2020 The Real Heroes 400

The 2020 The Real Heroes 400 was a NASCAR Cup Series race held on May 17, 2020, at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina. Contested over 293 laps on the 1.366 mi egg-shaped oval, it was the fifth race of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season. It was the first 400-mile spring race at Darlington since 2004.

Background
The event was the first of the NASCAR Cup Series season following a hiatus brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, beginning with the postponement of the Homestead-Miami Speedway race weekend on March 13, and subsequent postponement of all races through at least early-May. On April 30, NASCAR announced the resumption of races with twin races at Darlington, including a 400-mile race on May 17, and a 310-mile (500 kilometer) race the following Wednesday (May 20). All races will be held behind closed doors with only essential staff present, guidelines for social distancing and use of protective equipment by team staff, and logging to help with contact tracing efforts.

On May 14, NASCAR announced that the May 17 race would be branded as The Real Heroes 400; the naming is in support of The Real Heroes Project—a collaboration among NASCAR and other major U.S. sports leagues and organizations to honor health care workers during the pandemic. As part of the initiative, the driver names printed above the vehicles' driver-side windows were replaced by the names of health care professionals working during the pandemic. The workers were determined in collaboration with local Fox affiliates, and collectively served as Grand Marshals via a "mosaic".

Entry list

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

Qualifying
Brad Keselowski was awarded the pole for the race as determined by a random draw.

Stage 1
Keselowski drove down into Turn 1 followed by Kevin Harvick. It did not take long for things to get crazy as Ricky Stenhouse Jr. exited Turn 2, dropped down to the bottom of the track to go four-wide, and got spun into the inside retaining wall. Damage to both ends of the racecar sent him to the garage and out of the race.

The green flag waved to restart the race on Lap 7 with almost the entire field falling into a single file ribbon around the track. Second place Kevin Harvick complained of a vibration early, still, he was able to retain the position as drivers settled in to make laps.

NASCAR scheduled a competition caution for Lap 30, allowing crews to check tires and make adjustments on pit road. Due to the special circumstances of the race, the top 20 cars pit first, there is no race off pit road. Drivers will return to the position they held when the caution waved, the next lap the remainder of the field hits pit road, the same positions are held when they return to the track. This allowed race teams to take some extra time to make sure everything is right with the cars.

The fuel window is around 70 laps, but tire wear is likely to bring teams in sooner. A minimum of one pitstop will occur during each stage of the race.

Stage 2
Kevin Harvick won the race off of pit road and was the leader at the restart after the stage ending caution. With new tires and adjustments, drivers came out looking more ready to race. More position swapping ensued until on Lap 110 William Byron bobbled and hit the wall in Turn 3. He suffered some damage to the right side of his car, the crash brought out the caution again with everyone returning to pit road for new tires. Byron lost four laps in the pits having body damage repaired, but was able to return to the race.

Harvick returned to the track with the lead. As things settled out after the restart, Kurt Busch, Bowman, Denny Hamlin, and Keselowski were the remainder of the top 5. On Lap 123 Daniel Suarez cut down a right rear tire and spun causing the yellow to be displayed for the 5th time.

As a result of being the series points leader, Kevin Harvick had the first choice of pit stalls. His selection of the pit box at the end of the pit road has helped him maintain the lead when exiting after pit stops. He again led the pack back to the restart.

Stage 2 Finish
Debris on the track, a banner came loose off the track wall, brought out the caution again with 31 laps to go in Stage 2, allowing everyone to pit and get fresh tires for the run to the green and white checkered flag. With 20 laps to go in the Stage, the top 5 were Harvick, Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr., Joey Logano, and Kurt Busch.

Christopher Bell spun and brought out the caution setting up a real sprint to the finish. When the race resumed with 8 laps to go Keselowski was in the lead with Truex in second. Brad won the stage, Bowman moved into the second position.

The Final Stage
Bowman won the race off pit road followed by Keselowski, Harvick, Truex, and Kurt Busch to begin the Final Stage. Harvick gave Keselowski a good push into Turn 1 giving his Ford Mustang teammate the lead. Harvick was unable to squeeze in front of Bowman for 2nd place and had to fall back into line in the 4th position.

On Lap 211, Bell got into the back of Buescher causing the #17 car to spin. Joey Logano had just entered pit road with a loose wheel, his crew flagged him past their pit stall and back onto the track to avoid going a lap down. Repairing the issue put Logano back in the pack, but much better than going down a lap.

Harvick nosed out Keselowski for the lead off pit road, Truex and Bowman start behind them at for the restart with 74 laps to go. At least one more pit stop will be required to finish the race.

Ryan Newman spun in Turn 1 with 41 laps to go, bringing out the 10th caution flag of the day. It appeared Newman had a tire issue, he was able to keep the car off the wall and avoid damage. The yellow flag will give everyone the opportunity to pit and fuel up for the run to the finish.

Harvick led off pit road followed by Bowman, Chase Elliott, Kurt Busch, and Kyle Busch. The race restarted with 34 laps to go. Harvick and Bowman raced side-by-side for two laps before Harvick prevailed.

Kyle Busch came to pit road with 27 laps to go for four tires complaining of a vibration. He went a lap down and likely out of contention for the win. Erik Jones moved into the top 5, hoping for a repeat win at “the lady in black.”

The Finish
Jones developed a vibration and began to drop positions with Hamlin and Truex passing with under 10 to go. Harvick held onto the win for his first victory of the year. Bowman finishing 2nd. Kurt Busch took 3rd, Elliott 4th, and Hamlin 5th.

Other notable finishes. Rookies Tyler Reddick and John Hunter Nemechek finished 7th and 9th respectively. Jones took 8th, and Matt Kenseth ended his return to NASCAR with a 10th place showing. Keselowski took 13th, Ryan Newman 15th, Logano finished in 18th and Kyle Busch earned a 26th place finish.

Stage Results
Stage One Laps: 90

Stage Two Laps: 95

Final Stage Results
Stage Three Laps: 108

Race statistics

 * Lead changes: 10 among 6 different drivers
 * Cautions/Laps: 10 for 57
 * Red flags: 0
 * Time of race: 3 hours, 27 minutes and 21 seconds
 * Average speed: 115.815 mph

Television
The The Real Heroes 400 was carried by Fox in the United States. Mike Joy and seven-time Darlington winner Jeff Gordon called the race from the Fox Sports Studio in Charlotte. Regan Smith handled pit road duties. Larry McReynolds provided insight from the Fox Sports studio in Charlotte.

Radio
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.

Standings after the race

 * Drivers' Championship standings


 * Manufacturers' Championship standings


 * Note: Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings.