The 2024 Cook Out Southern 500, the 75th running of the event, was a NASCAR Cup Series race held on September 1, 2024, at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina on the 1.366-mile (2.198 km) speedway, it was the 26th race of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season, last race of the regular season, and the final Crown Jewel of the year. Chase Briscoe won the race, his first win since the 2022 Ruoff Mortgage 500. Kyle Busch finished 2nd, and Christopher Bell finished 3rd. Kyle Larson and Ross Chastain rounded out the top five, and Chris Buescher, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, Corey LaJoie, and Tyler Reddick rounded out the top ten.
| Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 26 of 36 in the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series | |||
 The commemorative logo for the event. | |||
| Date | September 1, 2024 | ||
| Location | Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 1.366 mi (2.198 km) | ||
| Distance | 367 laps, 501.322 mi (806.666 km) | ||
| Average speed | 127.800 miles per hour (205.674 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | 23XI Racing | ||
| Time | 29.421 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Kyle Larson | Hendrick Motorsports | |
| Laps | 263 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 14 | Chase Briscoe | Stewart-Haas Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | USA | ||
| Announcers | Leigh Diffey, Jeff Burton and Steve Letarte | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | MRN | ||
| Booth Announcers | Alex Hayden, Jeff Striegle and Rusty Wallace | ||
| Turn Announcers | Dave Moody (1–2) and Mike Bagley (3–4) | ||
This was Stewart-Haas Racing's final win in the Cup Series, as Riley Herbst won the Xfinity Series Finale later in the year.
Report
editBackground
edit
Darlington Raceway is a race track built for NASCAR racing located near Darlington, South Carolina. It is nicknamed "The Lady in Black" and "The Track Too Tough to Tame" by many NASCAR fans and drivers and advertised as "A NASCAR Tradition." It is of a unique, somewhat egg-shaped design, an oval with the ends of very different configurations, a condition which supposedly arose from the proximity of one end of the track to a minnow pond the owner refused to relocate. This situation makes it very challenging for the crews to set up their cars' handling in a way that is effective at both ends.
Entry list
edit- (R) denotes rookie driver.
- (i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.
Practice
editErik Jones was the fastest in the practice session with a time of 29.542 seconds and a speed of 166.461 mph (267.893 km/h).
Practice results
edit| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Time | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 43 | Erik Jones | Legacy Motor Club | Toyota | 29.542 | 166.461 |
| 2 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 29.598 | 166.146 |
| 3 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 29.603 | 166.118 |
| Official practice results | ||||||
Qualifying
editBubba Wallace scored the pole for the race with a time 29.421 of and a speed of 167.146 mph (268.995 km/h).[10] Rookie Carson Hocevar scored a personal and team best qualifying effort in 2nd.
Qualifying results
editRace
editRace results
editStage results
editStage One Laps: 115
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Kyle Larson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 10 |
| 2 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | 23XI Racing | Toyota | 9 |
| 3 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 8 |
| 4 | 45 | Tyler Reddick | 23XI Racing | Toyota | 7 |
| 5 | 20 | Christopher Bell | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 6 |
| 6 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 5 |
| 7 | 54 | Ty Gibbs | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 4 |
| 8 | 24 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 3 |
| 9 | 4 | Josh Berry (R) | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 2 |
| 10 | 17 | Chris Buescher | RFK Racing | Ford | 1 |
| Official stage one results | |||||
Stage Two Laps: 115
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Kyle Larson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 10 |
| 2 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 9 |
| 3 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 8 |
| 4 | 24 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 7 |
| 5 | 20 | Christopher Bell | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 6 |
| 6 | 54 | Ty Gibbs | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 5 |
| 7 | 4 | Josh Berry (R) | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 4 |
| 8 | 45 | Tyler Reddick | 23XI Racing | Toyota | 3 |
| 9 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | 23XI Racing | Toyota | 2 |
| 10 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | RFK Racing | Ford | 1 |
| Official stage two results | |||||
Final Stage results
editStage Three Laps: 137
| Pos | Grid | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Laps | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 367 | 57 |
| 2 | 17 | 8 | Kyle Busch | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 367 | 35 |
| 3 | 9 | 20 | Christopher Bell | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 367 | 46 |
| 4 | 4 | 5 | Kyle Larson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 367 | 53 |
| 5 | 22 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Trackhouse Racing | Chevrolet | 367 | 32 |
| 6 | 10 | 17 | Chris Buescher | RFK Racing | Ford | 367 | 32 |
| 7 | 14 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 367 | 43 |
| 8 | 23 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 367 | 29 |
| 9 | 19 | 7 | Corey LaJoie | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 367 | 28 |
| 10 | 6 | 45 | Tyler Reddick | 23XI Racing | Toyota | 367 | 37 |
| 11 | 20 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 367 | 26 |
| 12 | 30 | 41 | Ryan Preece | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 367 | 25 |
| 13 | 11 | 2 | Austin Cindric | Team Penske | Ford | 367 | 24 |
| 14 | 12 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | RFK Racing | Ford | 367 | 24 |
| 15 | 16 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 367 | 22 |
| 16 | 1 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | 23XI Racing | Toyota | 367 | 32 |
| 17 | 33 | 38 | Todd Gilliland | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 367 | 20 |
| 18 | 32 | 99 | Daniel Suárez | Trackhouse Racing | Chevrolet | 366 | 19 |
| 19 | 27 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 366 | 18 |
| 20 | 13 | 54 | Ty Gibbs | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 366 | 26 |
| 21 | 24 | 21 | Harrison Burton | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 365 | 16 |
| 22 | 36 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 365 | 15 |
| 23 | 26 | 71 | Zane Smith (R) | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 364 | 14 |
| 24 | 28 | 43 | Erik Jones | Legacy Motor Club | Toyota | 364 | 13 |
| 25 | 18 | 42 | John Hunter Nemechek | Legacy Motor Club | Toyota | 364 | 12 |
| 26 | 34 | 16 | Shane van Gisbergen (i) | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 364 | 0 |
| 27 | 21 | 51 | Justin Haley | Rick Ware Racing | Ford | 363 | 10 |
| 28 | 31 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 363 | 9 |
| 29 | 25 | 31 | Daniel Hemric | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 362 | 8 |
| 30 | 8 | 24 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 344 | 17 |
| 31 | 15 | 4 | Josh Berry (R) | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 343 | 12 |
| 32 | 29 | 10 | Noah Gragson | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 343 | 5 |
| 33 | 2 | 77 | Carson Hocevar (R) | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 335 | 4 |
| 34 | 35 | 15 | Kaz Grala | Rick Ware Racing | Ford | 332 | 3 |
| 35 | 37 | 66 | Timmy Hill (i) | Power Source | Ford | 278 | 0 |
| 36 | 5 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 2 | 1 |
| 37 | 7 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford | 2 | 1 |
| Official race results | |||||||
Race statistics
edit- Lead changes: 26 among 11 different drivers
- Cautions/Laps: 7 for 39
- Red flags: 0
- Time of race: 3 hours, 55 minutes and 14 seconds
- Average speed: 127.800 miles per hour (205.674 km/h)
Media
editTelevision
editUSA covered the race on the television side. Leigh Diffey, two–time Darlington winner Jeff Burton and Steve Letarte called the race from the broadcast booth. Dave Burns, Kim Coon and Marty Snider handled the pit road duties from pit lane.
| USA | |
|---|---|
| Booth announcers | Pit reporters |
| Lap-by-lap: Leigh Diffey Color-commentator: Jeff Burton Color-commentator: Steve Letarte |
Dave Burns Kim Coon Marty Snider |
Radio
editMRN had the radio call for the race, which was also simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.
| MRN Radio | ||
|---|---|---|
| Booth announcers | Turn announcers | Pit reporters |
| Lead announcer: Alex Hayden Announcer: Jeff Striegle Announcer: Todd Gordon |
Turns 1 & 2: Dave Moody Turns 3 & 4: Mike Bagley |
Steve Post Chris Wilner Brienne Pedigo Alex Weaver |
Standings after the race
edit
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References
edit- ^ "2024 schedule". Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. Retrieved October 10, 2022.
- ^ "Darlington Raceway". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. Archived from the original on April 30, 2017. Retrieved August 7, 2022.
- ^ "NASCAR unveils 2024 Cup schedule as Atlanta, Watkins Glen move to playoffs". National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC. October 4, 2023. Retrieved April 21, 2024.
- ^ Taranto, Steven (October 4, 2023). "NASCAR Cup Series 2024 schedule announcement: New additions, race dates, plus the complete calendar". CBS Broadcasting Inc. Retrieved April 21, 2024.
- ^ "Entry List" (PDF). Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. August 26, 2024. Retrieved August 26, 2024.
- ^ "Practice Results". NASCAR.com. NASCAR. August 31, 2024. Retrieved August 31, 2024.
- ^ "Qualifying Results". NASCAR.com. NASCAR. August 31, 2024. Retrieved August 31, 2024.
- ^ "Cook Out Southern 500 Results". NASCAR.com. NASCAR. September 1, 2024. Retrieved September 1, 2024.
- ^ "Points standings" (PDF). Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. September 1, 2024. Retrieved September 1, 2024.
- ^ DeGroot, Nick (August 31, 2024). "Southern 500: Bubba Wallace beats Hocevar to pole in dramatic session". Motorsport.com. Darlington, South Carolina: Motorsport Network. Retrieved August 31, 2024.