Many Playoff Drivers Suffer, Hamlin Finally Wins

The NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs is once again upon us as it begins at the Darlington Raceway for the Southern 500. Ryan Blaney and Denny Hamlin lead the field to the green flag to begin the 2021 NASCAR Cup Playoffs. Hamlin didn’t get going and shuffled back to third, while Kurt Busch moved to second. The first playoff the driver to suffer was Alex Bowman, as he had a tire rub turn into a flat and this also collected his teammate William Byron as his #24 Axalta Chevrolet skinned Bowman’s car. An unfortunate start to the playoffs to two of the Hendrick Motorsports cars. The race restarted on lap 20 with Kurt Busch and Chase Elliott on the front row. The outside wasn’t getting much traction as Kurt Busch took off like a rocket, Elliott fell to fourth. The competition caution came out by lap 26. Kevin Harvick came off pit road first with Kurt Busch and Ryan Blaney following him during pit stops. Chase Elliott made contact with a tire from a tire carrier, which gave him a tire rub, so now had to make another stop to fix it. The tire came from the #53 team. Erik Jones led the field to the green, as he stayed out, but everyone flew by him as Kevin Harvick took the lead with Kurt Busch in second. Michael McDowell, a playoff underdog, made contact with the wall and went spinning, hitting the inside wall, ending his day and putting his chances of going to the round of 12 already in jeopardy. On lap 48, James Davison and Cody Ware were involved in an incident, in which Cody Ware tried to stay on the track and his right front got destroyed from a flat. Both teammates from Rick Ware Racing. Tyler Reddick was running sixth by lap 76, but was reporting a vibration on his car. Green flag pit stops would take place by lap 82. After what was a crazy first stage, Denny Hamlin would get his first stage win since Richmond back in April.

Stage 1 Results:

1. Denny Hamlin
2. Kyle Larson
3. Kurt Busch
4. Ryan Blaney
5. Kevin Harvick
6. Martin Truex Jr
7. Tyler Reddick
8. Aric Almirola
9. Ross Chastain
10. Joey Logano

The race restarted with stage two on lap 123 with Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin side-by-side going into turn one. Trouble for Kyle Busch on lap 125 as he made contact with Austin Dillon and slipped up, smacking the right rear of the car hard. Busch ended up going behind the wall, another playoff contender in trouble. Busch wasn’t pleased with how his car was running and that it wasn’t Dillon’s fault. A couple of expletives were used. Kyle Larson led at the next restart with Kurt Busch in second and Denny Hamlin third. The caution comes out on lap 164 with a lot of cars having to take the wave around at the time of caution, due to green flag pit stops. The caution was for debris and as that occurred, Christopher Bell ran over a piece of it. The race restarted with Kyle Larson leading on lap 169. Lap 200, William Byron had a flat and hit the wall hard and his day would be done as well, another playoff contender with troubles. Kyle Larson went on to win Stage Two, giving him 19 total stage points on the night.

1. Kyle Larson
2. Christopher Bell
3. Ross Chastain
4. Denny Hamlin
5. Kevin Harvick
6. Kurt Busch
7. Joey Logano
8. Chase Elliott
9. Ryan Blaney
10. Tyler Reddick

Larson and Bell led the field back to the restart for stage three, with 130 laps to go. Larson continues to drive away and with 100 to go, hit the wall. Larson sounded concerned but his crew chief told him that everything was fine. Green flag pit stops started with 98 to go, beginning with Kurt Busch. During this time, Erik Jones went behind the wall with mechanical issues. Kevin Harvick then went a lap down after having to pit for a loose wheel. The next set of stops took place with 68 to go. Ross Chastain looked faster as the race reached 50 laps to go with Denny Hamlin still leading. Ryan Blaney went spinning with a right front tire down with 49 laps to go. Blaney’s brakes also went out during that situation. During the caution, Martin Truex Jr was caught speeding on pit road and would have to go to the tail end of the field. Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin led the field to the restart with both Ganassi cars behind them with 42 laps to go. Denny Hamlin got away with the lead but Kyle Larson rushed by Chastain for second. One lap later, Chase Elliott hit the wall hard to bring out the caution, three Hendrick cars with problems on the evening. Chase Elliott would be done for the day afterward.

On the next restart with 36 to go, Kyle Larson worked to get around Hamlin but wasn’t able to. Chastain almost got around Larson but because of that Hamlin began to pull away. Coming to 15 to go, Larson and Chastain are still there in the mix to win. Larson looked to close in on Hamlin but may have used it up as Ross Chastain worked hard to get around Larson, but was unsuccessful. On the final lap, Kyle Larson sent it in turns three and four but was blocked by Hamlin. Sparks flew and fenders were roughened but Denny Hamlin got away with his first win of 2021 and it comes at the playoffs.

2021 CookOut Southern 500 Top 10:

1. Denny Hamlin (Playoffs)
2. Kyle Larson (Playoffs)
3. Ross Chastain
4. Martin Truex Jr (Playoffs)
5. Kevin Harvick (Playoffs)
6. Kurt Busch (Playoffs)
7. Brad Keselowski (Playoffs)
8. Joey Logano (Playoffs)
9. Chris Buescher
10. Austin Dillon