Date: Sept. 3, 2023
Event: Cook Out Southern 500 (Round 27 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Cup Series
Location: Darlington (S.C.) Raceway (1.366-mile oval)
Format: 367 laps, broken into three stages (115 laps/115 laps/137 laps)
Race Winner: Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports
Stage 1 Winner: Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing
Stage 2 Winner: Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing
SHR Race Finish:
● Aric Almirola (Started 10th, Finished 14th / Running, completed 367 of 367 laps)
● Chase Briscoe (Started 12th, Finished 15th / Running, completed 367 of 367 laps)
● Kevin Harvick (Started 7th, Finished 19th / Running, completed 367 of 367 laps)
● Ryan Preece (Started 34th, Finished 28th / Running, completed 364 of 367 laps)
SHR Points:
● Kevin Harvick (14th with 2,029 points, two points below top-12 cutoff)
● Aric Almirola (23rd with 471 points)
● Ryan Preece (26th with 438 points)
● Chase Briscoe (30th with 355 points)
Playoff Standings (with two races to go before Round of 12):
1. Kyle Larson (2,074 points) 1 win
2. William Byron (2,075 points) +45 points
3. Tyler Reddick (2,060 points) +30 points
4. Chris Buescher (2,057 points) +27 points
5. Denny Hamlin (2,057 points) +27 points
6. Martin Truex Jr. (2,055 points) +25 points
7. Kyle Busch (2,050 points) +20 points
8. Brad Keselowski (2,048 points) +18 points
9. Ryan Blaney (2,046 points) +16 points
10. Ross Chastain (2,043 points) +13 points
11. Joey Logano (2,033 points) +3 points
12. Christopher Bell (2,031 points) +1 point
13. Bubba Wallace (2,030 points) -1 point
14. Kevin Harvick (2,029 points) -2 points
15. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (2,027 points) -4 points
16. Michael McDowell (2,012 points) -19 points
SHR Notes:
● Almirola finished 10th in Stage 1 to earn one bonus point.
● This was Almirola’s eighth top-15 this season and his second straight. He finished third last week at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway.
● This was Briscoe’s 10th top-15 this season.
● Harvick finished fourth in Stage 1 to earn seven bonus points.
● Harvick led one lap to increase his laps-led total at Darlington to 819.
● Harvick has now led 11,609 laps since joining SHR in 2014. He has led 16,024 laps in his entire NASCAR Cup Series career and is one of just 11 drivers who have surpassed 16,000 laps led.
● This was Harvick’s milestone 775th consecutive NASCAR Cup Series start. He ranks third behind only Jeff Gordon (797 consecutive starts) and Ricky Rudd (788 consecutive starts).
Race Notes:
● Kyle Larson won the Cook Out Southern 500 to score his 22nd career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his third of the season and his first at Darlington. His margin over second-place Tyler Reddick was .447 of a second.
● There were eight caution periods for a total of 51 laps.
● Only 22 of the 36 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.
Sound Bites:
“All things considered, that turned out to be a decent day for our race team. We had a top-10 car all day and the guys executed on pit road. We got damage to the nose and splitter on that restart in stage two when everyone stacked up, which wasn’t repairable and completely changed the balance of our car. It was like a totally different car after that and I was just way too tight to be as competitive as we were. We fought all day and stayed out of trouble and found our way from 28th back up into the top-10. I’m proud of this team and these guys for working so hard. It’s a testament to what this team can do for the rest of the year.” – Aric Almirola, driver of the No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang
“The caution came out and the light was on, and I didn’t think I could turn right. We’ll just go and put the gas pedal down and do the exact same thing we’ve done for 23 years.” – Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Mobil 1/Take 5 Ford Mustang
Next Up:
The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Hollywood Casino 400 on Sunday, Sept. 10 at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City The second race in the 10-race NASCAR Playoffs starts at 3 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by USA and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
