The NASCAR Cup Series visited Darlington Raceway on Sunday evening in the Cook Out Southern 500. Tyler Reddick started the race on the pole, with Daniel Suarez starting second.
In the first stage, there were two cautions. The first was a competition on lap 37. Late in the first stage, Tyler Reddick took the lead away from Denny Hamlin. On lap 108, Carson Hocevar hit Brad Keselowski, sending him for a spin on the frontstretch that brought out the caution and ended the first stage, which was won by Tyler Reddick.
In the second stage, Kyle Larson was the biggest mover, restarting in 16th place and finishing second. During the stage, Brad Keselowski spun again on the frontstretch, but no caution came out. Tyler Reddick was still the leader until he went to pit road on lap 147. Before the stage ended, Reddick, Bubba Wallace, and Denny Hamlin all had slow pit stops. The second stage was won by Christopher Bell.
In the final stage, Denny Hamlin had significant issues when he got loose and was hit from behind by Michael McDowell, sending him slapping the wall at Turn 4, which took him out of contention. Toward the end of the pit stop cycle, Zane Smith spun on the frontstretch after making contact with McDowell, bringing out the caution.
On the restart, Kyle Larson took the lead on lap 286. On lap 317, William Byron spun at Turn 4 to bring out another caution. There were six cautions for 44 laps. Late in the race, Kyle Larson took the lead again from Chase Briscoe on lap 340. He had Christopher Bell chasing him for the lead. Bell easily passed Larson for the lead on lap 356. Larson led a race-high 99 of 367 laps.
Larson slipped back, losing four positions. Bell had a comfortable margin on Ty Gibbs and would go on to win his first race of the season by 1.038 seconds. Before the win, Bell had seven runner-up finishes. It is also his 14th career Cup Series win. Bell led 46 laps. Tyler Reddick, Ryan Blaney, and Kyle Larson rounded out the top five. Chase Briscoe, Josh Berry, Bubba Wallace, Joey Logano, and Ryan Preece completed the top ten. There were 29 lead changes among 12 drivers.
The Cup Series heads to World Wide Technology Raceway next Sunday at 3 pm on USA.
