NASCAR practice speeds, lap averages and notes for the 2025 Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. Use the NASCAR stats and data to build DFS lineups on DraftKings. Michael McDowell was fastest.
The NASCAR Cup Series ran a single practice session at Darlington Raceway on Saturday morning in preparation for the upcoming Cook Out Southern 500 on Sunday night.
The 38-car field was split into two groups for practice, with each group getting 25 minutes on track. Group 1 had the speed advantage due to track conditions.
Below you will find the two groups, key notes from the practice session, as well as the practice speeds for all drivers.
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Important Practice Notes
Ryan Preece – The No. 60 Ford was the first car noted to get a “Darlington Stripe” this weekend, as Preece got a little too high in the turn and scraped the wall. Any potential damage would be minimal and not a big deal.
Zane Smith – The No. 38 Ford spun out late in the session for the first group. Zane was heard saying the car was just too loose, and he didn’t hit anything, so there is no concern for damage or anything negative.
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2025 Southern 500 at Darlington Practice Speed Chart
Click here to download the PDF of the practice speed chart.
Rank
Driver
Time
Speed
Fastest Lap
Laps Ran
Behind Leader
1.
Michael McDowell
29.007
169.531
1
30
—.—
2.
Justin Haley
29.123
168.856
2
36
-0.116
3.
Ty Gibbs
29.124
168.850
3
41
-0.117
4.
Carson Hocevar
29.203
168.394
2
46
-0.196
5.
Noah Gragson
29.248
168.135
2
41
-0.241
6.
Todd Gilliland
29.271
168.002
2
34
-0.264
7.
AJ Allmendinger
29.332
167.653
3
34
-0.325
8.
Bubba Wallace
29.404
167.243
2
30
-0.397
9.
Kyle Busch
29.411
167.203
3
35
-0.404
10.
John Hunter Nemechek
29.464
166.902
2
32
-0.457
11.
Ty Dillon
29.499
166.704
2
37
-0.492
12.
Riley Herbst
29.523
166.568
3
35
-0.516
13.
Ross Chastain
29.565
166.332
2
35
-0.558
14.
Erik Jones
29.621
166.017
1
26
-0.614
15.
Daniel Suarez
29.642
165.900
2
38
-0.635
16.
William Byron
29.655
165.827
3
42
-0.648
17.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
29.658
165.810
2
29
-0.651
18.
Chase Briscoe
29.671
165.738
2
40
-0.664
19.
Denny Hamlin
29.729
165.414
2
45
-0.722
20.
Zane Smith
29.740
165.353
2
36
-0.733
21.
Austin Cindric
29.759
165.247
2
37
-0.752
22.
Tyler Reddick
29.794
165.053
2
44
-0.787
23.
Kyle Larson
29.847
164.760
4
34
-0.840
24.
Austin Dillon
29.855
164.716
1
36
-0.848
25.
Cody Ware
29.863
164.672
2
34
-0.856
26.
Christopher Bell
29.885
164.551
1
43
-0.878
27.
Joey Logano
29.906
164.435
3
40
-0.899
28.
Ryan Blaney
29.909
164.419
3
44
-0.902
29.
Chris Buescher
29.963
164.122
2
37
-0.956
30.
Ryan Preece
29.968
164.095
1
29
-0.961
31.
Alex Bowman
29.990
163.975
2
34
-0.983
32.
Shane Van Gisbergen
30.015
163.838
2
40
-1.008
33.
Josh Berry
30.018
163.822
2
40
-1.011
34.
Chase Elliott
30.022
163.800
4
46
-1.015
35.
Brad Keselowski
30.096
163.397
2
30
-1.089
36.
Cole Custer
30.139
163.164
2
33
-1.132
37.
Derek Kraus
30.768
159.828
2
29
-1.761
38.
Timmy Hill
31.640
155.424
8
18
-2.633
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2025 Southern 500 at Darlington 10-Lap Average Chart
Rank
Driver
From Lap
To Lap
Avg Speed
1.
Justin Haley
1
10
164.844
2.
Michael McDowell
1
10
164.742
3.
AJ Allmendinger
2
11
164.295
4.
Todd Gilliland
1
10
164.262
5.
Noah Gragson
1
10
163.996
6.
Carson Hocevar
2
11
163.865
7.
Ty Gibbs
2
11
163.698
8.
Ty Dillon
1
10
163.598
9.
Kyle Busch
2
11
163.553
10.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
1
10
163.334
11.
Ross Chastain
1
10
163.235
12.
Zane Smith
1
10
163.127
13.
Riley Herbst
2
11
163.108
14.
William Byron
2
11
163.035
15.
John Hunter Nemechek
1
10
162.957
16.
Tyler Reddick
1
10
162.917
17.
Kyle Larson
1
10
162.871
18.
Bubba Wallace
1
10
162.827
19.
Ryan Blaney
1
10
162.699
20.
Austin Cindric
1
10
162.687
21.
Denny Hamlin
1
10
162.649
22.
Daniel Suarez
1
10
162.542
23.
Joey Logano
1
10
162.428
24.
Christopher Bell
1
10
162.268
25.
Josh Berry
1
10
162.258
26.
Austin Dillon
1
10
162.247
27.
Alex Bowman
1
10
162.190
28.
Chase Briscoe
1
10
162.158
29.
Shane Van Gisbergen
1
10
162.127
30.
Chase Elliott
3
12
161.802
31.
Brad Keselowski
1
10
161.739
32.
Chris Buescher
1
10
161.704
33.
Cody Ware
1
10
161.434
34.
Cole Custer
1
10
161.149
35.
Ryan Preece
4
13
160.757
36.
Erik Jones
10
19
158.890
37.
Derek Kraus
1
10
157.705
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