Kyle Larson punches ticket to Round of 12 with Darlington win

Here are some takeaways from an action-packed race at Darlington.

RFK Racing continues to deliver

Chris Buescher and Brad Keselowski capped off the regular season with strong performances. Buescher won three of the final five races while Keselowski punched his ticket the playoffs with consistent performances in which he gained numerous points.

The consistency continued with the playoff-opening race. Keselowski scored six points in the first two stages and then he finished sixth. This put him 18 points above the cutline heading to Kansas.

Buescher only scored two points in the first stage, but he was a factor at the end of the race. He lined up next to winner Kyle Larson on multiple restarts, and he kept himself in contention for a podium finish.

Buescher ultimately crossed the finish line third as he remained fourth in points. He is now 27 points above the cutline with an opportunity to move on to the Round of 12 ahead of him.

“We talked about it a lot this week,” Buescher told NBC Sports. “We know what we’re doing. We’ve been doing it and it’s been working and it’s been resulting in wins.

“It’s not that we need to change up what we’re after. It’s just status quo right now. The things we’re doing are getting us opportunities to win races, and we’re capitalizing on the best days and capitalizing on great days like here tonight.”

A calm presence benefits a Cup champion

Larson is no stranger to success in NASCAR. His 16 wins since 2021 are the most among the Cup Series drivers. His 22 wins put him in a tie with Terry Labonte for 37th on the all-time list. He is a threat to win at every track on the schedule.

While Larson has a reputation as one of the best drivers in the sport, he acknowledges that he has shortcomings. He can get down on himself if he makes mistakes that lead to contact with the wall, penalties, or missed opportunities to win races.

The antidote for these moments is crew chief Cliff Daniels. He has been atop the pit box for the No. 5 team since the start of the 2021 season, and he has been a pivotal part of the success.

Daniels has kept Larson calm, and he has helped him rebound after mistakes on the track. The result is a jaw-dropping number of trips to Victory Lane.

“The way our year’s gone, it’s just been easy to get discouraged at times,” Cliff Daniels told NBC Sports after the race. “And I’ve tried to be there to help — kind of twofold — to help keep him accountable when we need to and be his biggest supporter and biggest cheerleader.

“Because we all know he has the talent and when he gets up front and he executes a good restart and does all the things that we know he can do, he’s dynamite.”

This relationship is something that executives at Hendrick Motorsports recognize. They have seen the effort being put in by both Larson and Daniels and how the relationship leads to positive results on the track.

“Well, certainly a tremendous amount of respect there between Cliff and Kyle, and I know that they’ve been working really hard,” Jeff Andrews, team president and GM, told NBC Sports. “All of Hendrick Motorsports has been working really hard. It’s no secret we’ve not been where we wanted to have been here through the summer months, and a lot of work has been going on.

“When you look at that team and their history and some of the key moments, if you look back a Charlotte a couple years ago and what they went through, to come back and win the 600, those two guys believe in each other. When it gets time, this time of year, and it’s all on the line and it’s time to go, there’s a bond and a belief in each other there that I think is very special in this sport.”

Sixteen drivers entered the Darlington race with the goal of scoring the win or at least stacking points while avoiding mistakes. Not many achieved this goal at one of the most difficult tracks on the NASCAR schedule.

Driver points after Darlington

Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Michael McDowell, Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr., Christopher Bell, Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano and Bubba Wallace all experienced issues at The Lady in Black.

There were slow pit stops, loose wheels, contact with the wall, penalties on pit road and on-track incidents.

Some of these drivers were able to recover. Wallace finished eighth while Logano worked his way back up to 12th after hitting the wall early. Kyle Larson won after hitting the wall and bending the toe link.

Hamlin finished outside of the top 20, but he scored 20 points by sweeping the first two stages. Now he is 27 points above the playoff cutline with two races remaining in the Round of 16.

McDowell sits in a different position. He finished 32nd after a multi-car incident also involving Bell, Hamlin and Todd Gilliland. Now he is 16th in the playoff standings and 19 points below the cutline.

Stenhouse is four points below the cutline, Harvick is two points below and Wallace is one point below. Bell is the first driver above the cutline, but he is only one point ahead of Wallace.

Logano is now three points above the cutline heading to Kansas while Ross Chastain is 13 points above. Neither is in a truly safe position heading to Kansas Speedway.

Kyle Larson led 55 laps and won at Darlington Raceway.

Click here for where everyone finished at Darlington.

Click here for the cumulative race report.

Click here for the penalty report.

The win at Darlington was Larson’s 16th since joining Hendrick Motorsports in 2021.

Kyle Larson entered the Southern 500 with 11 career starts and no wins. He had five top-five finishes, which included three straight runner-ups, but he had never taken his car to Victory Lane.

This changed on Sunday night. Larson held off Tyler Reddick over the final 30 laps and he crossed the finish line first. He punched his ticket to the Round of 12 and checked off a career goal.

Reddick finished second while Chris Buescher was third. William Byron, Ross Chastain, Brad Keselowski, Bubba Wallace, Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney and Erik Jones rounded out the top 10.

Denny Hamlin, who swept the first two stages and led 177 laps, finished 25th after falling one lap down.

A late caution at Darlington Raceway has collected multiple playoff drivers.

The incident occurred after Kyle Busch made contact with Todd Gilliland. This put the No. 38 into the wall. It rebounded and slid down in front of Denny Hamlin, who made slight contact.

Hamlin slid up in front of Michael McDowell, who slammed hard into the back of the No. 11. This caused significant damage. Christopher Bell was also collected in the crash.

Busch continued in the race while Bell and Hamlin headed down pit road for repairs. The damage on McDowell’s No. 34 was too significant. He was unable to continue in the race.

The Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway came to a halt with 49 laps to go. The reason was a multi-car crash featuring Alex Bowman, Daniel Suarez and Harrison Burton.

The incident occurred when Suarez tried to dive to the inside. Bowman aggressively blocked toward the bottom of the race track. Suarez tried to move toward the top, so Bowman matched his movement.

This second block led to Bowman getting hooked off the nose of Suarez’s No. 99. He slammed into the outside wall while Suarez spun toward the bottom of the track.

Burton was an innocent bystander. He had moved to the left in an attempt to avoid the wreck, but the No. 99 slid directly into his path.

Burton climbed out of the No. 21 and headed to the infield care center. Suarez took the No. 99 behind the wall. Bowman brought the No. 48 to pit road so the team could make some repairs.

The situation has drastically changed at Darlington Raceway. Ryan Newman spun while racing behind Tyler Reddick, which brought out the caution flag.

Kevin Harvick was running second at the time, and he dove to the bottom of the track in order to make the pit stop. He was one car length away from crossing the line when the caution came out for the spin.

The timing of the incident meant that pit road immediately closed. Harvick had not crossed the line, so he received a penalty that likely took away his chance to win the playoff-opening race.

Joey Logano was on pit road at the time, so he was able to continue with his stop.

Harvick was not the only driver with a penalty. Michael McDowell was caught speeding on pit road, so he had to drop to the rear of the field.

Another pit road issue has affected a Joe Gibbs Racing driver.

Denny Hamlin, who swept the first two stages with a dominant car, lost the lead after making his first green flag pit stop of the final stage. He then returned to pit road on Lap 273 after falling off the pace.

Hamlin told his team over the radio that he thought he had a loose wheel. This issue dropped him one lap behind the leaders and put him in 30th place.

Hamlin was the second JGR driver with this issue. Martin Truex Jr. had to make his own unscheduled pit stop on Lap 153 due to a loose wheel on the No. 19 Toyota. He did not get back on the lead lap until the end of stage 2.

Denny Hamlin has continued to stack points at Darlington Raceway. He has swept the opening two stages of the playoff race.

The field lined up for a one-lap dash to the end of the stage after a caution for Ty Gibbs and Austin Cindric. Once the green flag flew, Hamlin jumped to the front of the pack. He went on to take the green and white checkered flag once again while Erik Jones and Kyle Larson battled for position.

Larson finished second while Jones, Tyler Reddick and William Byron rounded out the top five. Kyle Busch (sixth), Ryan Blaney (seventh), Brad Keselowski (ninth) and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (10th) were the other playoff drivers scoring stage points.

Hamlin has scored the most points with 20. Larson was second with 17, Reddick was third with 16, and Blaney was fourth with 10.

The caution has flown once again at Darlington Raceway. This was for Austin Cindric and Ty Gibbs.

The incident occurred with fewer than 10 laps remaining in stage 2. Cindric turned off the nose of Gibbs’ No. 54 and he went headfirst into the wall. Gibbs remained on the gas as he pushed Cindric a considerable amount of distance.

“Ugh, what an idiot,” Gibbs said over the radio after the incident.

This wreck nearly collected two playoff drivers. Bubba Wallace and Joey Logano were both behind the wreck, but they were able to avoid it by navigating around the two cars.

The race at Darlington has come to a halt for the third time. This time was for the No. 78 of BJ McLeod.

The Live Fast Motorsports driver-owner pulled to the side of the track on Lap 216 as smoke billowed from both sides of his Chevrolet. He quickly climbed out of his car as the track crews came onto the scene.

This caution benefited one playoff driver who had been caught speeding early in the race. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was able to get back on the lead lap from the 23rd position.

Martin Truex Jr., Christopher Bell and Michael McDowell chose to stay out on the track while the leaders pitted. This helped them all get back on the lead lap as well.

Several drivers used the caution to get back onto pit road for fresh tires. Denny Hamlin brought the field down pit road while Kyle Larson bumped him multiple times from behind.

The Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway came to a halt on Lap 180 due to the lights not coming on in Turns 3 and 4. It has returned to action with Denny Hamlin continuing to lead.

The red flag delay lasted six minutes and 55 seconds as the track crews attempted to get the lights working once again. They were successful, so the field was able to line up once again.

Hamlin and William Byron led the field to the green flag, and Hamlin used the restart to jump ahead once again. Byron fell to fourth as both Kyle Larson and Tyler Reddick passed him.

Christopher Bell, who bent a toe link hitting the wall in stage 1, had to make multiple trips down pit road so his team could make repairs. He was able to stay only two laps behind the leaders.

The yellow flag has been displayed for the second time at Darlington Raceway. This time, it was for issues with the track lights.

There were comments made midway through stage 2 about how dark it was in Turns 3 and 4. The lights at the bottom of the track were not coming on.

The NASCAR Tower asked the crew chiefs to contact their drivers and ask for input. According to NBC Sports’ Marty Snider, Denny Hamlin said that it was dark but that he didn’t have any issues. He wanted to keep racing.

Hamlin was the leader at the time of the caution. He was ahead of Kyle Larson. Kevin Harvick, William Byron and Tyler Reddick rounded out the top five.

Joey Logano was the first driver a lap down at the time of caution. He was able to get back on the lead lap. Christopher Bell remained a lap down.

The story early at Darlington was the number of issues on pit road. This trend continued into stage 2 and affected Martin Truex Jr.'s night.

The regular-season champion headed down pit road with the rest of the leaders for his first stop of stage 2. He then returned to pit road shortly after. The reason was a loose tire on the No. 19 Toyota.

Truex fell to two laps behind the leaders after having to make the unscheduled pit stop. He fell behind Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (-1), Ryan Newman (-1), Harrison Burton (-1), Justin Haley (-1), Michael McDowell (-1) and Todd Gilliland (-1).

Denny Hamlin started second in the Southern 500, but he fell to third in the opening laps. He recovered and went on to win the first stage of the playoff race.

Hamlin took the lead from Tyler Reddick on Lap 92, and he went on to build up an advantage of more than a half-second. He won the stage and scored 10 points while Reddick finished second.

Kyle Larson, Kevin Harvick and Ryan Blaney rounded out the top five. Fellow playoff drivers Brad Keselowski, Chase Elliott (owner championship), Christopher Bell and Chris Buescher all scored stage points.

Bell was running sixth late in the stage, but he hit the wall and lost two positions. He was able to make to the end of the stage.

The other playoff drivers were Joey Logano in 11th, William Byron in 15th, Kyle Busch in 16th, Martin Truex Jr. in 17th, Ross Chastain in 24th, Michael McDowell in 29th, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in 33rd.

Bubba Wallace was running 12th at the end of the stage, but he made contact with the left side of Logano’s No. 22 on the final lap. He spun and crossed the line 20th.

Wallace’s team said over the radio that he had avoided damage and that all four of his tires were still up.

Chastain was one lap down after getting passed on green flag pit stops. He was in the lucky dog position as Hamlin was unable to pass Daniel Suarez before taking the stage win.

The opening round of pit stops had three playoff drivers dealing with separate issues. The second round had another playoff driver dealing with a problem.

Bubba Wallace made his second pit stop of the day after Kyle Larson, Michael McDowell, Joey Logano and others headed down pit road before him. He went too far in his box and had to back up so the tire changer could get the hose out from under the No. 23.

Wallace entered his pit stall running just on the outside of the top 10. He fell to 17th with the 16.716-second stop.

Larson had a completely different stop. He was the first to head down pit road for the second time. His crew delivered a 10.177-second stop, which helped him move from ninth to third.

A key point of emphasis for multiple playoff drivers entering the Darlington race was perfection on pit stops. Two were not able to accomplish this early.

Christopher Bell, Ross Chastain and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. both had issues on their opening stops of the day.

Stenhouse was too fast entering pit road, so he had to serve a pass-through penalty. He had already lost multiple positions after starting outside of the top 20. The penalty dropped him to 35th and two laps behind the leaders.

This penalty marked the second time this season that Stenhouse was caught speeding at Darlington. He also did so late in the spring race.

Chastain slid through his pit stall. He had to back up before the crew could begin the stops. He fell to 29th as the last car on the lead lap.

Bell, who led every lap before heading down pit road, lost several positions on his stop. The jack fell as his new pit crew — which previously worked on Ty Gibbs’ car — was attempting to change the tires on the right side of the car.

Bell’s stop was 15.896 seconds. For comparison, William Byron’s crew had the fastest stop at 9.910 seconds.

Bell blended back onto the track in the sixth position. He was able to work his way up to fourth.

Kyle Larson qualified 18th for the playoff race at Darlington Raceway. He has since showcased one of the best cars early.

Larson moved up to the edge of the top 10 in the first 20 laps of the race. He then passed Austin Cindric for 10th on Lap 27.

Freddie Kraft, spotter for Bubba Wallace, said over the radio that Larson had one of the best cars in traffic.

Larson was able to move up to fifth as drivers ahead of him headed down pit road. This included Ryan Blaney and Michael McDowell on Lap 31.

Larson then headed down pit road with Christopher Bell, Denny Hamlin, Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace among others.

The pace laps are complete and the playoff-opening race at Darlington is underway.

Christopher Bell led the field with Denny Hamlin next to him on the front row. Once they took the green flag, Bell moved ahead of his teammate. Tyler Reddick was able to work his way past Hamlin as he slid into second place.

The drivers have completed nine laps at The Lady in Black. Bell has led them all after starting from the pole.

Martin Truex Jr., who started 31st, moved up to 29th. Kyle Busch worked his way up to 32nd after starting from the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments.

DARLINGTON, SC – The Cup Series drivers kick off the playoffs at Darlington Raceway on Sunday evening (6 p.m. ET, USA Network).

The 367-lap event takes place at one of NASCAR’s most difficult tracks, and it provides opportunities for drivers that can avoid on-track incidents and mistakes.

Last season’s race serves as an example of the incidents that can occur. Chase Elliott finished last after losing control and hitting the wall. Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch both failed to finish due to separate issues. Martin Truex Jr., a non-playoff driver at the time, failed to finish due to a mechanical issue of his own.

Chevrolet drivers are currently on a two-race winning streak at Darlington. William Byron won the spring race while Erik Jones won last season’s Southern 500. Joey Logano won last season’s spring race for Ford. Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin swept the 2021 season for Toyota.

Christopher Bell will lead the field to the green flag after winning the pole on Saturday. Hamlin will join him on the front row.

The winner of the playoff opener at Darlington will automatically move on to the Round of 12. The remaining 15 drivers will prepare for races at Kansas and Bristol.

Follow along for updates throughout Sunday night at the track.