Eric Jones is the Surprise Winner of the Southern 500

Kinrade Photography

DARLINGTON, SC – RIS - Erik Jones inherited the lead during the final caution flag when leader Kyle Busch had an engine problem with less than 25 laps to go and led the final 23 laps on the way to his first win of the season and the 200th win for the No. 43 car at the top level of NASCAR during Sunday night's Southern 500 at Darlington. Jones inherited the lead during the final caution flag when leader Kyle Busch had an engine problem with less than 25 laps to go and led the final 23 laps on the way to his first win of the season and the 200th win for the No. 43 car at the top level of NASCAR during Sunday night's Cup race.

Jones’ win wasn’t a fluke. He had earned his position to inherit the lead from Busch’s misfortune and then kept Busch’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin at bay for the final green flag run of the race. His win is also the first for a non-playoff driver in the opening race of the playoffs. Dating back to the inception of NASCAR’s playoffs in 2004, no driver outside the postseason had ever won the playoff opener.

In fact his first (of three) wins came in a Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota  ones was replaced by Christopher Bell after a winless 2020 season that didn't include a playoff appearance. Without many top-tier rides available, Jones signed to drive for Richard Petty Motorsports, a team that's now Petty GMS Motorsports after a merger before the 2022 season. The No. 43 car hadn't been to victory lane since 2014 and now has just two wins in the 2000s. Before Aric Almirola won at Daytona eight years ago, the last driver to win in the No. 43 car was John Andretti at Martinsville. Just five of the 200 wins by drivers in the No. 43 have come since 1984.

Many playoff drivers had problems throughout the night. Regular-season champion Chase Elliott finished last after he crashed out and Kevin Harvick finished 33rd after his car randomly caught fire during the third stage. Busch finished 30th after his engine issue and Chase Briscoe was 27th after he got caught up in Elliott’s wreck. Overall, six of the top-10 finishers were playoff drivers. Tyler Reddick finished third behind Hamlin while Joey Logano was fourth and Christopher Bell was fifth.  Martin Truex Jr. was leading in the closing 40 laps but developed and overheating issue with his motor. That brought the No. 19 Toyota to pit road and relinquished the lead back to Kyle Busch ahead of the race’s final yellow flag. Under that caution period, Busch’s motor failed while his No. 18 Toyota was heading the field behind the pace car.  That allowed Jones to inherit the lead and the rest is history.

Unofficial Results: 73rd Annual Cook Out Southern 500 - September 4, 2022 - Darlington Raceway
Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps , St1, St2, Tms, Laps, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1) 15, Erik Jones, No. 43 FOCUSfactor Chevrolet, 367, 8, 9, 1, 23, 5, 45, Running
2) 11, Denny Hamlin (P), No. 11 Sport Clips Haircuts Toyota, 367, 2, , 2, 6, , 44, Running
3) 4, Tyler Reddick (P), No. 8 Lenovo Chevrolet, 367, 7, , , , , 38, Running
4) 1, Joey Logano (P), No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, 367, , 4, 2, 64, , 40, Running
5) 2, Christopher Bell (P), No. 20 Yahoo! Toyota, 367, 4, 6, , , , 44, Running
6) 10, Michael McDowell, No. 34 Fr8Auctions.com Ford, 367, , 10, , , , 32, Running
7) 25, Brad Keselowski, No. 6 Kohler Generators Ford, 367, , , 1, 11, , 30, Running
8) 3, William Byron (P), No. 24 Valvoline Chevrolet, 367, 1, 5, 2, 50, 1, 45, Running
9) 8, Bubba Wallace (P), No. 45 ROOT Insurance Toyota, 367, 10, , 2, 4, , 29, Running
10) 16, Alex Bowman (P), No. 48 Ally Chevrolet, 367, , 7, , , , 31, Running
11) 22, Aric Almirola, No. 10 Renegade Insurance Ford, 367, , , , , , 26, Running
12) 7, Kyle Larson (P), No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, 367, , , , , , 25, Running
13) 9, Ryan Blaney (P), No. 12 Menards/Moen Ford, 367, 9, 3, , , , 34, Running
14) 30, Cole Custer, No. 41 Feeding America/Wow Wow Ford, 367, , , , , , 23, Running
15) 21, Ty Gibbs(i), No. 23 Monster Energy Toyota, 367, , , , , , 0, Running
16) 6, Austin Cindric # (P), No. 2 Discount Tire Ford, 367, , , , , , 21, Running
17) 13, Austin Dillon (P), No. 3 BetMGM Chevrolet, 367, , , , , , 20, Running
18) 36, Daniel Suarez (P), No. 99 Jockey Chevrolet, 367, , 8, , , , 22, Running
19) 14, Justin Haley, No. 31 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet, 366, , , , , , 18, Running
20) 12, Ross Chastain (P), No. 1 Worldwide Express Chevrolet, 366, 6, , 1, 1, , 22, Running
21) 28, Harrison Burton #, No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford, 366, , , , , , 16, Running
22) 29, Ty Dillon, No. 42 EG3 Technologies Chevrolet, 366, , , , , , 15, Running
23) 24, Daniel Hemric(i), No. 16 AG1 by Athletic Greens Chevrolet, 365, , , , , , 0, Running
24) 34, Corey LaJoie, No. 7 Built.com Chevrolet, 365, , , 1, 4, , 13, Running
25) 26, Landon Cassill(i), No. 77 Voyager: Crypto for All Chevrolet, 365, , , 1, 1, , 0, Running
26) 27, Chris Buescher, No. 17 Fifth Third Bank Ford, 365, , , , , , 11, Running
27) 19, Chase Briscoe (P), No. 14 HighPoint.com Lady in Black Ford, 363, , , , , , 10, Running
28) 31, Todd Gilliland #, No. 38 Southeastern Equipment Ford, 363, , , , , , 9, Running
29) 35, BJ McLeod(i), No. 78 Blaster Ford, 361, , , , , , 0, Running
30) 5, Kyle Busch (P), No. 18 M&M's Toyota, 345, 3, 1, 6, 155, 1, 25, Engine
31) 17, Martin Truex Jr., No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota, 336, 5, 2, 3, 48, , 21, Water Pump
32) 32, Cody Ware, No. 51 Nurtec ODT Ford, 331, , , , , , 5, Accident
33) 18, Kevin Harvick (P), No. 4 Busch Light Retro Ford, 274, , , , , , 4, Exhaust
34) 33, JJ Yeley(i), No. 15 Jacob Companies/Parts Plus Ford, 236, , , , , , 0, Exhaust
35) 20, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Kroger/Irish Spring Chevrolet, 164, , , , , , 2, Accident
36) 23, Chase Elliott (P), No. 9 NAPA/Children's Chevrolet, 113, , , , , , 1, DVP
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie

Race Length: 367 Laps - 501.322 Miles
Time of Race: 4 Hrs, 9 Mins, 49 Secs.
Average Speed: 120.406 MPH
Margin of Victory: .252 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 24, 11, 18, 20, 19, 1, 8, 43, 12, 45
Stage 2 Top 10: 18, 19, 12, 22, 24, 20, 48, 99, 43, 34

Comments: Erik Jones won the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, his third NASCAR Cup Series victory.
Prior to the start, the following cars dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reason indicated: No. 78 (unapproved adjustments), No. 99 (multiple inspection failures).

Cautions: 9 for 58 laps;
Laps: 6-16 (Precipitation [99]);
37-40 (Competition Caution [None]);
114-121 (No. 14, No. 9 Incident Turn 2 / Stage 1 Conclusion [23]);
180-185 (No. 38 Spin Turn 2 [23]);
193-197 (No. 5 Incident Frontstretch [3]);
219-223 (No. 51 Spin Turn 4 [10]);
232-236 (Stage 2 Conclusion [5]);
277-283 (No. 4 Stopped on track [8]);
341-347 (No. 51 Incident Turn 2 [10]).

Lead Changes: 21 among 11 drivers;
J. Logano (P) 1-37;
L. Cassill(i) 38;
J. Logano (P) 39-65;
W. Byron (P) 66-74;
B. Wallace (P) 75-76;
W. Byron (P) 77-117;
K. Busch (P) 118-152;
D. Hamlin (P) 153;
R. Chastain (P) 154;
B. Wallace (P) 155-156;
B. Keselowski 157-167;
K. Busch (P) 168-193;
C. LaJoie 194-197;
K. Busch (P) 198-208;
M. Truex Jr. 209-220;
K. Busch (P) 221-293;
M. Truex Jr. 294-319;
K. Busch (P) 320;
D. Hamlin (P) 321-325;
M. Truex Jr. 326-335;
K. Busch (P) 336-344;
E. Jones 345-367.

Unofficial Points Report: 73rd Annual Cook Out Southern 500 - Darlington Raceway
Rank, Driver, Car, Starts, GL, Points, Ldr, Nxt, Race Wins, Stage Wins, Playoff Pts
1) Joey Logano (P), 22, 27, 1, 2065, 0, 0, 2, 5, 25
2) William Byron (P), 24, 27, 3, 2059, -6, 6, 2, 4, 15
3) Denny Hamlin (P), 11, 27, 3, 2057, -8, 2, 2, 3, 13
4) Christopher Bell (P), 20, 27, 6, 2055, -10, 2, 1, 2, 11
5) Tyler Reddick (P), 8, 27, 3, 2050, -15, 5, 2, 2, 12
6) Ryan Blaney (P), 12, 27, 1, 2047, -18, 3, 0, 5, 13
7) Kyle Larson (P), 5, 27, -3, 2044, -21, 3, 2, 3, 19
8) Ross Chastain (P), 1, 27, -5, 2042, -23, 2, 2, 5, 20
9) Chase Elliott (P), 9, 27, -8, 2041, -24, 1, 4, 5, 40
10) Alex Bowman (P), 48, 27, 5, 2037, -28, 4, 1, 1, 6
11) Kyle Busch (P), 18, 27, 0, 2035, -30, 2, 1, 3, 11
12) Daniel Suarez (P), 99, 27, 1, 2029, -36, 6, 1, 2, 7
13) Austin Cindric # (P), 2, 27, 1, 2027, -38, 2, 1, 1, 6
14) Austin Dillon (P), 3, 27, 2, 2025, -40, 2, 1, 0, 5
15) Chase Briscoe (P), 14, 27, -3, 2019, -46, 6, 1, 4, 9
16) Kevin Harvick (P), 4, 27, -7, 2016, -49, 3, 2, 0, 12
17) Martin Truex Jr, 19, 27, 0, 819, -1246, 1197, 0, 7, 0
18) Erik Jones, 43, 27, 0, 634, -1431, 185, 1, 0, 5
19) Aric Almirola, 10, 27, 0, 602, -1463, 32, 0, 0, 0
20) Bubba Wallace (P), 45, 27, 0, 584, -1481, 18, 0, 1, 0
21) Chris Buescher, 17, 26, 0, 533, -1532, 51, 0, 0, 0
22) Justin Haley, 31, 27, 0, 507, -1558, 26, 0, 0, 0
23) Kurt Busch, , 20, 0, 485, -1580, 22, 1, 2, 0
24) Cole Custer, 41, 27, 1, 475, -1590, 10, 0, 0, 0
25) Michael McDowell, 34, 27, 1, 473, -1592, 2, 0, 0, 0
26) Ricky Stenhouse Jr, 47, 27, -2, 454, -1611, 19, 0, 0, 0
27) Brad Keselowski, 6, 27, 1, 443, -1622, 11, 0, 0, 0
28) Harrison Burton #, 21, 27, -1, 437, -1628, 6, 0, 0, 0
29) Ty Dillon, 42, 27, 0, 411, -1654, 26, 0, 0, 0
30) Todd Gilliland #, 38, 27, 0, 402, -1663, 9, 0, 0, 0
31) Corey LaJoie, 7, 27, 0, 328, -1737, 74, 0, 0, 0
32) Cody Ware, 51, 27, 0, 237, -1828, 91, 0, 0, 0
33) David Ragan, , 4, 0, 89, -1976, 148, 0, 0, 0
34) Joey Hand, , 5, 0, 63, -2002, 26, 0, 0, 0
35) Greg Biffle, , 5, 0, 24, -2041, 39, 0, 0, 0
36) Jacques Villeneuve, , 1, 0, 15, -2050, 9, 0, 0, 0
37) Boris Said, , 1, 0, 11, -2054, 4, 0, 0, 0
38) Kyle Tilley, , 2, 0, 8, -2057, 3, 0, 0, 0
39) Mike Rockenfeller, , 1, 0, 7, -2058, 1, 0, 0, 0
40) Daniil Kvyat, , 2, 0, 2, -2063, 5, 0, 0, 0
41) Kimi Raikkonen, , 1, 0, 1, -2064, 1, 0, 0, 0
42) Aj Allmendinger(i) , 12, 0, 0, -2065, 1, 0, 0, 0
43) Landon Cassill(i) 77, 9, 0, 0, -2065, 0, 0, 0, 0
44) Noah Gragson(i) , 11, 0, 0, -2065, 0, 0, 0, 0
45) BJ McLeod(i) 78, 21, 0, 0, -2065, 0, 0, 0, 0
46) Daniel Hemric(i) 16, 7, 0, 0, -2065, 0, 0, 0, 0
47) Ty Gibbs(i) 23, 7, 0, 0, -2065, 0, 0, 0, 0
48) Josh Bilicki(i) , 16, 0, 0, -2065, 0, 0, 0, 0
49) Zane Smith(i) , 1, 0, 0, -2065, 0, 0, 0, 0
50) Austin Hill(i) , 1, 0, 0, -2065, 0, 0, 0, 0
51) Garrett Smithley(i) , 4, 0, 0, -2065, 0, 0, 0, 0
52) Kaz Grala(i) , 3, 0, 0, -2065, 0, 0, 0, 0
53) JJ Yeley(i) 15, 12, 0, 0, -2065, 0, 0, 0, 0
54) Josh Williams(i) , 2, 0, 0, -2065, 0, 0, 0, 0
55) Ryan Preece(i) , 2, 0, 0, -2065, 0, 0, 0, 0
56) Parker Kligerman(i) , 1, 0, 0, -2065, 0, 0, 0, 0
57) Loris Hezemans(i) , 4, 0, 0, -2065, 0, 0, 0, 0
58) Scott Heckert(i) , 1, 0, 0, -2065, 0, 0, 0, 0
59) Justin Allgaier(i) , 1, 0, 0, -2065, 0, 0, 0, 0
60) Andy Lally(i) , 1, 0, 0, -2065, 0, 0, 0, 0
61) Timmy Hill(i) , 0, 0, 0, -2065, 0, 0, 0, 0