Southern 500 at Darlington: Start time, live stream, preview, picks for the 2024 NASCAR regular season finale

Before the era of the super speedways at Daytona or Talledega or Charlotte, NASCAR's original speedway found its place in Darlington. The South Carolina raceway was the site of NASCAR's first 500-mile race: The Southern 500.

Through the many decades and eras of stock car racing that have passed since that first race at Darlington Raceway in 1950, to win the Southern 500 has been to earn a place in the history of NASCAR's original crown jewel race, and to have your name forever included alongside the most legendary drivers in the sport. But in this year's running of the Cook Out Southern 500, more is at stake and more stands to be gained or lost than ever before.

The Southern 500 marks the final race of the NASCAR Cup Series regular season, with three spots remaining on the 16-driver playoff grid to crown the 2024 Cup Series champion. With six drivers fighting for three available spots on points and many more facing their final chance, the stakes of the Southern 500 are high enough that a win in this race could alter a driver's entire season --similar to Harrison Burton's upset win at Daytona did just one week ago.

How to watch the Southern 500

Date: Sept. 1
Location: Darlington Raceway -- Darlington, South Carolina
Time: 6 p.m. ET | TV channel: USA Network
Stream: fubo ( try for free )

Playoff clinching scenarios

The following drivers, by virtue of having an eligible race win in 2024, have clinched a NASCAR playoffs spot.

#5 - Kyle Larson (4 wins)
#24 - William Byron (3 wins)
#20 - Christopher Bell (3 wins)
#11 - Denny Hamlin (3 wins)
#45 - Tyler Reddick (2 wins)
#12 - Ryan Blaney (2 wins)
#9 - Chase Elliott (Texas)
#6 - Brad Keselowski (Darlington)
#48 - Alex Bowman (Chicago)
#22 - Joey Logano (Nashville)
#99 - Daniel Suarez (Atlanta)
#2 - Austin Cindric (Gateway)
#21 - Harrison Burton (Daytona II)

Martin Truex Jr. will clinch a playoff spot with 19 points in the event of a new winner from below the cut line. If there is no new winner, Truex will clinch a playoff spot regardless of his finishing position.

Ty Gibbs will clinch a playoff spot with 38 points in the event of a new winner from below the cut line, or 16 points if there is no new winner.

Chris Buescher will clinch a playoff spot with 34 points if there is no new winner from below the cut line. However, in the event that a new winner does come from below the cut line, Buescher will only be able to clinch a playoff spot with help.

Bubba Wallace and Ross Chastain can qualify for the playoffs by winning the Southern 500, or with help on points.

The following drivers have already been mathematically eliminated from earning a playoff spot on points, and must win the Southern 500 to qualify for the playoffs. This group includes Austin Dillon, whose final appeal of penalties that made his Richmond win impermissible for a playoff spot was denied earlier this week.

#8 - Kyle Busch
#14 - Chase Briscoe
#38 - Todd Gilliland
#77 - Carson Hocevar (R)
#34 - Michael McDowell
#4 - Josh Berry (R)
#10 - Noah Gragson
#47 - Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
#43 - Erik Jones
#41 - Ryan Preece
#31 - Daniel Hemric
#3 - Austin Dillon
#51 - Justin Haley
#42 - John Hunter Nemechek
#7 - Corey LaJoie
#71 - Zane Smith (R)

Regular season championship clinching scenarios

Tyler Reddick can clinch the NASCAR Cup Series regular season championship, which includes a bonus of 15 playoff points, if he earns 44 points in the Southern 500. Kyle Larson (-17) and Chase Elliott (-18) remain mathematically eligible for the regular season title, but would only be able to clinch with help.

News of the Week

• This week saw the premiere of Trophy Hunting with Kaulig Racing , a new four-part documentary series produced by NASCAR Studios giving a behind-the-scenes look at Kaulig's 2024 season in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. The first episode of the series premiered Monday on NASCAR's YouTube channel, with subsequent episodes set to premiere each coming Monday.
  
  The series marks a bold new step for NASCAR in advance of its new media rights deal in 2025, giving a glimpse into what the future of the sport's media products may be following steps that it has taken that include the creation of its own production facility in Concord, N.C.
  
  "With The CW coming on and the Xfinity Series going exclusively to that, I think [NASCAR] wanted to showcase some of the talent and some of the better teams and storylines in the Xfinity Series," car owner Matt Kaulig told CBS Sports. "So we were happy that they were able to follow us around for a few months and talk to us, and we could kind of showcase what we're doing for our sponsors and our drivers. It's been a pretty cool deal."
  
• NASCAR has announced the 2025 schedules for its three national touring series, highlighted by the announcement on Tuesday that the Cup Series will race at Mexico City's Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez next June. The event, which joins the Clash at historic Bowman Gray Stadium as new additions to the Cup schedule, will mark the first Cup Series race held outside the United States in NASCAR's modern era.
• NASCAR announced Friday that its 2024 Awards Ceremony will be held at the Charlotte Convention Center, marking the first time that the year-end event has been held in the Charlotte, North Carolina area that is home to many drivers and race teams. The event was previously held in New York City (1981-2008), Las Vegas (2009-2018) and Nashville (2019, 2021-2023).
  

Pick to Win

Tyler Reddick (+650) -- Let's examine Reddick's recent history at Darlington, shall we? In 2022, he finished second and third in the track's two Cup dates. He then led 90 laps and finished second in last year's Southern 500. Reddick dominated the spring race earlier this year by winning the pole and leading 174 laps before colliding with Chris Buescher while racing for the win in the closing laps. Like with Larson, Darlington suits Reddick's driving style to a T, and he's started to take full advantage of that.

Not only is Reddick due at this racetrack, but he enters this race with a 17-point lead over Larson for the regular season championship and the ever-important playoff point bonus that comes with it. Assuming that his DNF at Daytona didn't interrupt the hot streak he's been on, a Southern 500 victory would clinch Reddick the regular season championship with feeling.