NASCAR race at Darlington live updates: Elliott, Harvick, Busch out; Erik Jones wins

LIVE UPDATES HAVE CONCLUDED FOR THIS EVENT.

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Who’s ready for some playoff racing?

The 2022 NASCAR Cup Series postseason begins at Darlington Raceway for the Cook Out Southern 500. The green flag is expected to drop around 6 p.m.

Among the questions for this Cup race: Will Joey Logano — who took home the checkered flag at Darlington in May and who took the pole at qualifying on Saturday — win here again? How will Daniel Suarez perform after having to start at the rear because his car failed inspection three times before qualifying on Saturday?

And will the weather (at last) cooperate?

McClatchy has multiple reporters in Darlington, including Alex Zietlow (of The Charlotte Observer) and Lou Bezjak (of The State), to deliver live highlights throughout Sunday’s Cup race. Those updates will be posted in the section below and will be published frequently during the race. Refresh this page for the latest news. Full results will be posted after the race.

Unofficial results from Darlington

(P) - Playoff driver

Live updates from Darlington Raceway

Stage 3

Lap 367: Erik Jones holds on and wins!

Lap 361: Erik Jones maintaining his advantage as Hamlin is trying all he can to reach the front.

Lap 352: With 15 to go, Denny Hamlin in second is stalking Erik Jones. Hamlin is getting a good slingshot out of the high side of the even corners. Reddick hanging in for third, as well.

Lap 347: Erik Jones takes the green flag with 20 to go, and Denny Hamlin and Tyler Reddick on his rear. Joey Logano still lurking in fifth, and Michael McDowell still in sixth. Tough night for some playoff drivers, but others... they’re loving life right now.

Lap 344: Kyle Busch is blowing up! Smoke is coming from Kyle Busch now as he turns laps under yellow. He has to go to the pits and Erik Jones assumes the lead! What a turn of events here.

Lap 343: Under yellow, all of the leaders pit. The tire strategy that Hamlin had went out the window here as everyone will now be on even footing. Kyle Busch maintains his lead in the pits. Erik Jones gains a spot into second, Tyler Reddick slides into third and Hamlin remains in fourth.

Lap 342: Truex Jr. is indeed done for the day, the car wheeled into the garage. Kyle Busch and Tyler Reddick are on the front row, and they’re both playoff drivers. The winner here assures an advancement to the next round, so that’s important. Denny Hamlin, who is on fresher tires and sitting there in fifth position, is also lurking. Fewer than 25 to go at Darlington.

Lap 339: With 28 to go, Denny Hamlin is coming. Hard. He’s back into fifth position, though still 6 seconds back of Busch, the new leader. Hamlin IS faster, but will there be enough time to make it a race at the front on fresher tires? and CAUTION! This is huge for Hamlin, who will now be close on the restart. The caution is out for Cody Ware, who slammed the wall and came to a stop on the infield apron.

Lap 336: Martin Truex Jr. has a big issue with power steering in his car and he is concerned with his ability to keep going. He is concerned the engine is going to be done soon is the issue is affecting his cooling system as well. With that happening, Kyle Busch takes the lead back.

Lap 330: With the full field now reset and 37 to go, Truex is back in front. Kyle Busch is in second and Tyler Reddick now running in third. Erik Jones in fourth and Christopher Bell in fifth round out the top 5.

Lap 325: Denny Hamlin finally pits after staying out longer than everyone else. He is banking on fresher tires making a bigger difference later in the race. We’ll see if the gamble pays off. He reenters the race in 10th position with fresher tires, and he looks like he’s driving a bit hot.

Lap 321: Keselowski, Byron, Larson, Truex all in now as the strategies begin to play on in pit stops. Some taking all four tires, some taking a bit less fuel. Which will be the magic formula??

Lap 318: Teams are starting to think about pit stops now, the final cycle expected under green flag conditions. Hemric, Cindric, Haley Dillon, Logano and Blaney among the first to come in.

Lap 310: Martin Truex Jr. is running away from Kyle Busch now, meanwhile Denny Hamlin is right on Busch’s tail for second. Lapped traffic enters into the equation now, though. The rest of the “top cars,” including Erik Jones and Michael McDowell, are a good deal behind Hamlin and Busch. Of note: Bubba Wallace up to seventh.

Lap 300: With 67 to go now as we cross 300 laps, Kyle Busch let Martin Truex go by him a couple laps back. No need to race his own teammate hard, since Truex is not a playoff car. Truex quickly putting distance between himself and Busch, but Busch in turn is more than 1.5 seconds ahead of third-place Denny Hamlin.

Lap 290: Busch continues to lead as Martin Truex Jr. also appears to be on a mission to prove to (someone, himself? NASCAR?) that he should have been part of this playoff after finishing fourth in points this season but failing to qualify without a win. After Truex trailing Busch is Denny Hamlin, followed by Erik Jones, Michael McDowell and Tyler Reddick. Back in the pack, Daniel Suarez is fighting his way back to try and be the first car a lap down in case of any cautions.

Lap 284: Back to green-flag racing here at Darlington. In his interview on TV, Kevin Harvick had a few choice words for NASCAR about the parts used to build the cars after his burst into flames to bring out the caution back on Lap 275.

Lap 281: Daniel Suarez has overcome long odds all day to run Top 5, and he’ll have to do so again. Penalty makes him ineligible for the wave-around and he’ll restart further back. Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin, Bubba Wallace, Michael McDowell, Ty Gibbs, Brad Keselowski pit.

Lap 279: Kyle Busch remains in the lead here and technically only eight cars remain on the lead lap here as teams cycle through pit stops. The fun part here is that this caution happened DURING the pit cycle, so some cars already took their stops, and others had not. Which will have the advantage? In tires, it’ll be the late pitters. In position, those that went early.

Lap 275: Big flames coming out of Kevin Harvick’s No. 4 and he’s on fire. His radio says his front rocker panel is on fire. He is on serious fire on the track and the caution is out. Harvick bails out and jumps over the retaining wall in case the car blew. It did not, and he gets a free ride to the care center. The rest of the field, meanwhile, will cruise under yellow.

Lap 271: The cars aren’t all pitting together as pit strategy becomes a big game among teams. Yeley, Custer, Logano and Suarez the latest pit stops here. Logano and Suarez are in the top group, so they’ll have fresher tires and full loads of fuel first.

Lap 268: Kyle Busch maintains his lead as we dip under 100 to go here in South Carolina. Austin Dillon and Tyler Reddick are the first to make their way into pit road under green.

Lap 262: Drivers will likely have to venture down pit road at least twice or thrice more. But when will they? All eyes are likely on Kyle Busch, who’s led the race for 31 laps and is leading the race still.

Lap 241: It’s Kyle Busch, Joey Logano and Martin Truex Jr. in P1-P3. These guys have been fast all day. Somehow Daniel Suarez is in the top-five after a brutal Saturday that didn’t even see him run in qualifying. Chase Briscoe (29) and Ross Chastin (30) are the only two playoff drivers who are still running and aren’t on the lead lap.

Lap 232: Talk about a comeback! After being two laps down earlier in Stage 2, Kyle Larson ends up being the lead driver one lap down — and thus gets waved through. The No. 5 car is remarkably back on the lead lap.

Stage 2

Lap 230: And Kyle Busch takes the Stage 2 win, his third stage win of the year. Others earning points: Martin Truex Jr., Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, William Byron, Christopher Bell, Alex Bowman, Daniel Suarez, Erik Jones, Michael McDowell.

Lap 228: With four to go until the end of Stage 2, we have a crazy-physical, three-wide run in P4-P7. Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. — Joe Gibbs Racing teammates — is battling for P1. Gotta imagine Truex gives Busch the Stage 2 win.

Lap 218: Another caution! Cody Ware spins out without collecting anyone. Eleven laps to go until end of Stage 2.

Lap 202: Kyle Busch is extending his lead over the field. It’s him, then Martin Truex Jr. about 0.9 behind him, and then William Byron — who led for a bulk of Stage 2 laps — about 1.7 seconds behind. A lot can happen, but this looks like Busch’s race to lose.

Lap 192: Make that five cautions! Kyle Larson, two laps down, hits wall with his left rear and spins out. Tells team over the radio that it “feels like the left rear is flat, so I’m going slow.”

Lap 187: Caution report: Precipitation (Laps 6-16), competition (37-40), incident between Nos. 14 and 9 PLUS Stage 1 conclusion (114-121) and No. 38 spin on Turn 2 (180-185).

Lap 179: Todd Gilliland gets loose in Turn 2. Right rear and right front tires down. Fourth caution of the evening goes up. Cars effectively navigate around him. No one else is collected.

Lap 174: Chase Elliott has officially been evaluated and released from the infield care center.

Lap 162: Another playoff driver, Ross Chastain, is having problems. Chastain had to make two pit stops under green with a tire issue. He is a lap down.

Lap 119: Chase Elliott appears to have a broken toe link. Chase Briscoe has right-side damage. Elliott’s day is over: “That’s it guys,” his team says over the radio. Elliott’s crew had 10 minutes to make repairs but wasn’t able to get him back on the track. Elliott won the regular season points championship.

Lap 117: Kyle Larson asks team over radio: “How many laps down am I?” The No. 5 car ends Stage 1 down three laps. Will make a lot of changes in pit under caution before Stage 2 gets underway, per team.

Stage 1

Lap 115: William Byron’s radio says “you’re perfect, perf— caution out!” Chase Elliott spins out and then collects Chase Briscoe. Stage 1 will end under caution. Other results: William Byron, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Christopher Bell, Martin Truex Jr., Ross Chastain, Tyler Reddick, Erik Jones, Ryan Blaney.

Lap 109: Daniel Suarez has made quite the comeback. Will likely end Stage 1 on the lead lap. He’s in 20th after having to start from the rear for inspection failures on Saturday.

Lap 105: Martin Truex Jr. running fifth with 106 laps to go. Darlington earning its fast reputation. William Byron, the leader, has a best-lap time of 29.656. Blaney and Logano fighting for P9 and P10.

Lap 97: A relatively slow pit stop has pushed him back to the 11th spot. He started on the pole. Chase Elliott right behind him. Nineteen laps to go until the stage ends.

Lap 81: One of the longer Stage 1 runs in the Cup Series has been eventful. Kyle Busch (P2) and Denny Hamlin (P3) moving up. William Byron maintains the lead. Kyle Larson had to pull off into pit road and get his hood popped open for a car mechanical issue. He’s now running 35th, three laps down. Not good for the playoff driver.

Lap 68: William Byron surpassed Joey Logano on Lap 66, and now the Hendrick Motorsports driver of the 24 car is the leader. Logano is second. Tyler Reddick has now dropped outside of the top 10. Mechanical issue? Said on the radio that the right rear felt weird.

Lap 53: Chase Elliott finally cracks top 15. Other playoff drivers in the top-15: Logano, Byron, Bell, Reddick, Hamlin, Busch, Chastain, Larson, Blaney and Bowman. Bubba Wallace, driving in the 45 car, is in P5.

Lap 41: And ... green green green!

Lap 35: Competition caution. Joey Logano edges William Byron off pit road and maintains the lead.

Lap 29: With six to go before the competition caution, Martin Truex Jr. and Ryan Blaney are racing hard. The two were vying for the final playoff spot after having great but winless years. Old regular-season habits die hard, apparently!

Lap 19: Chase Elliott in an uncharacteristic P23. Right before the caution, he told his team that he “made a mistake,” which resulted in him losing a few spots after working up from the pack. The regular-season race winner started in P23. He didn’t pit when the caution came out earlier.

Lap 16: We’re back under green after a brief caution (6-16) because of rain. The competition caution has been rescheduled for Lap 35. Joey Logano still leads with Christopher Bell and William Byron right behind him.

Lap 10: There’s a competition caution scheduled on Lap 25.

Lap 6: A tiny bit of rain is showering on a short sliver of the track, causing a caution. Seems like NASCAR has listened to drivers after Daytona’s wreckage and is “being more proactive than reactive,” as Denny Hamlin urged post-Daytona.

Lap 2: Christopher Bell and Joey Logano already battling, exchanging leads early. This is one of the longest courses on the Cup Series circuit — Chase Elliott said it “felt” like the longest race to him, besides the Coke 600 — but don’t tell these two leaders.

6:22 p.m., Green flag! Let’s do this!

6:17 p.m.: So it’s on the record: Alex Zietlow predicts that Joey Logano, who’s starting on the pole, wins this one. (For what it’s worth, Dale Earnhardt Jr. thinks the same, per the NBC broadcast.)

6:14 p.m.: Some quick prerace reading: Coastal Carolina quarterback Grayson McCall answered questions on Sunday. Donned a mullet and a Chase Elliott shirt. The two-time Sun Belt Player of the Year inked a sponsorship deal with the racetrack earlier this month.

6:11 p.m.: Engines fired! No weather issues on the horizon, and we’re a few minutes from starting the race on time.

5:19 p.m.: USC women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley, speaking in the media center at Darlington Raceway, defended her decision to not play the home-and-home series with BYU after the family of Duke volleyball player Rachel Richardson alleged she was repeatedly called a racial slur by a fan during a contest at BYU, according to the (Raleigh) News & Observer and other media outlets. Staley and the Gamecocks won a college basketball national championship in March. She will drive Sunday’s pace car.

4:31 p.m.: Timing for pre-race festivities: Driver introductions at 5:30 p.m.; invocation at 6; national anthem at 6:02; command at 6:09 and green flag at 6:19.

3:47 p.m.: Among the people who will address reporters in Darlington Raceway’s media center pre-race: Terry Labonte (NASCAR Hall of Famer and today’s Honorary Race Official), Grayson McCall (quarterback of Coastal Carolina who’s at the center of Sunday’s “Too Tough To Tame” Athlete-NIL Partnership) and Dawn Staley (head coach of USC women’s basketball and the honorary pace car driver).

3:37 p.m.: Some brief showers passed through Darlington early this morning. Officials say that’s the only bit of inclement weather they expect before the green flag drops around 6 — plenty of time for the 1.366-mile track to dry. The sun’s out now.

How to watch NASCAR race at Darlington

• Race: Cook Out Southern 500

• Distance: 367 laps / 501.32 miles

• Stages: 115 / 230 / 367

• Where: Darlington Raceway
• When: 6 p.m. ET
• TV: USA Network
• Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR
• Purse: $7,823,733

Darlington Cup race starting lineup

This story was originally published September 4, 2022 at 3:38 PM.

Lou Bezjak

The State

(803) 771-8419

Lou Bezjak is the High School Sports Prep Coordinator for The (Columbia) State and (Hilton Head) Island Packet. He previously worked at the Florence Morning News and had covered high school sports in South Carolina since 2002. Lou is a two-time South Carolina Sports Writer of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Support my work with a digital subscription

Alex Zietlow

The Charlotte Observer

Alex Zietlow writes about the Carolina Panthers and the ways in which sports intersect with life for The Charlotte Observer, where he has been a reporter since August 2022. Zietlow’s work has been honored by the Pro Football Writers Association, the N.C. and S.C. Press Associations, as well as the Associated Press Sports Editors (APSE) group. He’s earned six APSE Top 10 distinctions for his coverage on a variety of topics, from billion-dollar stadium renovations to the small moments of triumph that helped a Panthers kicker defy the steepest odds in sports. Zietlow previously wrote for The Herald in Rock Hill (S.C.) from 2019-22. Support my work with a digital subscription