DARLINGTON, S.C. – Kyle Larson led the final 55 laps to start his latest NASCAR playoffs run with his first career win at the Southern 500 on Sunday night.

The 2021 Cup Series champion automatically advances into the round of 12 with the win at Darlington Raceway, no matter how he does in next week's race at Kansas Speedway and in two weeks at Bristol Motor Speedway.

“What a great way to start the playoffs,” the Hendrick Motorsports driver said.

Larson didn’t have the fastest car, just one that got out front at the right time while other top contenders fell away.

Denny Hamlin led a race-best 177 of 367 laps and looked headed for the win before he felt vibrations for what he told his crew was a loose wheel and had to pit on consecutive laps.

“We controlled the race until we had some trouble,” Hamlin said. “That’s just part of it.”

Tyler Reddick led 90 laps, yet lost the lead to Larson coming off pit road. Kevin Harvick, seeking the first victory of his final season, challenged Harvick for the lead with less than 60 laps remaining, but was penalized when he could not avoid entering the pits moments after they were closed by NASCAR after a caution came out.

Harvick was penalized and couldn’t recover. He said he didn’t have time to get back on the track before the commitment line.

It was a successful run at the track “Too Tough To Tame” for Larson after several close calls. He has had three seconds and two thirds in his 11 previous Cup Series races at Darlington. In May, Larson was racing for the lead late when he was hit by Ross Chastain and wound up 20th.

“This has been one of my favorite tracks my whole career,” Larson said. “Been really, really fast here my whole career, just usually in the wall.”

“Adding this trophy to the collection is amazing,” Larson continued. “This is one of three or four crown jewels.”

Playoff drivers took the first seven spots. Tyler Reddick was second, followed by Chris Buescher, William Byron, Chastain, Brad Keselowski and Bubba Wallace.

Harvick ended 19th and Hamlin 25th. The rest of the playoff field was Kyle Busch in 11th, Joey Logano in 12th, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in 16th, Martin Truex Jr. in 18th, pole-sitter Christopher Bell in 23rd and Michael McDowell in 32nd.

Byron, Larson’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate and co-top seed with Truex, entered with a series-best five victories this year and was glad with the high finish.

“I think this is a good stepping stone for Kansas and good to get a solid first race in the playoffs,” he said.

FAREWELL, COMMANDER

Darlington fans, drivers and personnel said goodbye to track president Kerry Tharp, who announced his retirement after nearly two decades with NASCAR earlier this summer. Signs celebrating Tharp’s eight-year tenure in charge of Darlington were both inside and outside the facility. South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster also awarded Tharp the Order of the Palmetto, the highest civilian honor governors can give.

POWER OUTAGE

NASCAR halted the race for seven minutes at Darlington Raceway when some lights in turn three and four would not come on as the event moved from day to night. A caution came out when teams noticed the lights off and NASCAR tried to fix the problem under caution. Fans at the sold-out venue cheered when the lights came on and cars were soon rolling again. The problem came from a transfer switch that was not getting enough voltage to fire. The issue did not present itself during the track’s lighting test before race weekend.

UP NEXT

The second of opening-round three races in the NASCAR playoffs takes place at Kansas Speedway on Sept. 10. Bubba Wallace took this event a year ago, while Denny Hamlin won there in May.

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