedule . Jayski.com. . May 1, 2020. January 17, 2020.
2. Web site: Darlington Raceway. NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC.. May 1, 2020. January 3, 2013. April 30, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170430210206/http://www.nascar.com/en_us/nascar-tracks/darlington-raceway.html. dead.
3. Web site: Entry List. MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. May 16, 2020. May 16, 2020.
4. Web site: Starting Lineup. MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. May 17, 2020. May 17, 2020.
5. Web site: Toyota 500 Results. MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. May 20, 2020. May 20, 2020.
6. Web site: Points standings. Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. May 20, 2020. May 20, 2020.
7. Web site: Toyota 500 ratings. https://web.archive.org/web/20200521201624/http://www.showbuzzdaily.com/articles/showbuzzdailys-top-150-wednesday-cable-originals-network-finals-5-20-2020.html. dead. 21 May 2020. ShowBuzzDaily. Mitch Metcalf. 21 May 2020.
8. Web site: Norris . Brad . NASCAR realigns 2020 schedule, shifts events from Chicagoland, Richmond, Sonoma . NASCAR.com . May 18, 2020.
9. Web site: NASCAR statement on Atlanta and Homestead. 12 March 2020. NASCAR.com. en-US. 12 March 2020.
10. Web site: NASCAR statement: All race events through May 3 postponed NASCAR. 16 March 2020. NASCAR.com. en-US. 17 March 2020.
11. Web site: NASCAR postpones Martinsville Speedway race – NBC Sports. 2020-04-17. NASCAR Talk. en-US. 2020-05-02.
12. Web site: Primetime: NASCAR set for first Wednesday start since 1984. Yahoo! Sports. en-US. 2020-05-22. 2020-07-11. https://web.archive.org/web/20200711024556/https://sports.yahoo.com/primetime-nascar-set-first-wednesday-start-since-1984-171721187--nascar.html. dead.