Race Results

NASCAR Cup Series

Cook Out Southern 500

Darlington Raceway

September 3rd, 2023

Race #27 of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Season

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Laps Scheduled: 367
Miles Raced : 501.3
Time of Race : 04 Hours 08 minutes 47 seconds
Average Speed: 120.906 mph
Margin of Victory : 00.447 seconds
Cautions: 8
Caution Laps: 51
Lead Changes: 13
Cars in Race : 36
Finished On Lead Lap: 22 (61%)

Kyle Larson poses with the winner sticker on his car — Darlington, South Carolina - September 3rd, 2023: Kyle Larson, driver of the #5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, poses with the winner sticker on his car in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. Photo by James Gilbert | Getty Images

FIN	ST	Car #	Driver	Make	TOT PTS	F PTS	B PTS	PO PTS	Laps	Led	x Led	S1	S2	STUS
1	18	5	Kyle Larson	Chevrolet	57	40	17	5	367	55	1	3	2	Running
2	3	45	Tyler Reddick	Toyota	51	35	16	0	367	90	4	2	4	Running
3	8	17	Chris Buescher	Ford	36	34	2	0	367	0	0	9	0	Running
4	23	24	William Byron	Chevrolet	39	33	6	0	367	0	0	0	5	Running
5	27	1	Ross Chastain	Chevrolet	32	32	0	0	367	0	0	0	0	Running
6	5	6	Brad Keselowski	Ford	38	31	7	0	367	0	0	6	9	Running
7	19	23	Bubba Wallace	Toyota	30	30	0	0	367	0	0	0	0	Running
8	13	9	Chase Elliott	Chevrolet	33	29	4	0	367	0	0	7	0	Running
9	4	12	Ryan Blaney	Ford	38	28	10	0	367	0	0	5	7	Running
10	20	43	Erik Jones	Chevrolet	35	27	8	0	367	0	0	0	3	Running
11	11	8	Kyle Busch	Chevrolet	31	26	5	0	367	0	0	0	6	Running
12	6	22	Joey Logano	Ford	25	25	0	0	367	0	0	0	0	Running
13	16	16	AJ Allmendinger	Chevrolet	24	24	0	0	367	0	0	0	0	Running
14	10	10	Aric Almirola	Ford	24	23	1	0	367	0	0	10	0	Running
15	12	14	Chase Briscoe	Ford	22	22	0	0	367	0	0	0	0	Running
16	25	47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr	Chevrolet	22	21	1	0	367	0	0	0	10	Running
17	15	42	Carson Hocevar	Chevrolet	0	0	0	0	367	0	0	0	0	Running
18	31	19	Martin Truex Jr	Toyota	19	19	0	0	367	0	0	0	0	Running
19	7	4	Kevin Harvick	Ford	25	18	7	0	367	1	1	4	0	Running
20	28	3	Austin Dillon	Chevrolet	20	17	3	0	367	0	0	0	8	Running
21	17	54	Ty Gibbs	Toyota	16	16	0	0	367	0	0	0	0	Running
22	22	7	Corey Lajoie	Chevrolet	15	15	0	0	367	3	1	0	0	Running
23	1	20	Christopher Bell	Toyota	17	14	3	0	366	40	3	8	0	Running
24	29	31	Justin Haley	Chevrolet	13	13	0	0	366	0	0	0	0	Running
25	2	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	32	12	20	2	366	177	3	1	1	Running
26	30	38	Todd Gilliland	Ford	11	11	0	0	366	0	0	0	0	Running
27	35	51	Ryan Newman	Ford	10	10	0	0	365	0	0	0	0	Running
28	34	41	Ryan Preece	Ford	9	9	0	0	364	0	0	0	0	Running
29	26	77	Ty Dillon	Chevrolet	8	8	0	0	364	0	0	0	0	Running
30	33	15	JJ Yeley	Ford	0	0	0	0	362	1	1	0	0	Running
31	14	2	Austin Cindric	Ford	6	6	0	0	361	0	0	0	0	Running
32	9	34	Michael McDowell	Ford	5	5	0	0	329	0	0	0	0	Accident
33	24	48	Alex Bowman	Chevrolet	4	4	0	0	322	0	0	0	0	Accident
34	21	99	Daniel Suarez	Chevrolet	3	3	0	0	320	0	0	0	0	Accident
35	32	21	Harrison Burton	Ford	2	2	0	0	318	0	0	0	0	Accident
36	36	78	BJ McLeod	Chevrolet	1	1	0	0	210	0	0	0	0	Engine

Race Infractions

Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway

Driver	Infraction	Penalty	Lap	Lap Assessed	Flag
Kyle Busch	Pre-Race to the Rear Unapproved Adjustments	Tail End	0	0	White
Ricky Stenhouse Jr	Speeding on pit road	Pass Thru	33	35	Green
Ryan Preece	Pitting before pit road is open	Tail End	180	182	Yellow
Joey Logano	Too many crewmember(s) in contact with pit service area	Tail End	185	187	Yellow
Carson Hocevar	Speeding on pit road	Tail End	217	219	Yellow
Aric Almirola	Pitting before pit road is open	Tail End	227	229	Yellow
Ty Gibbs	Pitting before pit road is open	Tail End	227	229	Yellow
Austin Cindric	Pitting before pit road is open	Tail End	235	237	Yellow
Kevin Harvick	Pitting before pit road is open	Tail End	309	311	Yellow
Michael McDowell	Speeding on pit road	Tail End	309	311	Yellow
Daniel Suarez	Pitting before pit road is open Garage	Tail End	319	0	Yellow
Ty Dillon	Pitting before pit road is open	Tail End	323	325	Yellow
Austin Cindric	Crewmember(s) over the wall too soon	Tail End	323	325	Yellow
Alex Bowman	Pitting before pit road is open Garage	Tail End	324	0	Yellow
Ryan Newman	Pitting before pit road is open	Tail End	325	327	Yellow
Ryan Newman	Too many crewmember(s) in contact with pit service area	Tail End	325	327	Yellow
Denny Hamlin	Pitting before pit road is open	Tail End	331	333	Yellow
Michael McDowell	Pitting before pit road is open Garage	Tail End	331	0	Yellow
Todd Gilliland	Pitting before pit road is open	Tail End	332	334	Yellow
Christopher Bell	Pitting before pit road is open	Tail End	333	335	Yellow

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Race Fast Facts

Darlington Raceway
Cook Out Southern 500
Race Winner: Kyle Larson
Age: 31
Team : No. 5 - HendrickCars.com Chevrolet
Owner: Rick Hendrick
Crew Chief: Cliff Daniels
Kyle Larson won the Cook Out Southern 500, his 22nd victory in 322 Cup Series races.
This is his third victory and 13th top-10 finish in 2023.
This is his first victory and eighth top-10 finish in 12 races at Darlington Raceway.
Tyler Reddick (second) posted his fourth top-10 finish in nine races at Darlington Raceway. It is his 12th top-10 finish in 2023.
Chris Buescher (third) posted his fourth top-10 finish in 13 races at Darlington Raceway.
Ty Gibbs (21st) was the highest finishing rookie.
William Byron leads the point standings by 1 points over Kyle Larson.

Race Recap

Kyle Larson wins Cook Out Southern 500 to advance in NASCAR Cup Playoffs

September 3rd, 2023

By Reid Spencer - NASCAR Wire Service

Welcome back, Kyle Larson.

The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion held off a desperate charge from fellow Playoff driver Tyler Reddick at sold-out Darlington Raceway to claim victory in Sunday night’s Cook Out Southern 500 and earn an automatic berth in the Round of 12.

Larson entered the Playoff opener with an undistinguished average finish of 17.5 in his previous six races, but he weathered a transmission momentary stuck in neutral and a disconcerting brush with the wall to register his third victory of the season, the 22^nd of his career and his first at the famed Lady in Black.

"Yeah, finally from start to finish," Larson said of his ability to put together a complete race. "Eighteenth to third in the first stage, I didn’t think that was possible. Our race car was really good when the sun was out. Just had to work on it.

"I messed up once and it got hung in neutral, and I slid and hit the wall, and I think 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 really important. This race is all about keeping your head in it…

"What a great way to start the Playoffs, and hopefully we can keep it going."

Larson took the lead for the first time during a quick pit stop on Lap 313 and held it for the final 55 circuits. Reddick rolled off pit road second but couldn’t find a way past the race winner.

"Kyle and I were pretty close the majority of the day, honestly, and he just got ahead of us there on pit road, but all in all, this is the day that we needed to have," said Reddick, who led 90 laps and crossed the finish line .447 seconds behind Larson.

"Really just thankful for the hard work from my pit crew, from 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 really glad we were able to do that, and it was a really good points day on top of that, as well."

Chris Buescher ran a mistake-free race and finished third, followed by William Byron, who charged forward from his 23^rd starting position. Ross Chastain ran fifth, with Brad Keselowski and Bubba Wallace behind him, as Playoff drivers claimed the top seven positions.

While Larson leaves Darlington with guaranteed admission to the Round of 12, Byron, his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, leads the Playoff standings by one point—over Larson. Reddick is 15 points behind Byron, followed by Buescher and Denny Hamlin, who trail by 18 points.

Catastrophes proved the undoing of several Playoff drivers who showed excellent speed but succumbed to a variety of pit road mistakes and errors in judgment.

Hamlin led 177 laps, swept the first and second stages and dominated the race—until he made an extra green-flag pit stop on Lap 274, believing he had a loose wheel. Hamlin lost a lap and any chance he had of starting the Playoffs with a victory. Hamlin’s night got worse when he was collected in a five-car wreck on Lap 330. He finished 25^th.

After Hamlin’s demise, Kevin Harvick was chasing Reddick for the lead. Harvick steered his car toward pit road on Lap 309, causing Reddick to check up in front of Ryan Newman in an attempt to duplicate Harvick’s maneuver. Newman spun in Turn 4, causing the sixth caution, and the red light indicating a closed pit road caught Harvick just before he reached the entry line. The resulting penalty sent Harvick to the back of the field for a restart on Lap 317, with no time to recovered past 19^th.

A driver with no margin for error entering the Round of 16, Michael McDowell didn’t have the speed to stay on the lead lap, but his Waterloo came in the same Lap 330 wreck that involved Hamlin and fellow Playoff driver and pole winner Christopher Bell. McDowell’s No. 34 Ford was too badly hurt to continue, and he fell out of the race in 32^nd place.

McDowell heads to next Sunday’s Playoff race at Kansas Speedway in 16^th place, 19 points behind Bell in 12^th.

Late in the first stage, Bell slammed the outside wall and damaged the suspension on his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, ruining any chances of victory.

"I just got in the marbles and fenced it hard," Bell radioed to his team.

After the stage break, Bell dropped precipitously through the field and was soon lapped by leader Denny Hamlin.

"The toe is messed up—I’m having to turn the wheel a lot," Bell radioed to crew chief Adam Stevens.

Bell, who finished a lap down in 23^rd, wasn’t the only Playoff driver who fell victim to mistakes in the first stage, which ran under the green flag from start to finish. Joey Logano scraped the wall at the apex of Turns 3 and 4 on Lap 86.

His No. 22 Ford bit the wall again on Lap 115—the final circuit of Stage 1—when the No. 23 Toyota of Wallace spun underneath him in Turn 4 and knocked the right rear of Logano’s car into the fence, after Hamlin had taken the green/checkered flag to win the stage and the accompanying Playoff point.

Martin Truex Jr. (who finished 18^th) lost four spots after brushing the wall late in the stage and ran 17^th in the first segment. Truex’s problems multiplied in Stage 2 when he had to make an unscheduled pit stop because of a loose wheel and lost two laps.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (16^th) lost a lap serving a pass-through penalty for speeding on pit road during his first green-flag pit stop, as mistakes began to shape the Playoffs—as they invariably do.