Contents

2020 Toyota 500

NASCAR Cup Series race

2020 Toyota 500

Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6]
Race 6 of 36 in the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series
Date	May 20, 2020 (2020-05-20)
Location	Darlington RacewayinDarlington, South Carolina
Course	Permanent racing facility 1.366 mi (2.198 km)
Distance	208 laps, 284.128 mi (457.162 km)
Scheduled Distance	228 laps, 311.448 mi (501.12 km)
Average speed	104.984 miles per hour (168.955 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Ryan Preece	JTG Daugherty Racing
Grid positions set by partial inversion of previous race's finishing order
Most laps led
Driver	Clint Bowyer	Stewart-Haas Racing
Laps	71
Winner
No. 11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing
Television in the United States
Network	FS1
Announcers	Mike Joy and Jeff Gordon
Nielsen Ratings	2.087 million[7]
Radio in the United States
Radio	MRN
Booth Announcers	Alex Hayden and Dave Moody
Turn Announcers	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 RacewayinDarlington, South Carolina, replacing Richmond Raceway's Toyota Owners 400.^[8] Contested over 208 laps—shortened from 228 laps due to rain, on the 1.366-mile (2.198 km) 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.

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 400atDaytona (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]

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

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.

Stage One Laps:60

Stage Two Laps:65

Final Stage Laps:83

• 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: 104.984 miles per hour (168.955 km/h) It was the slowest hardtop race since the 1958 Southern 500.

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.

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.

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.