After not visiting victory lane for the entire regular season, Denny Hamlin made it happen when it counted most by holding off Kyle Larson in the first race of the NASCAR Cup Series playoff.
“It’s as good a time as any right?” Hamlin said in victory lane. “My favorite race of the year.”
"It was a matter of time," Hamlin said. "We can't just keep leading with 10 laps to go every week and not get a win."
Cook Out Southern 500 Results - Sunday from the 1.366-mile Darlington Raceway (Starting position in parentheses)
1. (2) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 367 laps, 57 points.
2. (6) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 367, 54.
3. (23) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 367, 44.
4. (10) Martin Truex Jr, Toyota, 367, 38.
5. (9) Kevin Harvick, Ford, 367, 44.
6. (3) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 367, 44.
7. (16) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 367, 30.
8. (11) Joey Logano, Ford, 367, 34.
9. (34) Chris Buescher, Ford, 367, 28.
10. (21) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 367, 27.
11. (31) Cole Custer, Ford, 367, 26.
12. (18) Ryan Preece, Chevrolet, 367, 25.
13. (26) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 367, 24.
14. (19) Ryan Newman, Ford, 367, 23.
15. (25) Corey Lajoie, Chevrolet, 367, 23.
16. (8) Aric Almirola, Ford, 366, 24.
17. (29) Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Chevrolet, 366, 20.
18. (7) Tyler Reddick, Chevrolet, 366, 23.
19. (24) Chase Briscoe, Ford, 366, 18.
20. (13) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 366, 26.
21. (17) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 366, 16.
22. (1) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 366, 24.
23. (30) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, 365, 14.
24. (32) Anthony Alfredo, Ford, 364, 13.
25. (20) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 364, 0.
26. (5) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 363, 11.
27. (27) BJ McLeod, Ford, 359, 0.
28. (28) Josh Bilicki, Ford, 359, 9.
29. (35) Joey Gase, Chevrolet, 357, 0.
30. (37) Quin Houff, Chevrolet, 355, 7.
31. (4) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, accident, 327, 9.
32. (22) Erik Jones, Chevrolet, engine, 264, 5.
33. (33) Cody Ware, Chevrolet, accident, 209, 0.
34. (14) William Byron, Chevrolet, accident, 199, 3.
35. (12) Kyle Busch, Toyota, accident, 125, 2.
36. (36) James Davison, Chevrolet, accident, 50, 1.
37. (15) Michael McDowell, Ford, accident, 30, 1.
Unofficial NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Standings
1. #11 - Denny Hamlin (1 win)
2. #5 - Kyle Larson (+80)
3. #19 - Martin Truex Jr. (+36)
4. #1 - Kurt Busch (+26)
5. #12 - Ryan Blaney (+22)
6. #22 - Joey Logano (+21)
7. #4 - Kevin Harvick (+20)
8. #2 - Brad Keselowski (+8)
9. #20 - Christopher Bell (+5)
10. #9 - Chase Elliott (+4)
11. #10 - Aric Almirola (+3)
12. #8 - Tyler Reddick (+0)
Cutoff for next round
13. #48 - Alex Bowman (-0)
14. #18 - Kyle Busch (-2)
15. #24 - William Byron (-9)
16. #34 - Michael McDowell (-20)
Check out the recap by Chris Estrada:
Or this recap by Anthony Ballantoni: