NASCAR: Hamlin holds off Larson at Darlington, opens playoffs with Southern 500 victory

Holding off regular-season champion Kyle Larson throughout a thrilling final green-flag run in Sunday’s Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, Denny Hamlin is winless in 2021 no more.

Hamlin maintained control of his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota as Larson buried his No. 5 Chevrolet into Turns 3 and 4 on the final lap. Larson gave Hamlin a tap, but Hamlin blocked the top lane and got to the finish line .212 seconds ahead of the runner-up.

“He drove it in past the limit of the car and tires,” Hamlin said of Larson’s banzai charge. “I knew he was coming. I was a little conservative on that last lap because I had that four-car-length lead.”

The victory was Hamlin’s first of the year after a winless 26-race regular season. He won for the fourth time at Darlington and for the 45th time in his career to earn an automatic berth into the Round of 12 in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.

“Yeah, it was a matter of time,” Hamlin said of the long-awaited win. “We can’t just keep leading inside 10 laps to go every week and not get a win.”

Hamlin kept Larson at bay over the final two restarts but couldn’t pull away to a comfortable lead.

“We got to the white (flag), and I was like, ‘Well, I haven’t been able to gain on him now, I’m going to try something,’” Larson said of the desperation try he labeled a “video-game move.” “Honestly, got to his bumper too quick. I was hoping he was going to run that diamond to kind of be safe and I could skirt to his outside, but gave everything I had.

“I didn’t want to wreck him. I just wanted to try to get to his outside there, but he did a great job not really making any mistakes during the last run, and I was having to push really hard in second to try and just stay with him.”

Larson led 156 of the 367 laps to Hamlin’s 146. Hamlin won the first stage and Larson the second.

Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. caught a break when Ryan Blaney spun in Turn 4 on Lap 318 while the two JGR drivers stayed on the track trying to stretch the cycle of pit stops. Truex beat Hamlin off pit road but was flagged for speeding, and Hamlin held the top spot the rest of the way.

Non-Playoff driver Ross Chastain finished third, followed by Truex, who recovered from the penalty and an earlier loose wheel to run fourth. Playoff drivers Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch, Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano were fifth through eighth, respectively, but for other title hopefuls, the race brought disaster.

Two-time series champion Kyle Busch suffered an early exit and a blow to his hopes of winning a third title. Contact with the No. 3 Chevrolet of Austin Dillon sent Busch’s No. 18 Toyota rocketing into the outside wall in Turn 2, causing irreparable damage.

Busch fell out in 35th place and now faces an uphill battle to advance to the Round of 12.

“It wasn’t the 3’s (Dillon’s) fault,” Busch said. “Just take our lumps, you know. We were running like (crap), and that’s what you get when you run like (crap). Shouldn’t be there.”

Three-fourths of the Hendrick Motorsports armada took a major hit as well. Alex Bowman scraped the wall on Lap 14 and stayed on the track, hoping to make it to the competition caution on lap 25. But a tire rub proved disastrous, sending Bowman’s Chevy into the Turn 4 wall, and damage the No. 24 Camaro of teammate William Byron in the process.

Bowman was able to continue and finished 26th, but Byron wasn’t as fortunate. After recovering to run in the top 10, Byron cut a left front tire on Lap 200, crashed hard into the Turn 1 wall and exited the race with a 34th-place finish.

“That was a big hit,” Byron acknowledged. “It looked like on that (previous) pit stop, it looked like we dropped the jack and the left front was still finishing up. I took off and everything felt OK. I went to pass the No. 00 (Quin Houff) or somebody down the frontstretch and was just about to turn into (Turn) 1 and the left front went down.

“There was nothing we could do. The guys did an awesome job to fix it. We were running like top-12, I think, even with all the (earlier) right rear damage, and it’s just terrible. I don’t know, man. That sucks.”

Reigning series champion Chase Elliott fell out in 31st place after slamming the outside wall on Lap 327 in a three-wide melee in Turn 1 with Bubba Wallace and Christopher Bell.

An early wreck put a dagger to Michael McDowell’s slim championship chances. On Lap 31, McDowell’s No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford broke loose behind Erik Jones’ Chevrolet in Turn 2, smacked the outside wall and careened nose-first into the inside SAFER barrier.

McDowell exited the race, his car destroyed and his title hopes hanging by a thread.

“The 43 (Jones) kind of got everybody jammed up,” McDowell said after exiting the infield care center. “I think he started on the front there without tires, which is a tough spot to be in, and I just went three-wide underneath him and just got into the patch (of new asphalt in Turn 2) with my left sides just a little bit low.

“I got loose enough into the wall and that was about it. I’ll have to see the replay, but just heartbreaking for everybody on this Front Row team. We had high hopes coming into the Playoffs and this is not how we wanted to start it.”

Bowman, Busch, Byron and McDowell fell below the current cut line for the Round of 12. Elliott leaves Darlington 10th in the Playoff standings.

Denny Hamlin

Wow. You picked a good day to get the first win of the season, didn’t you?

DENNY HAMLIN: Yeah. Southern 500, it’s a big win. Yeah, I love this racetrack. It’s by far my favorite racetrack. It’s just great — can’t thank the Offerpad guys enough for everything they do and FedEx and man Shady Ray’s, the Jordan brand, just everyone — Coca-Cola, everyone at JGR that builds these fast cars.

Walk me through that last lap. Kyle Larson said, ‘I tried to video game it,’ He almost got you, didn’t he?

DENNY HAMLIN: Yeah, he drove it in past the limit of the cars and the tires. I knew he was coming. I was a little bit conservative on that last lap because I had that four-car-length lead. Yeah, I didn’t think it was going go that deep, but yeah, still a great race.

It’s been back and forth with me and him most of the year. He’s just been a little bit faster on these types of racetracks, and luckily the caution came when it did and the strategy worked out great for the team, but man, I’m really happy.

We’re going to show you the replay of that with the Whoop data in and watch your heart rate go up and just goes down. 119, pretty calm? Uh-oh. How did you stay so calm through that? You never went up?

DENNY HAMLIN: He was going to have to go through me (laughter). I knew that was about the only thing. But yeah, it was great, and those guys had the fastest car for most of the day. The 42 was super strong too. Really just happy for our team.

Is there a way to describe how significant this win is, Denny? All year long everybody asking when it’s going to come. It came at a good time.

DENNY HAMLIN: Yeah, it was a matter of time. We can’t just keep leading inside 10 laps to go every week and not get a win. Yesterday was some unique circumstances but, man, I tell you what, I couldn’t be happier for this win and now to move to the Round of 12.

How big is this victory for you and this team?

“Southern 500, it’s a big win. I love this race track. It’s by far my favorite race track. It’s just great — can’t thank the Offerpad guys enough for everything they do and FedEx and Shady Ray’s, the Jordan Brand, just everyone — Coca-Cola, Toyota, everyone at JGR that builds these fast cars.”

What did you think of the move that Kyle Larson tried on you during the final lap?

“He (Kyle Larson) drove it in past the limit of the cars and the tires. I knew he was coming. I was a little bit conservative on that last lap because I had that four-car-length lead. I didn’t think it was going go that deep, but yeah, still a great race. It’s been back and forth with me and him most of the year. He’s just been a little bit faster on these type of race tracks, and luckily the caution came when it did and the strategy worked out great for the team, but man, I’m really happy.”

How significant is this victory at this point in the season?

“It was a matter of time. We can’t just keep leading inside 10 laps to go every week and not get a win. Yesterday was some unique circumstances but, man, I tell you what, I couldn’t be happier for this win and now to move to the Round of 12.”

How special is it to get your first win of the season in the Playoffs?

“We had a couple breaks here and there that got us the track position, but we were top-three all night. Just drove as hard as I could that last run. The balance was just a little off, but we were able to hold off the 5 (Kyle Larson) just enough.”

How difficult is it to drive this track while watching in your rearview mirror?

“A lot of it is aero-blocking, you listen to what the spotter is telling you and what line he’s running and you just put your car in front of his. That’s so much of what we do today is just blocking people aero-wise, but this car was very fast. Chris (Gabehart, crew chief) did a great job adjusting on it all night and gave me a race winner.”

What was going on in the final set of turns?

“I knew he (Kyle Larson) was going to drive in deep, but I didn’t think he was going to go that deep in the corner. Obviously, I knew he wasn’t going to make it, but still he rattled me a little bit to where he got into the back of us and then we got him low. Fun finish to the Southern 500.”

What does this mean for you in the Playoffs?

“Now we get to go have fun these next two weeks. Just can’t thank Offerpad, FedEx and SportClips, the Jordan Brand, Domino’s, Shady Ray Sunglasses – it was a bright, sunny day today. Can’t thank this whole team enough. They deserve a win. We’ve been so strong all year. They deserve to be in victory lane today.”

Kyle Larson

You used the video game move down in 3 and 4; it almost worked.

KYLE LARSON: Yeah. Yeah. I kind of — we got to the white, and I was like, well, I haven’t been able to gain on him now, I’m going to try something. Honestly got to his bumper too quick. I was hoping he was going to run that diamond to kind of be safe and I could skirt to his outside, but gave everything I had.

I didn’t want to wreck him, I just wanted to try to get to his outside there, but he did a great job not really making any mistakes during the last run, and I was having to push really hard in second to try and just stay with him.

Was hoping we’d catch some sort of traffic, but we never really did. Our HendrickCars.com Chevy was really good out front, just in traffic I would get stuck. Like in traffic I just got stuck really bad, and then there at the end losing control of the race really hurt us, but all-in-all a great day, good points day. Pit crew did great. Cliff (Daniels) made some good changes in the car, so try again next week.

We know it’s been a great year for you, but what does it mean to start off the Playoffs this way? You’ve led the most laps, you’re right in contention at the end. What does it mean for this team going through these Playoffs to make a championship run to have a great start?

KYLE LARSON: Yeah it’s good to get a good start. I think everybody’s, you know, nervous getting ready for the final 10 and just the anticipation of how it’s going to go. So good to get a good first week in and build some momentum and some confidence within the team, so hopefully go to Richmond, be a little bit better than we were earlier in the year.

Ross Chastain – Finished 3rd

THROUGHOUT THE SOUTHERN 500 HERE TONIGHT THERE WAS ALL THE PLAYOFF CARS AND THEN THERE WAS ROSS CHASTAIN IN CONTENTION FOR THE WIN. WHAT A GREAT NIGHT FOR YOU GUYS. WHAT MORE DID YOU NEED TO MAYBE CHALLENGE THAT NO. 11 AND NO. 5?

“A better driver. I can go fast. I just can’t quite race with them, and it starts with my restarts. I’ve got some work to do there, so I gave up the outside to take the bottom to be safe and then Kyle rolls around me.

Was able to make one last charge there at him at the end, but yeah, I just need to clean up a few things. This McDonald’s car, I think it was the fastest car here tonight, so it’s humbling to come with this CGR group these final 10 races here, a place where my career kind of took a totally different trajectory three years ago, and to have people like Clover and the Moose (Fraternity) and Advent Health on board supporting me and still letting me race three years later, it means the world. I’ve just got to clean up some more, though.”

WHAT IS IT ABOUT THIS PLACE FOR YOU? I REMEMBER BACK IN 2018 WHEN YOU HAD THAT AMAZING RUN FOR GANASSI HERE AT DARLINGTON. YOU’VE BEEN SO CLOSE TO WINNING HERE TWICE IN THE XFINITY SERIES. TALK ABOUT THIS PLACE, HOW GOOD IT IS FOR YOU AND ALSO THE COMPETITION LEVEL OF NOW DOING THIS ON THE CUP SIDE.

“Yeah, it’s hard to say. I feel like I’ve put in work, but I always feel behind, so I never feel fully prepared. So I’m not going to say that. I’m going to say it’s probably a lot of hot Saturday nights in south Florida racing at 417 Speedway. We don’t run up against the fence there, but it’s as sideways as we are here at Darlington, and I didn’t run up against the fence at all tonight. A lot of Florida Saturday night short tracks and a lot of older, wiser guys and other racers down there that taught me a lot. To come back here now three years later for the people that supported me then and put me in that car, we’re still here and we’re still fighting, and it means the world.”

Race Results

Fin	Str	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Led	Status
1	2	11	Denny Hamlin (P)	Offerpad Toyota	367	146	Running
2	6	5	Kyle Larson (P)	HendrickCars.com Chevrolet	367	156	Running
3	23	42	Ross Chastain	McDonald’s Chevrolet	367	1	Running
4	10	19	Martin Truex Jr. (P)	Bass Pro Toyota	367	1	Running
5	9	4	Kevin Harvick (P)	Busch Light Fan Design Ford	367	20	Running
6	3	1	Kurt Busch (P)	Monster Energy Chevrolet	367	13	Running
7	16	2	Brad Keselowski (P)	Discount Tire Ford	367	0	Running
8	11	22	Joey Logano (P)	Shell Pennzoil Ford	367	0	Running
9	34	17	Chris Buescher	Roush Performance Ford	367	0	Running
10	21	3	Austin Dillon	Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Off Road Chevrolet	367	0	Running
11	31	41	Cole Custer	HaasTooling.com Demo Day Ford	367	0	Running
12	18	37	* Ryan Preece	Kroger/Hershey’s S’mores Chevrolet	367	0	Running
13	26	99	Daniel Suarez	Good Sam Chevrolet	367	0	Running
14	19	6	Ryan Newman	Oscar Mayer Bologna Ford	367	0	Running
15	25	7	Corey LaJoie	Schluter Systems Chevrolet	367	0	Running
16	8	10	Aric Almirola (P)	Smithfield Ford	366	0	Running
17	29	47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Kroger/Little Hug Chevrolet	366	0	Running
18	7	8	Tyler Reddick (P)	Childress Vineyards Chevrolet	366	0	Running
19	24	14	Chase Briscoe #	HighPoint.com/Founders Ford	366	0	Running
20	13	20	Christopher Bell (P)	Sport Clips Haircuts Toyota	366	10	Running
21	17	23	Bubba Wallace	Door Dash Toyota	366	0	Running
22	1	12	Ryan Blaney (P)	Menards/Richmond Ford	366	17	Running
23	30	21	Matt DiBenedetto	Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford	365	0	Running
24	32	38	Anthony Alfredo #	Chicago Pneumatic Compressors Ford	364	0	Running
25	20	77	Justin Haley(i)	Bon Secours/Swamp Rabbits Chevrolet	364	0	Running
26	5	48	Alex Bowman (P)	Ally Chevrolet	363	0	Running
27	27	78	BJ McLeod(i)	CorvetteParts.net Ford	359	0	Running
28	28	52	Josh Bilicki	Jacob Companies Ford	359	0	Running
29	35	15	Joey Gase(i)	RWR Chevrolet	357	1	Running
30	37	0	Quin Houff	UNITS Chevrolet	355	0	Running
31	4	9	Chase Elliott (P)	NAPA/Children’s Chevrolet	327	0	Accident
32	22	43	Erik Jones	Petty’s Garage Chevrolet	264	2	Engine
33	33	51	Cody Ware(i)	Nurtec ODT Chevrolet	209	0	Accident
34	14	24	William Byron (P)	Axalta Chevrolet	199	0	Accident
35	12	18	Kyle Busch (P)	M&M’s Toyota	125	0	Accident
36	36	53	James Davison	Chevrolet	50	0	Accident
37	15	34	Michael McDowell (P)	Love’s Travel Stops Ford	30	0	Accident

Average Speed of Race Winner:  121.279 mph.

Time of Race:  4 Hrs, 8 Mins, 1 Secs. Margin of Victory:  .212 Seconds.

Caution Flags:  11 for 52 laps.

Lead Changes:  18 among 10 drivers.

Lap Leaders:   R. Blaney (P) 1-14;K. Busch (P) 15-27;E. Jones 28-29;K. Harvick (P) 30-49;J. Gase(i) 50;D. Hamlin (P) 51-80;R. Blaney (P) 81-83;D. Hamlin (P) 84-121;K. Larson (P) 122-158;C. Bell (P) 159-165;K. Larson (P) 166-196;C. Bell (P) 197-199;K. Larson (P) 200-232;R. Chastain 233;K. Larson (P) 234-269;D. Hamlin (P) 270-278;M. Truex Jr. (P) 279;K. Larson (P) 280-298;D. Hamlin (P) 299-367.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  Kyle Larson (P) 5 times for 156 laps; Denny Hamlin (P) 4 times for 146 laps; Kevin Harvick (P) 1 time for 20 laps; Ryan Blaney (P) 2 times for 17 laps; Kurt Busch (P) 1 time for 13 laps; Christopher Bell (P) 2 times for 10 laps; Erik Jones 1 time for 2 laps; Ross Chastain 1 time for 1 lap; Joey Gase(i) 1 time for 1 lap; Martin Truex Jr. (P) 1 time for 1 lap.

Stage #1 Top Ten: 11,5,1,12,4,19,8,10,42,22

Stage #2 Top Ten: 5,20,42,11,4,1,22,9,12,7