DARLINGTON, SC (AP) – Fasten your five-point seat belt. It looks like the NASCAR playoffs will be as wild and unpredictable as their regular season.
It came in sharp focus at Darlington Raceway as Eric Jones became the first non-racing rider ever to take the post-season opener at the Southern 500 on Sunday night — one week after the qualifying break.
Jones’ chief of staff, Dave Ellens, was grateful that his team had finally broken through one of the toughest tracks in NASCAR. “But I think the first thing Eric said to me was, ‘Don’t wish we could win Daytona’ in the regular season final,” Ellens said.
In the end, Jones outperformed his three teammates Joe Gibbs Racing – Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin. Truex lost a late lead due to power-steering issues, and Busch’s engine exploded with Jones in second. Hamlin hit Jones’ rear shock absorber on the last lap but couldn’t get past it.
“It was crazy,” Jones said.
Truex, like Jones, did not qualify for the playoff. Bush and Hamlin are vying for the title.
Earlier in the night, Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson of strong team Hendrik Motorsports struggled.
Elliott bounced off the wall spinning himself the first 100 laps, damaging the suspension, which his team was unable to repair. Top seed Elliott came in, dropped out of the race and slipped to ninth in playoff points.
Larson, the NASCAR Cup Series champion, ranked fourth this year, had early engine problems and fell four laps below speed. Larsson bounced steadily back to lap one and finish 12th – not what was expected of the most dominant driver in 2021.
said Larson, who dropped to seventh in the points standings with two other races in Kansas and Bristol before four of the 16 playoff teams were eliminated.
Bosch has faced questions about his racing future for most of the summer, and it looked like he was going to have a moment of celebration as he led the race with less than 40 laps remaining. Then his malfunctioning engine sent him to the garage.
What is the least surprising result in the race? Driver anger continues at what he considers an unreliable and unsafe next-generation car. Sunday’s loudest voice came from Kevin Harvick, the 2014 series champion whose car caught fire and blazed off his dashboard.
Harvick parks the car on the lawn and drives away to safety. No longer. Moments later, JJ Yeley’s machine under the hood caught fire and he, too, had to get out quickly.
The drivers said the hits this year look more difficult, something NASCAR’s analysis supports. Kurt Busch relinquished his place in the playoff due to his continued recovery from a concussion in a crash in Pocono.
“I’m sure it’s just bad parts in the race car as we’ve seen them so many times,” Harvick said. “They didn’t fix anything. It’s kind of like safety items. We just let it go and go.”
Harvick has fallen from ninth in the playoffs to 16th and is on the verge of disqualification if things don’t improve in the next two weeks.
Darlington brought quick and surprising shuffling into the playoffs, which is unique among sports because those who don’t compete for the title are still vying for victories. Imagine if the top-seeded Los Angeles Dodgers lost in the Eredivisie to the Florida Marlins, who were not in the playoffs. That’s what happened in Darlington when Jones won his third NASCAR race and his second in the Southern 500.
Jones, driving a Petty GMS, was the 17th racer to win 27 races this season, coming close to the most ever in NASCAR, which was 19 different winners in 2001.
Jones also gave the history-packed #43 car, made famous by NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty, with its 200th win.
Joey Logano, fourth in Darlington, moved up the points lead with William Byron second, Hamlin third and Christopher Bell fourth. Join Harvick on the bubble as Austin’s first four playoff debutants are Austin Cendrick and Chase Briscoe, and Austin Dillon, who scored a win at Daytona just a week ago to make the playoff.
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