2023 Cook Out Southern 500

NASCAR Cup Series race

Motor car race

The 2023 Cook Out Southern 500, the 74th running of the event, was a NASCAR Cup Series race held on September 3, 2023, at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina. Contested over 367 laps on the 1.366-mile (2.198 km) egg-shaped oval, it was the 27th race of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season, the first race of the 2023 NASCAR playoffs, and the first race of the Round of 16.

Report

Background

Darlington Raceway where the race was held.

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

• (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 168.428 mph (271.059 km/h).^[10]

Practice results

Qualifying

Christopher Bell scored the pole for the race with a time of 29.065 and a speed of 169.193 mph (272.290 km/h).^[11]

Qualifying results

Race

Race results

Stage results

Stage OneLaps: 115

Stage TwoLaps: 115

Final Stage results

Stage ThreeLaps: 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: 120.906 miles per hour (194.579 km/h)

Media

Television

USA covered the race on the television side. Rick Allen, two–time Darlington winner Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte and Dale Earnhardt Jr. called Stages 1 and 3 of the race from the broadcast booth. Earnhardt Jr., Dale Jarrett and Kyle Petty 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 NASCAR Radio.

Standings after the race

References

1. "2023 schedule". Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. Retrieved October 10, 2022.
2. "Darlington Raceway". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. Archived from the original on April 30, 2017. Retrieved August 7, 2022.
3. Taranto, Steven (September 14, 2022). "NASCAR releases 2023 Cup Series schedule highlighted by new Chicago, All-Star race stops". CBS Broadcasting Inc. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
4. "NASCAR unveils 2023 schedule for its national series". National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC. September 14, 2022. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
5. "Entry List" (PDF). Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. August 28, 2023. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
6. "Practice Results". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. September 2, 2023. Retrieved September 2, 2023.
7. "Qualifying Results". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. September 2, 2023. Retrieved September 2, 2023.
8. "Cook Out Southern 500 Results". NASCAR.com. NASCAR. September 3, 2023. Retrieved September 3, 2023.
9. "Points standings" (PDF). Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. September 3, 2023. Retrieved September 3, 2023.
10. Utter, Jim (September 2, 2023). "Christopher Bell leads Darlington Cup practice". Motorsport.com. Darlington, South Carolina: Motorsport Network. Retrieved September 2, 2023.
11. Utter, Jim (September 2, 2023). "JGR locks out front row for Southern 500 with Bell on pole". Motorsport.com. Darlington, South Carolina: Motorsport Network. Retrieved September 2, 2023.