By Zach Arnold

The Cup Series went to Darlington Raceway for the annual Southern 500, the first playoff race in 2023. The drivers did not disappoint the sold-out crowd Sunday evening.

Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Christopher Bell and Denny Hamlin brought the field into turn one to begin the 500-mile race. Bell led the first portion until the green flag pit stops; the No. 20 team had a slow stop, pushing Bell back to the 6th position. Hamlin, who won the NASCAR Xfinity Series race the day before, took the lead shortly after; he went on to win stage one. On the last lap of Stage One, Bubba Wallace spun out and ran himself up the track into the No. 22 of Joey Logano. Both drivers had minimal damage and were able to continue.

Stage two was one of the more unusual stages in recent years due to the first caution for darkness in turns three and four as many spotters complained that it was tough to see due to the lights not working correctly. This caution turned into a red flag as NASCAR then communicated to Darlington’s local power company to see why the lights were not working. About 15-20 minutes later, the lights turned on and did not malfunction for the rest of the race.

Bj McLeod brought out the second caution of stage two as he spun out solo on the backstretch. Shortly after, Austin Cindric and Ty Gibbs got together in turn two, and both cars continued the race. This caution forced a one-lap shootout to end the stage, which Hamlin won.

Stage three started with Hamlin leading the field. At this point in the race, it seemed as if he would sweep the weekend as the No. 11 was out front all day, leading over 170 laps. Unfortunately, Hamlin felt like he had a loose wheel after a green flag pit stop, and brought his Toyota Camry down pit road a second time. This pushed the 42-year-old back to 30th, one lap behind the leaders. The No. 11’s crew chief, Chris Gabehart, told Hamlin that the wheel looked fine; the driver was the only one on the team who thought they had a loose wheel. As Gabehart said on the radio though, “Everything we can tell, the wheel looked fine, bud.”

Many drivers in the 2023 playoffs had issues on pit road throughout the 500-mile race. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Michael McDowell, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr., Christopher Bell, and Denny Hamlin were penalized on pit road, or the pit crew was at fault, hurting their day.

In stage three, there were two cautions, the first involving Alex Bowman, Daniel Suarez, and Harrison Burton early into a green flag run. Later in the stage, Michael McDowell, Todd Gilliland, and Denny Hamlin brought out the final caution of the race.

The rest of the race was all about Kyle Larson, as he went on to win his first Southern 500. This win locked the No. 5 into the next round of the NASCAR Playoffs.

“Just proud of the team,” Larson said post-race “Proud of Rick Hendrick, Jeff Gordon, Jeff Andrews, Chad Knaus, everybody at Hendrick Engine shop. 500 wins.. that’s incredible, so congratulations to each and every one of you at the shop for all your hard work. Valvoline, JINYA Ramen Bar, all of Hendrick Motorsports.”

The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Kansas Speedway next weekend for the second playoff race of 2023. Tune in to NBC Sports to catch the action.