Once Kyle Larson got a whiff of the lead during Sunday’s Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, nobody was stopping him.
The Hendrick Motorsports driver led the final 40 laps en route to punching his ticket to the Round of 12 in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.
Facing two restarts on the 1.366-mile egg-shaped oval, the 2021 Cup Series champion endured heavy pressure from 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick in the closing laps, though never relinquished the top spot in front of a sold out Darlington crowd.
It wasn’t all smooth sailing for Larson, who had to overcome a potential bent toe link early on in the 367-lap race that set the No. 5 Chevrolet back in the running order.
“My race car was really good when the sun was out,” Larson said. “I just had to work on it. I messed up once and it got hung in neutral. Just slid and hit the wall and I think I bent the toe link a little bit. So it was kind of a struggle from there, definitely had to fight it more than I was earlier.
“But we kept our heads in the game. That was that was really important. This race is all about keeping your head in it. I have been pretty hard on myself here this last couple of months, but having a leader like Cliff (Daniels), he really is good for my mind.”
While Larson surged ahead, Reddick could only watch the bumper of Larson’s Chevy slowly inch farther away. Reddick led 90 laps on the day. He feels the lack of a longer run at the end of the race made the difference between victory and second place.
“Man, I don’t know maybe just a little bit longer run. It had just gotten short enough to where you didn’t save a whole lot I don’t think. Kyle (Larson) and I were pretty close the majority of the day, honestly,” Reddick said. “He just got ahead of us there unfortunately on pit road, but all in all this is the day that we needed to have.
“I’m really just thankful for the hard work from the pit crew, the team, everyone at the shop. Days like this with a car like this we haven’t been able to get a second place finish out of it so I’m really glad we’re able to do that. We’re sitting pretty good. It was a pretty good points day on top of that as well.”
It was another strong run for RFK Racing’s Chris Buescher, who finished third. It was Buescher’s fourth top-three finish in the last five races. William Byron steered his No. 24 Chevy home in fourth.
“It feels good and it hurts a little bit at the same time,” Buescher said after the race. “To be this close and watch it right there in front of us and to watch the 45 (Reddick) go up there and slap the fence over and over I’m like, ‘Man, surely we can get by.’ And the 5 car (Larson) didn’t make any mistakes.
“It ended up being a hard day to pass, for sure. We definitely had big aero issues as we tried to get by cars. We worked hard on that and our team did a great job. The pit crew really stepped up in the final half of this race and got us a bunch of spots that put us up front and put us in a great spot to fight for it at least. It hurts just a little bit to be that close and not be able to get it.”
Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain earned his first top-10 finish since Michigan at the beginning of August with a fifth-place effort. Chastain struggled in the early stages of the race, as he went a lap down before Stage One ended.
What Else Went Down
• Christopher Bell led the field to the green flag alongside Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin, with Bell shooting out to an early advantage. Two cycles of green flag pit stops commenced, with the stage going caution-free. Hamlin scored his sixth stage win of the season.
• As Stage One ended, Bubba Wallace spun out of turn four while battling Joey Logano for 11th. The 23XI Racing driver had little to no damage after hitting the left rear of Logano’s No. 22 Ford.
• Martin Truex Jr. had a loose wheel after his first pit stop in Stage Two, forcing the regular season champion to pit a second time. He’d go two laps down in the process.
• On lap 180, the caution flag was thrown for the lights going out in turn threes and four. After a handful of caution laps, NASCAR red flagged the race on lap 189. The red flag lasted for seven minutes before green flag action got back underway.
• On lap 217, B.J. McLeod came to a stop on the backstretch, bringing out the caution flag with 14 laps to go in Stage Two.
• Austin Cindric and Ty Gibbs tangled to bring out the caution with four laps to go in Stage Two. Hamlin won Stage Two, his second on the night.
• Reddick took over the lead during green flag pit stops. Hamlin was forced to pit with 95 laps to go with a reported loose wheel issue. After pitting, Hamlin came back out on track one lap down in 30th.
• As green flag pit stops began later on, Ryan Newman spun with 58 to go, triggering a caution flag. Second-place runner Kevin Harvick elected to pit as Newman spun. With pit road being closed, Harvick was penalized, promptly derailing a potential challenge for victory.
• Another caution flag flew on lap 319 when Alex Bowman blocked Daniel Suarez down the frontstretch before the two tangled and hit the outside wall. Harrison Burton was also involved.
• With issues for Harvick, Larson vaulted to the front row for the ensuing restart with 40 to go.
• Three laps after the restart, a caution flew when Todd Gilliland spun down the frontstretch, causing Hamlin to check up. Michael McDowell slammed into the back of Hamlin, ricocheting the No. 34 Ford towards the wall and into Bell.
• The final restart came with 32 laps to go, with Larson hanging on.
Playoff Driver Finishes
• It was a strong showing for Brad Keselowski and Bubba Wallace, who finished sixth and seventh, respectively.
• Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney ended his race in ninth, giving the driver of the No. 12 Ford his third top 10 in the last five races.
• Kyle Busch had to go to the rear of the field following a toe link change prior to the race. Busch clawed his way to 10th by race’s end.
• Contact with Wallace at the end of Stage One was the beginning of a long night for Logano. The reigning Cup Series champion dealt with a bent toe link on his race car, forcing the driver of the No. 22 Ford to run near the back half of the field.
Though Logano got the free pass on lap 181. He finished 12th.
“I got ran in the wall a third time and bent the toe link,” Logano said. “The guys did a great job changing that and staying pretty much on the lead lap and then started to grind our way back through the field. I probably could have done a little better.
“I probably gave up overall 15 points on the day. I think we’re one point to the good right now, so those 15 would be nice.”
• Ricky Stenhouse Jr. endured a pit road speeding penalty on the first pit stop of the evening. After going a lap down, Stenhouse got the free pass on lap 218. The JTG Daugherty Racing driver rebounded to finish 16th.
• Truex got back on the lead lap with 45 laps to go after a loose wheel early on, where he’d salvage an 18th-place result.
• Once Harvick served his drive through penalty, he had to settle for 19th place.
• After getting into the wall at the end of Stage One, Bell struggled with a bent lower control arm. Though the red flag came at a perfect time, as the JGR team was able to asses the damage. He muscled his No. 20 Toyota to a 23rd place finish after getting involved in another accident.
• Despite winning the first two stages and leading the most laps with 177, Hamlin limped his No. 11 Toyota home in 25th, one lap down after contact in the latter stages of the race.
• It was a miserable evening for McDowell, who failed to finish on track after receiving heavy damage to his race car. The Front Row Motorsports driver finished 32nd.