Race Results

NASCAR Cup Series

Cook Out Southern 500

Darlington Raceway

September 5th, 2021

Race #27 of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Season

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Laps Scheduled: 367
Miles Raced : 501.3
Time of Race : 04 Hours 08 minutes 01 seconds
Average Speed: 121.279 mph
Margin of Victory : 00.212 seconds
Cautions: 11
Caution Laps: 52
Lead Changes: 18
Cars in Race : 37
Finished On Lead Lap: 15 (41%)

Denny Hamlin celebrates after winning at Darlington Raceway — Darlington, South Carolina - September 5th, 2021: Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 Offerpad Toyota, celebrates after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. Photo by Jared East | Getty Images

FIN	ST	Car #	Driver	Make	TOT PTS	F PTS	B PTS	PO PTS	Laps	Led	x Led	S1	S2	STUS
1	2	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	57	40	17	6	367	146	4	1	4	Running
2	6	5	Kyle Larson	Chevrolet	54	35	19	1	367	156	5	2	1	Running
3	23	42	Ross Chastain	Chevrolet	44	34	10	0	367	1	1	9	3	Running
4	10	19	Martin Truex Jr	Toyota	38	33	5	0	367	1	1	6	0	Running
5	9	4	Kevin Harvick	Ford	44	32	12	0	367	20	1	5	5	Running
6	3	1	Kurt Busch	Chevrolet	44	31	13	0	367	13	1	3	6	Running
7	16	2	Brad Keselowski	Ford	30	30	0	0	367	0	0	0	0	Running
8	11	22	Joey Logano	Ford	34	29	5	0	367	0	0	10	7	Running
9	34	17	Chris Buescher	Ford	28	28	0	0	367	0	0	0	0	Running
10	21	3	Austin Dillon	Chevrolet	27	27	0	0	367	0	0	0	0	Running
11	31	41	Cole Custer	Ford	26	26	0	0	367	0	0	0	0	Running
12	18	37	Ryan Preece	Chevrolet	25	25	0	0	367	0	0	0	0	Running
13	26	99	Daniel Suarez	Chevrolet	24	24	0	0	367	0	0	0	0	Running
14	19	6	Ryan Newman	Ford	23	23	0	0	367	0	0	0	0	Running
15	25	7	Corey Lajoie	Chevrolet	23	22	1	0	367	0	0	0	10	Running
16	8	10	Aric Almirola	Ford	24	21	3	0	366	0	0	8	0	Running
17	29	47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr	Chevrolet	20	20	0	0	366	0	0	0	0	Running
18	7	8	Tyler Reddick	Chevrolet	23	19	4	0	366	0	0	7	0	Running
19	24	14	Chase Briscoe	Ford	18	18	0	0	366	0	0	0	0	Running
20	13	20	Christopher Bell	Toyota	26	17	9	0	366	10	2	0	2	Running
21	17	23	Bubba Wallace	Toyota	16	16	0	0	366	0	0	0	0	Running
22	1	12	Ryan Blaney	Ford	24	15	9	0	366	17	2	4	9	Running
23	30	21	Matt DiBenedetto	Ford	14	14	0	0	365	0	0	0	0	Running
24	32	38	Anthony Alfredo	Ford	13	13	0	0	364	0	0	0	0	Running
25	20	77	Justin Haley	Chevrolet	0	0	0	0	364	0	0	0	0	Running
26	5	48	Alex Bowman	Chevrolet	11	11	0	0	363	0	0	0	0	Running
27	27	78	BJ McLeod	Ford	0	0	0	0	359	0	0	0	0	Running
28	28	52	Josh Bilicki	Ford	9	9	0	0	359	0	0	0	0	Running
29	35	15	Joey Gase	Chevrolet	0	0	0	0	357	1	1	0	0	Running
30	37	0	Quin Houff	Chevrolet	7	7	0	0	355	0	0	0	0	Running
31	4	9	Chase Elliott	Chevrolet	9	6	3	0	327	0	0	0	8	Accident
32	22	43	Erik Jones	Chevrolet	5	5	0	0	264	2	1	0	0	Engine
33	33	51	Cody Ware	Chevrolet	0	0	0	0	209	0	0	0	0	Accident
34	14	24	William Byron	Chevrolet	3	3	0	0	199	0	0	0	0	Accident
35	12	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	2	2	0	0	125	0	0	0	0	Accident
36	36	53	James Davison	Chevrolet	1	1	0	0	50	0	0	0	0	Accident
37	15	34	Michael McDowell	Ford	1	1	0	0	30	0	0	0	0	Accident

Race Infractions

Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway

Driver	Infraction	Penalty	Lap	Lap Assessed	Flag
Austin Dillon	Pre-Race to the Rear Multiple inspection failures	Tail End	0	0	White
Alex Bowman	Pitting before pit road is open	Tail End	17	19	Yellow
Joey Gase	Pitting before pit road is open	Tail End	28	29	Yellow
Chase Elliott	Pitting before pit road is open	Tail End	28	29	Yellow
Josh Bilicki	Pitting before pit road is open	Tail End	28	29	Yellow
Alex Bowman	Pitting before pit road is open	Tail End	34	35	Yellow
James Davison	Pitting before pit road is open Garage	Tail End	47	0	Yellow
Ross Chastain	Pitting before pit road is open	Tail End	52	53	Yellow
Alex Bowman	Pitting before pit road is open	Tail End	117	122	Yellow
Cody Ware	Pitting before pit road is open	Tail End	126	128	Yellow
Cody Ware	Pitting before pit road is open	Tail End	165	168	Yellow
Cody Ware	Pitting before pit road is open	Tail End	202	205	Yellow
Ryan Blaney	Tire violation	Tail End	232	237	Yellow
Martin Truex Jr	Speeding on pit road	Tail End	319	325	Yellow
Ryan Blaney	Pitting before pit road is open	Tail End	319	325	Yellow
Ryan Blaney	Pitting before pit road is open	Tail End	327	331	Yellow
Chase Elliott	Pitting before pit road is open Garage	Tail End	327	0	Yellow
Kurt Busch	Pitting before pit road is open	Tail End	329	331	Yellow
Anthony Alfredo	Pitting before pit road is open	Tail End	329	331	Yellow

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Race Fast Facts

Darlington Raceway
72nd Annual Cook Out Southern 500
Race Winner: Denny Hamlin
Age: 40
Team: No. 11 - Offerpad Toyota
Owner: Joe Gibbs
Crew Chief: Christopher Gabehart
Denny Hamlin won the 72nd Annual Cook Out Southern 500, his 45th victory in 569 Cup Series races.
This is his first victory and 18th top-10 finish in 2021.
This is his fourth victory and 15th top-10 finish in 19 races at Darlington Raceway.
Kyle Larson (second) posted his seventh top-10 finish in eight races at Darlington Raceway. It is his 19th top-10 finish in 2021.
Ross Chastain (third) posted his first top-10 finish in five races at Darlington Raceway.
Chase Briscoe (19th) was the highest finishing rookie.

Race Recap

Denny Hamlin holds off Kyle Larson at Darlington for dramatic NASCAR Cup Playoff win

September 5th, 2021

By Reid Spencer - NASCAR Wire Services

DARLINGTON, S.C. – 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

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.