of Cook Out Southern 500 Beginning of 2022 NASCAR Cup Series With the playoffs in Darlington, South Carolina on Sunday, it’s literally going to be a hard playoff. round 16 action.
Ultimately, Eric Jones emerged victorious after a series of heavy events late in the race.
It was the first race in a 10-week competition that ends in Arizona in November, and just four drivers qualified for the coveted NASCAR Cup Series championship at Phoenix Raceway.
The 16 drivers who were part of the playoff field participating in the Cookout Southern 500 (an egg-shaped oval track consisting of 367 laps) Chase ElliotJoey Logano, Ross Chastain, Kyle Larson, William ByronRyan Blaney, Denny HamlinTyler Reddick, Kevin Harvick, Christopher Bell, Kyle BushChase Briscoe, Daniel Suarez, Austin Sindrick, Alex Bowman, Austin Dillon.
Darlington Raceway’s top moments are:
green!
Logano took pole for Sunday’s race. “The Track Too Tough to Tame” had him and Bell battling side by side for his first two laps.
An early warning was given because it was raining, but it soon disappeared and the green flag returned on lap 17.
follow the leader
Pole-sitter Logano held onto the lead for most of the early stages of the race, extending his lead over Byron by nearly a second on lap 54.
miscue
Elsewhere, Harvick’s lengthy pit stop on the opening stage got him into trouble and dropped him out of the top 20 altogether.
make a move
Byron finally closed in on Logano and took the lead on lap 66.
big problem
Larson’s team had to troubleshoot and check for engine problems when he came to pit road without power.
crash!
A caution flag went out at the end of the first stage as Elliott and Briscoe collided at the track. Elliott got the worst of it, breaking the rear and toe links of his car, finish his race early.
book stage 1
Byron could get it Stage 1 win — It’s your fourth stage win of the year and your first since Talladega in April.
The rest of the field was marked and started work in the second stage.
close the call
In Stage 2, chaos erupted when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. hit the wall hard, causing heavy damage to his right side and immediately headed for the garage. Elsewhere, a caution flag was raised when Todd Gilliland spun at Turn 2 and nearly overtook Jones, Logano and Suarez in the process.
one car spin
The green flag was waved on lap 187, but it didn’t last long as Larson reversed.
lead change
At the end of the second stage, Martin True Jr. overtook Busch for the lead and built it up to 1.9 seconds.
big contact
Shortly after, Suarez was walled by Bell, who was walled by Logano.All drivers involved avoided serious accidents, but Bush stage 2 win — Good for playoff points.
still fighting
The green flag was back with 131 laps to go, at which point Busch was leading over 100 laps into the night. He was just 1.7 seconds behind the top four at the time—Busch, Logano, Truex Jr. and Suarez.
However, it was short-lived as a warning was issued when Harvick’s car caught fire on the track.
Harvick, who had previously voiced concerns about next-generation car stiffness issues, spoke candidly about his early retirement shortly after the incident.
Joe Gibbs Racing 1-2-3
Truex Jr. then extended his lead by 1.5 seconds over Busch, who was being chased by Hamlin in third.
sudden ending
Things looked promising for Truex Jr., but his night ended prematurely due to a mechanical problem.
one more!
Bush took the lead after Truex Jr.’s exit, but something unexpected happened – a lot of smoke came out from under Busch’s car and the motor exploded on the track. Bush was out of the race just like that, making way for 2019 Southern 500 winner Jones. Move to lead spot.
Busch had previously led the race for 155 laps.
White flag!
Jones began to pull away with ten laps to go and Reddick challenged Hamlin for second. In the end Jones was able to hold off the rest of the field and secure his victory at Darlington.
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