Kevin Harvick Wins Southern 500 After Truex and Elliott Tangle

Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images

DARLINGTON, SC – RIS – Kevin Harvick won the Southern 500 on Sunday after Martin Truex, Jr. and then-leader Chase Elliott tanged when Truex tried to pass.  Harvick was running third and finished first after a valiant attempt by Austin Dillon failed.  It was the eight win in 2020 and his second at Darlington.  Harvick didn’t dominate the Southern 500 in his series-best eighth victory of the season. The regular-season champion and top seed in the playoffs inherited the lead and win.

"We just wound up fighting all night long," Harvick said. "This Busch Beer Ford Mustang wasn’t where we wanted it to be, but the leaders got tangled up there and the next thing you know we were racing for the win.”

South Carolina allowed Darlington to admit up to 8,000 for this race – the third Cup race this season for the track – and Harvick immediately acknowledged their presence as they cheered.

“So glad to have these fans here,” Harvick said. “The first thing I want to say is ‘Welcome back fans! This is a hell of a lot more fun with you guys up there,’” he told the crowd. He also gave the checkered flag to a young fan wearing one of his shirts.

I all boiled down with 14 laps to go. Truex attempted to pass Elliott. As Truex went to complete the move, he clipped Elliott’s front side and both touched the wall. Damage was evident and both cars slowed. 

“Just not enough room there for both of us,” Truex said of the botched pass for the lead. “I thought I had enough of a run to clear him. I think it was close, obviously. I thought I had enough momentum and distance on him that he was going to let me in there.”

Elliott didn’t.  The next race is at Richmond, one of Elliott’s worst tracks, so a victory at Darlington would take the pressure off his performance next week.  The pressure is now on for the driver of the No. 9 Camaro.

Dillon, in a Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing, was second. Joey Logano in a Ford for Team Penske was third.  Erik Jones, the defending Southern 500 winner who is being replaced at Joe Gibbs Racing at the end of the season, finished fourth in a Toyota. Jones was the only non-playoff driver to finish in the top 10.

Hendrick Motorsports teammates William Byron and Alex Bowman were fifth and sixth, followed by reigning series champion Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, and SHR teammates Aric Almirola and Clint Bowyer.

Elliott wound up 20th while Truex was a lap down in 22nd. Truex had to make a pit stop to repair damage from his tangle with Elliott. 

Aric Almirola is now squarely on the bubble ranked 12th among the 16 drivers after the first playoff race. Four drivers will be eliminated at the end of the first three-race round. Bowyer is 13th in playoff standings with Cole Custer, Matt DiBenedetto and Ryan Blaney also on the outside with two races left in the opening round.

Ryan Blaney had a nightmare of a night. He had already been docked 10 points and sent to the back of the pack for failing pre-race inspection, had his crew chief suspended and was struggling to move up at Darlington Raceway. Unfortunately Blaney wound up with a flat tire at the start of the second stage and had to pit. The unscheduled stop left him two laps down in 31st.  He could only get back to his finishing position of 24th at the end.

As mentioned, the second race of the playoffs will be at Richmond International Speedway next week.

Unofficial Results, CookOut Southern 500, Darlington Raceway, 1.366 mile

Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, Sta2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1) 8, Kevin Harvick (P), No. 4 Busch Beer Throwback Ford, 367, 10, 3, 3, 32, 5, 49, Running
2) 12, Austin Dillon (P), No. 3 American Ethanol Chevrolet, 367, , 8, , , , 38, Running
3) 13, Joey Logano (P), No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, 367, 7, , , , , 38, Running
4) 30, Erik Jones, No. 20 Sport Clips Toyota, 367, , 7, , , , 37, Running
5) 3, William Byron (P), No. 24 Liberty Univeristy Throwback Chevrolet, 367, 8, , , , , 35, Running
6) 4, Alex Bowman (P), No. 88 ChevyGoods.com/Truck Hero Chevrolet, 367, 6, 4, 1, 1, , 43, Running
7) 15, Kyle Busch (P), No. 18 M&M's Toyota, 367, 9, 6, , , , 37, Running
8) 16, Kurt Busch (P), No. 1 Monster Energy Chevrolet, 367, 5, 10, 3, 5, , 36, Running
9) 10, Aric Almirola (P), No. 10 Go Bowling Ford, 367, , , , , , 28, Running
10) 9, Clint Bowyer (P), No. 14 PEAK Throwback Ford, 367, , 9, , , , 29, Running
11) 5, Brad Keselowski (P), No. 2 Discount Tire Ford, 367, , , , , , 26, Running
12) 14, Cole Custer # (P), No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford, 367, , , , , , 25, Running
13) 2, Denny Hamlin (P), No. 11 Federal Express Toyota, 367, 4, 2, 3, 19, , 40, Running
14) 26, Matt Kenseth, No. 42 McDelivery Chevrolet, 367, , , , , , 23, Running
15) 31, Ryan Newman, No. 6 Oscar Mayer Ford, 367, , , , , , 22, Running
16) 19, Michael McDowell, No. 34 Love's Travel Stops Ford, 367, , , , , , 21, Running
17) 35, Ryan Preece, No. 37 Bush's Beans Chevrolet, 367, , , , , , 20, Running
18) 22, Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Ally Throwback Chevrolet, 367, 2, 5, , , , 34, Running
19) 29, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Kroger Chevrolet, 367, , , , , , 18, Running
20) 1, Chase Elliott (P), No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Throwback Chevrolet, 367, 3, , 4, 114, , 25, Running
21) 11, Matt DiBenedetto (P), No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford, 366, , , , , , 16, Running
22) 6, Martin Truex Jr. (P), No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota, 366, 1, 1, 5, 196, 2, 35, Running
23) 24, Tyler Reddick #, No. 8 Cat Power Chevrolet, 366, , , , , , 14, Running
24) 7, Ryan Blaney (P), No. 12 Menards/Maytag Ford, 366, , , , , , 13, Running
25) 28, * Daniel Suarez, No. 96 ARRIS now CommScope Toyota, 364, , , , , , 12, Running
26) 20, Chris Buescher, No. 17 Fastenal Ford, 364, , , , , , 11, Running
27) 25, Ty Dillon, No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet, 363, , , , , , 10, Running
28) 23, Brennan Poole #, No. 15 Remember Everyone Deployed. Today Chevrolet, 362, , , , , , 9, Running
29) 34, Ross Chastain(i), No. 77 Dirty Mo Media Chevrolet, 360, , , , , , 0, Running
30) 37, JJ Yeley(i), No. 27 Jacob Companies Ford, 360, , , , , , 0, Running
31) 32, Quin Houff #, No. 00 Permatex Chevrolet, 357, , , , , , 6, Running
32) 38, * Josh Bilicki(i), No. 7 Insurance King Chevrolet, 356, , , , , , 0, Running
33) 39, Joey Gase(i), No. 51 Carolina Cooker Ford, 351, , , , , , 0, Running
34) 21, Christopher Bell #, No. 95 Rheem Toyota, 349, , , , , , 3, Running
35) 33, * Timmy Hill(i), No. 66 RoofClaim.com Toyota, 296, , , , , , 0, Overheating
36) 18, John Hunter Nemechek #, No. 38 Citgard Ford, 245, , , , , , 1, Accident
37) 27, Corey LaJoie, No. 32 Trump 2020 Ford, 234, , , , , , 1, Accident
38) 17, Bubba Wallace, No. 43 Cash App Chevrolet, 217, , , , , , 1, Transmission
39) 36, James Davison, No. 53 Signing Day Sports Chevrolet, 162, , , , , , 1, Engine
Race Length: 367 laps, 501.322 miles

Time of Race: 3 hr, 47 min, 26 sec
Average Speed: 132.256 mph
Margin of Victory: .343 sec

Stage 1 Top 10: 19, 48, 9, 11, 1, 88, 22, 24, 18, 4

Stage 2 Top 10: 19, 11, 4, 88, 48, 18, 20, 3, 14, 1

Race Comments: Kevin Harvick won the Cookout Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, his 57th NASCAR Cup Series victory.

Prior to the start the following cars dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reasons indicated: No. 77 (driver change), No. 51 (unapproved adjustments), No. 12 (inspection penalty).

Caution Flags: 7 for 34 laps;
Laps: 27-31 (Competition Caution [77]);
82-86 (Debris Turn 4 [13]);
117-121 (Stage 1 Conclusion [96]);
181-185 (No. 43 Spin Turn 4 [38]);
232-235 (Stage 2 Conclusion [34]);
246-250 (No. 38 Incident Frontstretch [21]);
322-326 (Debris on Backstretch [6]).

Lead Changes: 18 among 6 drivers;
C. Elliott (P) 1-71;
D. Hamlin (P) 72;
K. Busch (P) 73-74;
C. Elliott (P) 75-83;
K. Busch (P) 84-85;
M. Truex Jr. (P) 86-117;
C. Elliott (P) 118;
M. Truex Jr. (P) 119-172;
K. Busch (P) 173;
K. Harvick (P) 174-181;
A. Bowman (P) 182;
M. Truex Jr. (P) 183-231;
D. Hamlin (P) 232-247;
M. Truex Jr. (P) 248-306;
D. Hamlin (P) 307-308;
K. Harvick (P) 309-319;
C. Elliott (P) 320-352;
M. Truex Jr. (P) 353-354;
K. Harvick (P) 355-367.

(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie, (P) Playoffs qualified

Ron Fleshman with John Davison

RIS NASCAR Editor.  Has been with RIS since the middle 90's. Writes on each of the three main series of NASCAR.

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Volume 2020, Issue 9, Posted 11:58 PM, 09.06.2020