2026 Cook Out Southern 500

Background

Darlington Raceway is a race track built for NASCAR racing located near Darlington, South Carolina. It is nicknamed "The Lady in Black" and "The Track Too Tough to Tame" by many NASCAR fans and drivers and advertised as "A NASCAR Tradition." It is of a unique, somewhat egg-shaped design, an oval with the ends of very different configurations, a condition which supposedly arose from the proximity of one end of the track to a minnow pond the owner refused to relocate. This situation makes it very challenging for the crews to set up their cars' handling in a way that is effective at both ends.

During the offseason, NASCAR announced that Darlington would now get the short track package, as opposed to running the intermediate package from previous years.^[4]

Television

USA Sports will cover the race on the television side. Leigh Diffey, 1999 Southern 500 winner Jeff Burton and Steve Letarte will call the race from the broadcast booth. Reporters TBA will handle the pit road duties from pit lane.

Radio

MRN will have the radio call for the race, which will also be simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Alex Hayden, Mike Bagley, and former championship crew chief Todd Gordon will call the action for MRN when the field races thru the front straightaway. Dave Moody will call the action for MRN from atop the Sunoco tower outside the exit of turn 2 when the field races thru turns 1 & 2. Tim Catalfamo will work the action for MRN when the field races thru turns 3 & 4. Pit road will be operated by lead pit reporter Steve Post, Brienne Pedigo, and Chris Wilner.