The 2023 Cook Out Southern 500, the 74th 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 ev ...

, 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 series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. ...

race held on September 3, 2023, at

Darlington Raceway Darlington Raceway is a race track built for NASCAR racing located in 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 ...

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 Statistical Area. Darling ...

. Contested over 367 laps on the egg-shaped oval, it was the 27th race of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season, the first race of the 2023

NASCAR playoffs The NASCAR playoffs is a championship playoff system used in NASCAR's three national series. The system was founded as 'The Chase for the Championship' on January 21, 2004, and was used exclusively in the NASCAR Cup Series from 2004 to 2015. S ...

, and the first race of the Round of 16.

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 ...

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. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and h ...

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 the driver ineligible for series driver points. * (P) denotes playoff driver. * (OP) denotes owner’s playoffs car.

Practice

Christopher Bell was the fastest in the practice session with a time of 29.197 seconds and a speed of .

Practice results

Qualifying

Christopher Bell scored the pole for the race with a time of 29.065 and a speed of .

Qualifying results

Race

Race results

Stage results

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

Final Stage results

Stage Three ''Laps:'' 137

Race statistics

* Lead changes: 13 among 7 different drivers * Cautions/Laps: 8 for 51 laps * Red flags: 1 for 10 minutes * Time of race: 4 hours, 8 minutes, and 47 seconds * Average speed:

Media

Television

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territor ...

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 scored 21 career victories in the NASCAR Cup Series, including two Coca-Cola 600s in ...

Steve Letarte Steven Letarte (born May 14, 1979) is an American professional NASCAR crew chief and sportscaster who works for NBC Sports as a color commentator on their telecasts for NASCAR. He also works as a consultant for Spire Motorsports, a NASCAR Cu ...

and

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Ralph Dale Earnhardt Jr. (born October 10, 1974) is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver, team owner, author, and an analyst for '' NASCAR on NBC''. He currently competes part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving ...

called Stages 1 and 3 of the race from the broadcast booth. Earnhardt Jr.,

Dale Jarrett Dale Arnold Jarrett (born November 26, 1956) is a former American race car driver and current 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 champi ...

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 d ...

called Stage 2 of the race from the broadcast booth. Dave Burns, Kim Coon and Marty Snider handled the pit road duties from pit lane.

Radio

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

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

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, 2023 2023 NASCAR Cup Series NASCAR races at Darlington Raceway September 2023 sports events in the United States 2023 in sports in South Carolina