Erik Jones holds off Denny Hamlin in action-filled Southern 500: Elliott spun sideways in Turn 2 on Lap 113—two laps short of the end of Stage 1—cracked the back of his No. 9 Chevrolet and slid down the track into the path of Chase Briscoe, who couldn’t avoid the collision. Elliott nursed his car to pit road where his team tried in vain to repair the damage, but with the right rear toe link and upper and lower control arms broken, the task was hopeless. The 10-minute time allotment under NASCAR’s damaged vehicle policy ran out, and Elliott retired from the race in last place (36th). [Read More](9-4-2022)
#43-Erik Jones won the Cook Out Southern 500 NASCAR Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway. The win is his 1st win of the year, 2nd at Darlington Raceway and 3rd career win.
#11-Hamlin finished 2nd followed by #8-Reddick, pole winner #22-Logano, #20-Bell, #34-McDowell, #6-Keselowski, #24-Byron, #45-Wallace, and #48-Bowman.
Jones took the lead with 22 laps remaining when race leader #18-Busch fell out of the race with a blown engine.
Several playoff drivers had issues during the race:
#9-Elliott, the regular season champion and points leader entering in the race, lost control of the car just before the end of stage 1 and backed into the outside wall. The team was not able to repair damages in time and he was unable to continue. He finished 36th.
#4-Harvick fell out of the race with 90 laps remaining when his car caught fire in the rocker panel area. He finished 33rd.
While leading the race with less than 25 laps remaining, #18-Kyle Busch lost an engine and finished 30th.
#14-Bricoe was caught in #9-Elliott’s accident, lost 3 laps and finished 27th,
#5-Larson lost three laps early with an engine issue and went 4 laps down before climbing back onto the lead lap at the end of stage two. He finished 12th.
Stage 1 was won by #24-Byron. Stage 2 was won by #18-Busch.
There were 21 lead changes among 11 drivers and 9 cautions for 58 yellow flag laps.
The average speed of the race was: 120.406mph.
See race details at: Race Results, Driver Points Standings, Owner Points Standings, Cumulative Report, Infraction Report.
Race Fast Facts – Darlington Raceway:
Erik Jones won the 73rd Annual Cook Out Southern 500, his third victory in 210 Cup Series races.
This is his first victory and 10th top-10 finish in 2022.
This is his second victory and seventh top-10 finish in ten races at Darlington Raceway.
Denny Hamlin (P) (second) posted his 16th top-10 finish in 21 races at Darlington Raceway. It is his eighth top-10 finish in 2022.
Tyler Reddick (P) (third) posted his third top-10 finish in seven races at Darlington Raceway.
Austin Cindric (P) (16th) was the highest finishing rookie.
Joey Logano (P) leads the point standings by 6 points over William Byron (P).
(NASCAR)
Where the 2022 Cup Series Playoff drivers finished at Darlington:
#11-Denny Hamlin, 2nd
#8-Tyler Reddick, 3rd
#22-Joey Logano, 4th
#20-Christopher Bell, 5th
#24-William Byron, 8th
#48-Alex Bowman, 10th
#5-Kyle Larson, 12th
#12-Ryan Blaney, 13th
#2-Austin Cindric, 16th
#3-Austin Dillon, 17th
#99-Daniel Suarez, 18th
#1-Ross Chastain, 20th
#14-Chase Briscoe, 27th
#18-Kyle Busch, 30th
#4-Kevin Harvick, 33rd
#9-Chase Elliott, 36th
Cup Series Playoff Standings after Darlington Raceway:
(Race 27 of 36 in the season; Race 1 of 3 in the round of 16)
1) #22-Joey Logano, 2065, +38
2) #24-William Byron, 2059, +32
3) #11-Denny Hamlin, 2057, +30
4) #20-Christopher Bell, 2055, +28
5) #8-Tyler Reddick, 2050, +23
6) #12-Ryan Blaney, 2047, +20
7) #5-Kyle Larson, 2044, +17
8) #1-Ross Chastain, 2042, +15
9) #9-Chase Elliott, 2041, +14
10) #48-Alex Bowman, 2037, +10
11) #18-Kyle Busch, 2035, +8
12) #99-Daniel Suarez, 2029, +2 ahead of 13th
Below the Round of 12 cutoff:
13) #2-Austin Cindric, 2027, -2 behind 12th
14) #3-Austin Dillon, 2025, -4
15) #14-Chase Briscoe, 2019, -10
16) #4-Kevin Harvick, 2016, -13
See the Driver Points Standings and Owner Points Standings.
Paint Schemes
Cars to the rear: #78-McLeod (unapproved adjustments)
Pit Stall Selections: The selections of pit stalls for the Cook Out Southern 500 NASCAR Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway have been made.
Pole winner #22-Logano chose pit stall 1.
Outside pole sitter #20-Bell took the 8th stall, with an opening in front of it.
See all pit choices on the Darlington Raceway Pit Stall page.
#22-Joey Logano won the Busch pole for the Cook Out Southern 500 NASCAR Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway with speed of 168.521mph for his 2nd pole of the year, 2nd at Darlington Raceway and 24th of his career.
#20-Bell will start second followed by #24-Byron, #8-Reddick, #18-Busch, #2-Cindric, #5-Larson, #45-Wallace, #12-Blaney, and #34-McDowell.
36 teams were entered so everyone made the race.
See the complete qualifying results and the Cook Out Southern 500 Starting Lineup.
Darlington Raceway – Qualifying Fast Facts:
Joey Logano (P) won the Pole Award for the 73rd Annual Cook Out Southern 500 with a lap of 29.181 seconds, 168.521 mph.
This is his 24th pole in 498 NASCAR Cup Series races.
This is his second pole and 14th top-10 start in 2022.
This is his second pole in 18 races at Darlington Raceway.
Christopher Bell (P) (second) posted his 17th top-10 start of 2022 and his second in seven races at Darlington Raceway.
William Byron (P) (third) posted his sixth top-10 start at Darlington Raceway. It is his 11th in 27 races this season.
Austin Cindric (P) (sixth) was the fastest qualifying rookie.
(NASCAR)
Qualifying Order
Practice for the Cook Out Southern 500 NASCAR Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway is over. The fastest:
#2-Cindric 167.698
#24-Byron 166.495
#43-Jones 166.483
#8-Reddick 166.359
#19-Truex, Jr. 166.056
Slowest: #78-McLeod 156.576
Most laps run: #22-Logano, 37 laps.
Best 10 consecutive lap avg (of 31 drivers): #19-Truex, Jr., 163.055
See the fastest speeds, best 10 consecutive lap average, laps run on the Cook Out Southern 500 Practice speeds page.
Crew Rosters
The entry list for the Cook Out Southern 500 NASCAR Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway is posted, 36 teams/drivers [for 40 spots] are listed.
Some of the drivers entered include: #15-Yeley, #16-Hemric, #23-Gibbs, #45-Wallace, and #77-Cassill.
See the full entry list on the Cook Out Southern 500 Entry List page.
Goodyear Fast Facts — Darlington Raceway
TandemDraft Stats:Cup Series Edition-Darlington