The 2020 Cook Out Southern 500, the 71st running of the

event Event may refer to: Gatherings of people * Ceremony, an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion * Convention (meeting), a gathering of individuals engaged in some common interest * Event management, the organization of eve ...

, was a

NASCAR Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), the most prestigious stock car racing series in the United States. The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, ...

race held on September 6, 2020, at

Darlington Raceway Darlington Raceway is a egg-shaped oval track in Darlington, South Carolina. The track has hosted a variety of racing events since its inaugural season of racing in 1950; primarily races sanctioned by NASCAR. The venue has a capacity of 47,00 ...

Darlington, South Carolina Darlington is a city located in Darlington County, South Carolina, United States. In 2010, its population was 6,289. It is the county seat of Darlington County. It is part of the Florence, South Carolina metropolitan area. Darlington is known f ...

. Contested over 367 laps on the egg-shaped oval, it was the 27th race of the

2020 NASCAR Cup Series The 2020 NASCAR Cup Series was the 72nd season for NASCAR professional stock car racing in the United States and the 49th season for the modern era Cup Series. The season began at Daytona International Speedway with the Busch Clash, the ...

season, first race of the Playoffs, and the first race of the Round of 16. It was the first time Darlington hosted three Cup Series races in a single season.

Report

Background

Darlington Raceway is a

race track A race track (racetrack, racing track or racing circuit) is a facility built for racing of vehicles, athletes, or animals (e.g. horse racing or greyhound racing). A race track also may feature grandstands or concourses. Race tracks are also us ...

built for

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

racing located near

. 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

* (R) denotes rookie driver. * (i) denotes driver who are ineligible for series driver points.

Qualifying

Chase Elliott William Clyde "Chase" Elliott II (born November 28, 1995) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro (sixth generation)#ZL1, Chevrolet ZL1 for Hendrick Mo ...

was awarded the pole for the race as determined by competition-based formula.

Starting Lineup

Race

Stage Results

Stage One ''Laps:'' 115 Stage Two ''Laps:'' 115

Final Stage Results

Stage Three ''Laps:'' 137

Race statistics

* Lead changes: 18 among 6 different drivers * Cautions/Laps: 7 for 34 * Red flags: 0 * Time of race: 3 hours, 47 minutes and 26 seconds * Average speed:

Media

Television

NBC Sports NBC Sports is an American programming division for NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, that is responsible for sports broadcasts on their broadcast network NBC, the Cable television, cable channels NBC owns, and on Peacock (streaming service) ...

covered the race on the television side. Rick Allen, two–time Darlington winner

Jeff Burton Jeffrey Tyler Burton (born June 29, 1967), nicknamed "the Mayor", is an American former professional stock car racing driver and current racing commentator. He is a member of the Burton racing family. He scored 23 career victories in the NASCAR ...

, Steve Letarte and

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Ralph Dale Earnhardt Jr. (born October 10, 1974) is an American professional stock car racing driver, team owner, and broadcaster. A third-generation driver, he is the son of the late 7-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Dale Earnhardt and relative ...

covered the race from the booth at

Charlotte Motor Speedway Charlotte Motor Speedway (known as Lowe's Motor Speedway from 1999 to 2009 due to sponsorship reasons) is a quad-oval Oval track racing#Intermediate, intermediate speedway in Concord, North Carolina. It has hosted various major races since it ...

. Earnhardt Jr.,

Dale Jarrett Dale Arnold Jarrett (born November 26, 1956) is an American former race car driver and current racing commentator for NBC. He is best known for winning the Daytona 500 three times (in 1993, 1996, and 2000) and winning the NASCAR Winston Cup Series ...

and

Kyle Petty Kyle Eugene Petty (born June 2, 1960) is an American former stock car racing driver and current racing commentator. He is the son of racer Richard Petty, grandson of racer Lee Petty, and father of racer Adam Petty, who was killed in a crash duri ...

also called a portion of the race as part of the Throwback Weekend, Dave Burns,

Parker Kligerman Parker Lindsley Kligerman (born August 8, 1990) is an American professional stock car racing driver, color commentator for ''NASCAR on The CW'', studio talent for ''NASCAR on TNT Sports'', and pit reporter for ''NASCAR on NBC''. He competes part-t ...

and Marty Snider handled the pit road duties on site, and Rutledge Wood handled the features from his home during the race.

Radio

MRN had the radio call for the race, which was also simulcast on

Sirius XM Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting corporation headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. The company was formed by the 2008 merge ...

NASCAR Radio.

Standings after the race

;Drivers' Championship standings ;Manufacturers' Championship standings *Note: Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cook Out Southern 500, 2020 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Historically themed events NASCAR races at Darlington Raceway September 2020 sports events in the United States 2020 in sports in South Carolina