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| John K. Harrelson/Motorsports Images |
Denny Hamlin is officially won the 2021 “Cook Out Southern” 500 at Darlington Raceway, scoring his first victory of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season, and advancing to the round-of-12 in the NASCAR Playoffs.
Last night’s “Southern” 500 at Darlington Raceway did not disappoint, in fact, it amazed! Many drivers who have been on a good roll all season had horrible endings to their night, and many drivers who have had a horrendous season in 2021 showed some surprisingly good speed!
Most of Hendrick Motorsports got taken out early in this race. Nearly 15 laps into the race, the No. 48 Camaro of Alex Bowman was experiencing some electrical issues, and in a completely unrelated sense, a tire went down and the car slammed into the wall. Behind Bowman was his teammate William Byron driving the No. 24 car, and when this incident occurred Byron drove into the No. 48 of Bowman. This incident did not completely destroy either car, but they were fairly damaged because of it. Later in the race, William Byron would seal the deal as he had a tire go down as he entered one of the corners. This led the No. 24 car to drive straight into the safer barrier, and afterwards limping into the garage. Chase Elliott who had stayed clean most of the day, was having some issues with his car later in this race, it didn’t quite have the speed or handling he wanted as the sun had gone down. Battling for positions on a restart Chase Elliott would get taken three-wide with Bubba Wallace and Christopher Bell, where Elliott’s No. 9 car was in the top-most groove. Obviously at Darlington, three-wide through the corners does not go well, and Elliott got to see that first hand as his No. 9 Camaro was sent upwards and into the wall. Breaking much of the front wheel assembly Elliott had no choice but to park the car for the night. The only Hendrick driver who made it to the end strong was Kyle Larson who pushed his No. 5 Camaro to its extreme limits battling Denny Hamlin for the win.
Now to talk about the surprisingly good teams in last nights race. One driver who fits that bill is Kevin Harvick. Now like the man or not, his 2021 season has been one of his worst seasons in a long time, especially coming off of nine wins last season, and having zero to show this go around. Just because the season started off on the wrong foot doesn’t mean it has to end that way. Harvick made the playoffs on points, and in last nights playoffs opener the struggling Stewart-Haas Racing crew brought a fast car to the track. For the first time in a while we saw Harvick leading the race (and not on accident). The No. 4 Mustang of Harvick was a Top-5 car all night, finishing 5th in both stages and ending the race in 4th place. Considering all the hard times Stewart-Haas Racing has been through in 2021 it was undoubtedly a shocker that Kevin Harvick was any good at all last night. Speaking of Kevin Harvick, his rival last season (Denny Hamlin) finally surpassed Harvick in 2021 wins, with 1 victory. Hamlin, who has actually been pretty strong this season, simply has not been a good finisher, but strategy and expertise came handy to the driver of the No. 11 here at Darlington. Hamlin showed winning speed for the entire race, and without much struggle cruised to the victory. This straight forward win for Hamlin was likely made a little easier in the fact that Kyle Larson wore out his tires trying to pass the No. 11 in the later half of this race. Hamlin never quite lost Larson as the race winded down, but Larson simply did not have the grip to get on Hamlin’s bumper and make the pass. In a last ditch effort, in the final turn of the race Larson barely slowed down for the corner, and barreled right into Denny Hamlin making his best effort to drive through him. Larson was quoted saying “I tried to video game it”. To no avail, Larson destroyed his car, and finished 2nd, nose to tail with Denny Hamlin.
A team who should be on the prior list, but just does not fit in with the other two drivers is Ross Chastain. Chastain, who is in his first full time season in the NASCAR Cup Series has honestly not been as disappointing as Harvick or Hamlin this season, but with a Chip Ganassi Racing who is in their terminal NASCAR season Chastain’s speed last nig was quite amazing. At one point Ross Chastain’s No. 42 Camaro was the fastest car on the track, even faster than Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson. Has the race been any longer, including another pit cycle or caution, Chastain very well could have come out the winner, and because of his speed and skillful driving. The season didn’t start out amazing for Ross Chastain and the No. 42 team, but the young driver has grown into these shoes, really paving his way in the Cup Series. I’m sure that Trackhouse Racing is very pleased with what they saw last night from their future driver!
Denny Hamlin won stage 1 of this race, and Kyle Larson won stage 2.
The following are the complete race results (click to enlarge):
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| NASCAR (click to enlarge) |
RETWEET to congratulate @DennyHamlin on his #Southern500 win at @TooToughToTame!
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) September 6, 2021
What a final corner battle with Kyle Larson! #NASCARPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/JsHuhMAcQm
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