The Most Important Takeaways From NASCAR's Goodyear 400 at Darlington

HMS has been on fire, winning 4 out of the six tracks we've visited so far, with only Talladega (a wildcard track) and Kansas slipping through their grasp. At Kansas, Kyle Larson was just half a track away from snatching the victory. William Byron emerged as the winner in Darlington, but it could have been Larson instead. Let's dive deeper into that shortly. However, what's worth noting is that HMS had three cars in the top four during the second-to-last restart. This has become a familiar sight for the team on these playoff tracks.

At Las Vegas, Byron took the checkered flag ahead of Larson and Alex Bowman, creating an HMS 1-2-3. In Stage 1, it was a 1-2 finish for the 24 and 5 cars, and in Stage 2, the 24, 5, and 48 took the podium spots. Byron was victorious the following week in Phoenix, and Larson finished fourth. The stages swapped places, with Larson winning Stage 1 and Byron clinching Stage 2. Larson claimed the win for HMS in Martinsville, while at Talladega, Kyle Busch emerged as the winner, but HMS still dominated Stage 1 with a 1-2-4-5 finish. Finally, at Kansas, Larson came in second, and Byron was in third, securing yet another win for the team.

William Byron has emerged as a force to be reckoned with this season, with three victories under his belt, making him a contender for the championship title. However, what sets him apart is that all three of his wins have come on playoff tracks, making him a formidable opponent in the post-season. His latest triumph is particularly sweet, as it offers redemption for the heartbreak of last year's spring race, where he had the win snatched away by Joey Logano's bump-and-run move. This time, Kyle Larson and Ross Chastain's on-track altercation allowed Byron to slip past and claim the victory.

Speaking of Chastain, the driver seems to be making headlines for all the wrong reasons lately, as he's become involved in several incidents over the past few races. In the last ten races, he's been a factor in eight incidents, which is beginning to turn him into a must-watch attraction for fans. At Phoenix, Denny Hamlin retaliated against him, and a week later, Kevin Harvick spun out after contact with Chastain on a late-race restart.

At COTA, Chastain made contact with Alex Bowman, causing Bowman to collide with his teammate Daniel Suarez. Christopher Bell even blamed him for being nearby when he spun out on a restart at Richmond. While he was relatively quiet in the next two races at Martinsville and Bristol Dirt, he was back to his old habits at Talladega, where his aggressiveness on a late-race restart with Noah Gragson indirectly caused a massive wreck that took out Kyle Larson. The following week, he was once again involved in a spin, this time with Brennan Poole, which collected an innocent Larson.

At Kansas, he had another run-in with Gragson, and in the most recent race, he admitted to making a mistake by colliding with Larson late in the race, causing a crash for both of them. It's clear that Chastain's tendency to be overly aggressive is becoming a recurring theme, especially during late-race restarts.

After a promising start to the season, Daniel Suarez's fortunes have taken a turn for the worse. Despite a top-ten finish in each of the first three races, he has only managed one such finish in the ten races since, plummeting from the top five in points to 18th place. Meanwhile, his teammate Ross Chastain is leading the points with a string of strong finishes, making Keselowski's decision to leave Team Penske all the more intriguing. He wanted to make a bigger impact, to be more than just a driver.

So, he took on the challenge of rebuilding as an owner-driver, and the hard work is paying off. After 13 races in his second season, both he and teammate Chris Buescher are solidly in the playoff field, a vast improvement from last year. Keselowski has six top-ten finishes this season, including three in the previous four weeks, while Buescher has already scored a pair of top-fives. Together, they have combined for dual top-ten finishes in three of the last four weeks, proving that Keselowski's gamble is paying off.

North Wilkesboro Speedway has hosted 93 races in NASCAR's premier series, but it's been a quarter-century since the circuit visited the North Carolina short track. This .625-mile oval is a new experience for the current crop of drivers, with no past performances to study or trends to follow. Instead, analysts are looking to compare the track to Richmond, a .75-mile speedway with similar age and surface composition.

The surface at North Wilkesboro has been unchanged since 1996, and early tests suggest that tire strategy will be a significant factor in the race. The best way to succeed may be to start slow and conserve tires so that drivers can make up time later in the race. Tire management will be essential, as teams will start on new tires and have three sets to use for the entire race. Only one additional set can be used after the competition breaks on Lap 100.

This means that teams must make smart decisions about when to pit for fresh rubber and when to risk staying on older tires to gain track position. If this race is like Richmond, it may not favor underdog teams, as powerhouse outfits like Joe Gibbs Racing, Team Penske, Hendrick Motorsports, and Stewart-Haas Racing have won each of the last ten races there. Similarly, the winners at old North Wilkesboro included NASCAR legends like Jeff Gordon, Terry Labonte, Dale Earnhardt, Mark Martin, Rusty Wallace, Davey Allison, and the Bodine brothers.