Erik Jones outruns entire playoff field, wins Southern 500.
The Southern 500 has a grand tradition as NASCAR's first endurance race. Sure, the additional 100 miles at Charlotte in May adds plenty of extra strain on a car, but Darlington's 500-mile classic is something like the 12 Hours of Sebring to the 600's 24 Hours of Le Mans. It's a more difficult track, asking more of both the driver and the car itself. In the past, that made it a major test of mechanical endurance.
Kevin Harvick's car caught fire under green. Harvick brought it to a halt and escaped while he waited for an oddly delayed caution, a moment that led Harvick to express his anger with series officials inChase Elliott spun on his own early, collecting Chase Briscoe. After his team failed to repair the No. 9 car in their allotted time, Elliott would retire and finsih last. Briscoe would continue, but finish a distant 27th.
The issues hit Joe Gibbs Racing particularly hard. Martin Truex Jr., who missed the playoffs after failing to record a win in the 26-race regular season, seemed to be in position late when his power steering failed. That pales in comparison to what happened to teammate Kyle Busch, though: Busch, a playoff contender, led 155 laps on the night before his engine blew under a caution with under 40 laps to go.
Busch's issue marked a major opportunity for a former JGR driver. Erik Jones, now with Petty GMS Motorsports, inherited the lead when Busch's engine blew. He defended it on the restart that followed, running away to take just his third career race win. It is just the third career win for Jones, his first since 2019, and his first since JGR opted to replace him with Christopher Bell in 2021.
Austin Cindric, Austin Dillon, Chase Briscoe, and Kevin Harvick sit narrowly below the cutoff line with two races remaining in the Round of 16. Despite a disastrous race, last-place Harvick is still just 13 points from the last safe spot in the knockout round. The NASCAR playoffs continue at Kansas Speedway next weekend.
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