Darlington Raceway

What winner Erik Jones and other drivers had to say during and after Sunday's Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.

At the beginning of the race we were starting off extremely tight and then we got to where we were extremely loose and then we had nowhere to go with the 9 car when he wrecked. … To come back to 20th and fight the way we fought is just a testament to this team.” We just need to bring a better hot rod to Kansas (Speedway) and go get it from there.” [Daniel Suarez](https://www.nbcsportsedge.com/auto-racing/nascar/player/48501/daniel-suarez) — Finished 18th: “My 99 Jockey Camaro ZL1 was good and felt like the pit crew did a really good job. So, I just hope they just learn what happened and we can cure the problem.” [Ryan Blaney](https://www.nbcsportsedge.com/auto-racing/nascar/player/48406/ryan-blaney) — Finished 13th: “The caution hit us at the wrong time, but we were gonna be fine, and then we had to re-pit for a wheel that was gonna be loose. We were able to come away with more points than a lot of guys, so I’ll take it, but I’m certainly not satisfied with it.” [Austin Dillon](https://www.nbcsportsedge.com/auto-racing/nascar/player/48393/austin-dillon) — Finished 17th: “We just didn’t have it tonight. [Austin Cindric](https://www.nbcsportsedge.com/auto-racing/nascar/player/48665/austin-cindric) — Finished 16th: “We didn’t take ourselves out of it tonight, and that was certainly goal number one. I knew I could still do it, and I just knew we needed to grow the program to do it, and we have. The team did a good job, but we were just a little off tonight.” We went back out and it kind of ran crappy for a few laps, and then kind of cleared itself out and it was fine the rest of the race. [Ty Gibbs](https://www.nbcsportsedge.com/auto-racing/nascar/player/50856/ty-gibbs), (Austin) Cindric and myself kind of got sandwiched together and got in the wall off 4, so to rebound like we did and get third out of it, it was a really good night. [Erik Jones scores upset win at Darlington](https://nascar.nbcsports.com/2022/09/04/erik-jones-wins-southern-500-at-darlington-raceway/) [Denny Hamlin](https://www.nbcsportsedge.com/auto-racing/nascar/player/48231/denny-hamlin) — Finished 2nd: Last night in Xfinity there was like two and a half seconds of falloff in the last 15-lap run, and I think it was about a second for us in a 15-lap run. I don’t know if anybody could pass exceptional, but our teammates could make their way to the front, so I’m disappointed with fifth just because of how strong our teammates were and we were always kind of back there always in that outside of the top-five range.

Vickie Johnson Sunday afternoon loads up more coffee to be used in care packages for veterans and service members from Operation Gratitude.

Read through the obituaries published today in SCNOW.

Erik Jones does it a second time, puts Petty GMS and the 43, Darlington fans, in Victory Lane. How about that? Of all places to do it, Erik, you put t...

I felt like this was the race that saved my job the first time around, and coming back here with this win, I guess it puts you back on the map. We've brought on a lot of great people in the last year. I knew I could still do it, and I just knew we needed to grow the program to do it, and we have. It was tough to pass all day, and we got a good restart there. I was pumped to be on it once, but to have it on there twice, pretty cool. It was going to be a tough one to win, I knew, but no better fitting place.

Over the years at Darlington Raceway, many of the same drivers tend to run up front — Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Larson to name a few.

The No. However, that changed after practice and qualifying, with the No. And though starting 13th isn’t bad for the No. While Elliott might manage a good day, more times than not Hamlin is in contention for the win at Darlington. Add that to the No. Don’t jump on the No. Darlington is tied with Daytona for the most top 10s he has at a single track. But the No. Entering the weekend, Dillon had my vote. RISING: Christopher Bell enters the postseason flying under the radar. 99 car failed inspection three times on Saturday](https://www.nascar.com/news-media/2022/09/03/no-99-car-fails-pre-qualifying-inspection-three-times-at-darlington/) and couldn’t make a qualifying run. In alignment with NASCAR points, the four championship-eligible drivers will not earn stage points in the final race.

Who's ready for some playoff racing? The 2022 NASCAR Cup Series postseason begins at Darlington Raceway for the Cook Out Southern 500. The green flag is ...

He is on serious fire on the track and the caution is out. Lap 68: William Byron surpassed Joey Logano on Lap 66, and now the Hendrick Motorsports driver of the 24 car is the leader. Bubba Wallace, driving in the 45 car, is in P5. Chase Briscoe (29) and Ross Chastin (30) are the only two playoff drivers who are still running and aren’t on the lead lap. The caution is out for Cody Ware, who slammed the wall and came to a stop on the infield apron. He reenters the race in 10th position with fresher tires, and he looks like he’s driving a bit hot. Kyle Busch is in second and Tyler Reddick now running in third. He is concerned the engine is going to be done soon is the issue is affecting his cooling system as well. Kyle Busch and Tyler Reddick are on the front row, and they’re both playoff drivers. Lap 347: Erik Jones takes the green flag with 20 to go, and Denny Hamlin and Tyler Reddick on his rear. Hamlin is getting a good slingshot out of the high side of the even corners. Those updates will be posted in the section below and will be published frequently during the race.

Tonight, the NASCAR Cup Series drivers are on the grid in Darlington, South Carolina. The 1.366-mile of Darlington Raceway is set to open the NASCAR ...

Busch lifts and gives Truex Jr the lead. Truex Jr heads to the pit lane under green. Busch lifts and gives him the spot. 5 to go, Bell shoves Suarez in the wall! Byron works to his inside in turn one, Logano lifts and Byron takes the lead. Stenhouse Jr pulls it right to the garage, no caution. Bell lifts and Logano takes the lead via the outside lane. Elliott has heavy suspension damage and he’s done for the day. Busch finally clears him into turn three. William Byron is complaining of a possible engine issue. Larson re-enters the track 3 laps down. Tonight, the NASCAR Cup Series drivers are on the grid in Darlington, South Carolina.

Playoffs underway: Once again Darlington Raceway and 500 miles will kick off the 2022 NASCAR Championship with only one time previously has the winner...

Each eliminated driver will return to the Playoff-start base of 2,000 with any awarded Playoff points and any accumulated points starting with race No. - Additionally, drivers who are eliminated in the Round of 16, Round of 12 and Round of 8 will have their points readjusted. After the sixth Playoff race, the field will drop to eight drivers, and following the ninth Playoff race, only four drivers will remain in championship contention. Those Playoff points will stay with the driver as long as he/she remains in the Playoffs (except for the Championship 4 Round race). - If there are fewer than 16 different winners in the first 26 races, the remaining Playoff positions will go to those winless drivers highest in points. - The 16th Playoff position will go to the points leader after race No.

Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin are among the NASCAR at Darlington favorites as the 2022 NASCAR Playoffs begin.

So who wins the Cook Out Southern 500 2022? That includes a 20th place the year he won the Cup Series championship (2020) and then a crash caused him to finish 31st the next year. He joined the Trackhouse Racing Team full-time for the 2022 season, which has turned out to be a successful move for him. Chastain has finished outside the top-15 in six consecutive races, which has caused his odds to be lengthened for Sunday's race. The model was also high on Joey Logano before he won as a 15-1 underdog at Darlington and high on Logano again when he returned 14-1 on his win in St. Before scouring the 2022 Cook Out Southern 500 starting lineup and making any 2022 NASCAR Darlington predictions, be sure to In early August, it was much higher on Kevin Harvick than his 17-1 odds implied and Harvick went on to capture the win at Michigan. For the 2022 Cook Out Southern 500, the model is high on Ross Chastain, even though he's a 10-1 longshot in the latest 2022 NASCAR at Darlington odds. Kyle Larson is the 11-2 favorite in the latest 2022 Cook Out Southern 500 odds at Caesars Sportsbook. So far in 2022, it was high on Ross Chastain to win in Austin, giving him a far better shot to win than his 40-1 odds implied. NASCAR's postseason begins on Sunday with the 2022 Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, kicking off a 10-week stretch that ends in Phoenix in November. Then it called Elliott to win at Road America for a 5-2 payout.

Jones marks first time in Cup history that non-playoff driver wins playoff opener. Also, Kyle Busch and Harvick in trouble after disappointing runs.

We didn’t touch a car and here we are in the pits with a burned up car and we can’t finish the race during the playoffs because of crappy ass parts. “The car started burning and as it burned the flames started coming through the dash. Harvick’s race was over and after entering the playoffs five points above the cutline, he fell to 13 points below the cut. 19 Toyota behind the wall, it appeared to be setting up nicely for a Busch victory and a ticket to the Round of 12. Thankfully he was able to come to a stop and quickly climb out before safety crews arrived on the scene. "I think back to the last time winning here and I was driving my guts out. “Honestly that's the calmest I've been in the race car going for a win ever, really. 43 car at Darlington in 55 years to the day and was the 200th Cup Series win for the iconic number. Coming up on 30 laps to go, Truex was leading Busch when the former radioed his crew that he lost power steering, and with his No. Busch had led a race-high 155 laps on the night, and with Truex pulling his No. It marked the first time in the history of the NASCAR playoff system that a non-playoff driver had won the opening race of the Cup playoffs. It was also the first Cup Series victory for the Petty GMS team, which formed at the beginning of the 2022 season in a merger of the two formerly separate organizations.

The NASCAR Cup Series playoffs began Sunday night with the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, but the night's big star wasn't a playoff participant.

[Kevin Harvick](https://www.nbcsportsedge.com/auto-racing/nascar/player/48185/kevin-harvick) — [No one was more disturbed](https://nascar.nbcsports.com/2022/09/04/kevin-harvick-critical-of-nascar-next-gen-car-after-fire/) about Sunday night’s results than Harvick, who rode a flaming car to a stop on the track apron and later lashed out at NASCAR for what he called bad car construction. [Chase Elliott](https://www.nbcsportsedge.com/auto-racing/nascar/player/48457/chase-elliott) — Elliott’s point lead entering the playoffs looked impressive. [William Byron](https://www.nbcsportsedge.com/auto-racing/nascar/player/48576/william-byron) — Byron finished eighth, leading 50 laps and moving to second in the standings. [Christopher Bell](https://www.nbcsportsedge.com/auto-racing/nascar/player/48626/christopher-bell) — Bell had a relatively quiet race, but his fifth place finish gave him a six-position gain — to fourth — in the playoff standings. [His last-place finish](https://nascar.nbcsports.com/2022/09/04/chase-elliott-finishes-last-in-southern-500-after-crash/) Sunday dropped him from first to ninth in the standings. [Joey Logano](https://www.nbcsportsedge.com/auto-racing/nascar/player/48369/joey-logano) — Logano had a steady race, coming home fourth after leading 64 laps.

The coach who now has two national championships on her resume was the honorary pace car driver for Sunday's race at Darlington.

You don't have permission to access "http://www.wltx.com/article/sports/dawn-staley-darlington-raceway/101-d0563f01-dff4-4d16-adc3-75f566bf9ba9" on this server. Access Denied

No non-Playoff driver has ever won the opening race of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. Since the inception of the elimination-style format of the Playoffs in ...

The white flag waved with Hamlin closing to three car lengths. Jones quickly moved out to a five-car lead as Hamlin and Reddick battled for second. The extended caution allowed drivers that had not pitted to come in for service and fresh tires. With 15 laps to go in the Stage, Truex had taken over the top spot from his teammate Kyle Busch who ran second. When the lead pack formed up after the restart, Kyle Busch retained the lead. Stage-ending pit stops shuffled the running order as Kyle Busch(18) was the new leader when racing resumed. Drivers seemed content to just ride, at the beginning of the Stage, in an effort to conserve tires. However, Elliott came to pit road for his crew to address the mechanical failure. The slow stop dropped Logano out of the top 10. Since the inception of the elimination-style format of the Playoffs in 2014 (last eight seasons), entering the Playoffs as the No. On lap 66, Byron tracked down Logano and made the pass for the lead. Logano sits on the pole for the drop of the green flag, and Christopher Bell sits beside him in the front row.