Erik Jones might not have made the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, but that wasn’t going to stop him from playing spoiler from the very first race. Jones took the lead on the final restart with twenty laps remaining and held off a desperate charge by playoff contender Denny Hamlin to win the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway for the second time in his career.
The win is the first for Petty GMS Motorsports under the current identity. The legendary #43 last won with Aric Almirola at the rain-shortened 2014 Coke Zero 400 while its first full-distance victory since the late John Andretti at the 1999 Goody’s Body Pain 500, and the number’s last Darlington victory came with owner Richard Petty in 1967.
“Richard hasn’t been to Victory Lane at Darlington probably since he last won here,” said Jones. “It’s just awesome. Just so proud of these guys, Petty GMS and Focus Factor Crew. We’ve been so close all year, and I didn’t think today was going to be the day. It was going to be a tough one to win, I knew, but no better fitting place. I love this track, I love this race. On that trophy twice, man, I was pumped to be on it once, but to have it on there twice, pretty cool.”
Jones found himself fighting for the lead when Joe Gibbs Racing‘s Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr., who led a combined 203 laps with the former also winning Stage #2, suddenly dropped out within ten laps of each other with engine failures while leading. Hamlin, another JGR car, and Tyler Reddick attempted to chase down Jones but could not make up enough ground as Jones pulled away to win.
Fittingly, Jones began his career with JGR and won the 2019 Southern 500 with them.
“It is redemption in a lot of ways,” Jones continued. “Very fitting that it’s here at this race again. I felt like this was the race that saved my job the first time around, and coming back here with this win, I guess it puts you back on the map.”
Busch was not the only playoff driver to suffer an early blow. Chase Elliott spun and crashed on lap 113 while Kevin Harvick‘s car caught fire. Harvick and crew chief Rodney Childers were critical of the situation, citing the Next Gen car’s use of parts from single vendors that prevent teams from developing the components themselves and spotting flaws. The new vehicle has garnered scrutiny in recent races over potential safety concerns such as crashes feeling more painful due to its overt sturdiness; after Cody Ware crashed on lap 341 to set up the final restart, he reported via radio he was “hurting pretty bad.”
“Lets put holes in the nose that will pick up every piece of rubber off the track,” tweeted Childers, though he has since deleted the post. “Let’s mandate 75% open grill area going to the rocker boxes. Let’s have a fan blowing air thru that hose to make sure the rubber reaches the headers.”
Harvick said after being released from the infield care centre that he was “sure it’s just crappy parts on the race car like we’ve seen so many times. They haven’t fixed anything. It’s kind of like the safety stuff. We just let it keep going and keep going. The car started burning and as it burned the flames started coming through the dash. I ran a couple laps and then as the flame got bigger it started burning stuff up and I think right there you see all the brake fluid that was probably coming out the brakes and part of the brake line, but the fire was coming through the dash.
“What a disaster for no reason. We didn’t touch the wall. We didn’t touch a car and here we are in the pits with a burned up car and we can’t finish the race during the playoffs because of crappy-ass parts.”
Race results
| Finish | Start | Number | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Laps | Status |
| 1 | 15 | 43 | Erik Jones | Petty GMS Motorsports | Chevrolet | 367 | Running |
| 2 | 11 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 367 | Running |
| 3 | 4 | 8 | Tyler Reddick | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 367 | Running |
| 4 | 1 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 367 | Running |
| 5 | 2 | 20 | Christopher Bell | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 367 | Running |
| 6 | 10 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 367 | Running |
| 7 | 25 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | RFK Racing | Ford | 367 | Running |
| 8 | 3 | 24 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 367 | Running |
| 9 | 8 | 45 | Bubba Wallace^ | 23XI Racing | Toyota | 367 | Running |
| 10 | 16 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 367 | Running |
| 11 | 22 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 367 | Running |
| 12 | 7 | 5 | Kyle Larson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 367 | Running |
| 13 | 9 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford | 367 | Running |
| 14 | 30 | 41 | Cole Custer | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 367 | Running |
| 15 | 21 | 23 | Ty Gibbs* | 23XI Racing | Toyota | 367 | Running |
| 16 | 6 | 2 | Austin Cindric | Team Penske | Ford | 367 | Running |
| 17 | 13 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 367 | Running |
| 18 | 36 | 99 | Daniel Suárez | Trackhouse Racing Team | Chevrolet | 367 | Running |
| 19 | 14 | 31 | Justin Haley | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 366 | Running |
| 20 | 12 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Trackhouse Racing Team | Chevrolet | 366 | Running |
| 21 | 28 | 21 | Harrison Burton | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 366 | Running |
| 22 | 29 | 42 | Ty Dillon | Petty GMS Motorsports | Chevrolet | 366 | Running |
| 23 | 24 | 16 | Daniel Hemric* | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 365 | Running |
| 24 | 34 | 7 | Corey LaJoie | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 365 | Running |
| 25 | 26 | 77 | Landon Cassill* | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 365 | Running |
| 26 | 27 | 17 | Chris Buescher | RFK Racing | Ford | 365 | Running |
| 27 | 19 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 363 | Running |
| 28 | 31 | 38 | Todd Gilliland | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 363 | Running |
| 29 | 35 | 78 | B.J. McLeod* | Live Fast Motorsports | Ford | 361 | Running |
| 30 | 5 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 345 | Engine |
| 31 | 17 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 336 | Water Pump |
| 32 | 32 | 51 | Cody Ware | Rick Ware Racing | Ford | 331 | Accident |
| 33 | 18 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 274 | Exhaust |
| 34 | 33 | 15 | J.J. Yeley* | Rick Ware Racing | Ford | 236 | Exhaust |
| 35 | 20 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 164 | Accident |
| 36 | 23 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 113 | DVP |
^ – Currently in owner playoffs
Italics – Competing for Rookie of the Year
* – Ineligible for points