Sunday night at Darlington Raceway was not a good place to be a Cup Series Playoffs driver – but it was a fine night to be behind the wheel of the No. 43 Nascar Chevy Camaro ZL1, as Erik Jones captured the victory.
At first, the September 4th race at Darlington seemed to be going in favor of the Toyotas. Martin Truex Jr., driver of the No. 19 Toyota TRD Camry, and Kyle Busch’s No. 18 Camry traded the lead back and forth for most of the race. But Truex’s No. 19 Camry suffered a mechanical failure while he was in the lead with 40 laps to go, forcing him to retire, turning the lead to Busch’s No. 18 Camry. Then, the engine in Busch’s No. 18 let go on a restart, and he also pulled into the garage.
Jones, whose No. 43 Nascar Chevy lurked near the front of the field for most of the race, took advantage of the Toyotas’ misfortune and claimed the lead with 23 laps left. He held off the No. 11 Camry of Denny Hamlin as the laps ticked by, and crossed the finish line .252 second ahead of Hamlin.
“We’ve been so close all year,” said Jones. “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.”
The victory marked Jones’ third career Cup Series race win, and the first for Petty GMS Racing. The famous No. 43, of course, is owned by Richard Petty, who piloted the same number for much of his 200-race winning career. While Jones is not eligible for the postseason Playoffs, the win is a massive boost to him and the No. 43 Nascar Chevy team.
Meanwhile, Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Camaro and Playoffs champion hopeful, wrecked on Lap 113, breaking critical rear suspension pieces. The incident swept fellow Playoffs driver Chase Briscoe in the No. 14 Mustang as Elliott was scored 36th. Kyle Larson’s No. 5 Camaro began to show signs of a mechanical failure early in the race, eliminating his chances of winning, but he managed to salvage a lead-lap 12th-place finish. Ross Chastain’s No. 1 Camaro also broke down, while Kevin Harvick’s No. 4 Mustang caught fire and took a hit in the championship points as well.
Finish | Start | Car Number | Driver | Team | Laps Run | Laps Led | Car |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 15 | 43 | Erik Jones | FOCUSfactor Chevrolet | 367 | 23 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
2 | 11 | 11 | Denny Hamlin (P) | Sport Clips Haircuts Toyota | 367 | 6 | Toyota TRD Camry |
3 | 4 | 8 | Tyler Reddick (P) | Lenovo Chevrolet | 367 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
4 | 1 | 22 | Joey Logano (P) | Shell Pennzoil Ford | 367 | 64 | Ford Mustang |
5 | 2 | 20 | Christopher Bell (P) | Yahoo! Toyota | 367 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
6 | 10 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Fr8Auctions.com Ford | 367 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
7 | 25 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | Kohler Generators Ford | 367 | 11 | Ford Mustang |
8 | 3 | 24 | William Byron (P) | Valvoline Chevrolet | 367 | 50 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
9 | 8 | 45 | Bubba Wallace (P) | ROOT Insurance Toyota | 367 | 4 | Toyota TRD Camry |
10 | 16 | 48 | Alex Bowman (P) | Ally Chevrolet | 367 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
11 | 22 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Renegade Insurance Ford | 367 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
12 | 7 | 5 | Kyle Larson (P) | HendrickCars.com Chevrolet | 367 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
13 | 9 | 12 | Ryan Blaney (P) | Menards/Moen Ford | 367 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
14 | 30 | 41 | Cole Custer | Feeding America/Wow Wow Ford | 367 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
15 | 21 | 23 | Ty Gibbs(i) | Monster Energy Toyota | 367 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
16 | 6 | 2 | Austin Cindric # (P) | Discount Tire Ford | 367 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
17 | 13 | 3 | Austin Dillon (P) | BetMGM Chevrolet | 367 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
18 | 36 | 99 | Daniel Suarez (P) | Jockey Chevrolet | 367 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
19 | 14 | 31 | Justin Haley | LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet | 366 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
20 | 12 | 1 | Ross Chastain (P) | Worldwide Express Chevrolet | 366 | 1 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
21 | 28 | 21 | Harrison Burton # | Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford | 366 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
22 | 29 | 42 | Ty Dillon | EG3 Technologies Chevrolet | 366 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
23 | 24 | 16 | Daniel Hemric(i) | AG1 by Athletic Greens Chevrolet | 365 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
24 | 34 | 7 | Corey LaJoie | Built.com Chevrolet | 365 | 4 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
25 | 26 | 77 | Landon Cassill(i) | Voyager: Crypto for All Chevrolet | 365 | 1 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
26 | 27 | 17 | Chris Buescher | Fifth Third Bank Ford | 365 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
27 | 19 | 14 | Chase Briscoe (P) | HighPoint.com Lady in Black Ford | 363 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
28 | 31 | 38 | Todd Gilliland # | Southeastern Equipment Ford | 363 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
29 | 35 | 78 | BJ McLeod(i) | Blaster Ford | 361 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
30 | 5 | 18 | Kyle Busch (P) | M&M's Toyota | 345 | 155 | Toyota TRD Camry |
31 | 17 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Bass Pro Shops Toyota | 336 | 48 | Toyota TRD Camry |
32 | 32 | 51 | Cody Ware | Nurtec ODT Ford | 331 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
33 | 18 | 4 | Kevin Harvick (P) | Busch Light Retro Ford | 274 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
34 | 33 | 15 | JJ Yeley(i) | Jacob Companies/Parts Plus Ford | 236 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
35 | 20 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Kroger/Irish Spring Chevrolet | 164 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
36 | 23 | 9 | Chase Elliott (P) | NAPA/Children's Chevrolet | 113 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
# – Rookie
i – Points ineligible
* – Part-time driver
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Comments
Great article! Felt like I was there. Appreciate that you are now covering NASCAR. Gotta love the Chevy cars!
Good for them. Been fast all year. Crazy race.