MONSTER
ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
Bojangles’
Southern 500
Darlington
Raceway – Darlington, S.C.
Sunday,
September 3, 2017
Race
Winner: Denny Hamlin
Age:
36
Team:
No. 11 – Sports Clips Toyota
Owner:
Joe Gibbs Racing
Crew
Chief: Michael Wheeler
IN THE WORDS
OF THE WINNER – “It means so much. I
mean, this is the Southern 500. It doesn’t get much bigger than this. This is
the granddaddy of them all. This has so much history. I’m so happy to be in
victory lane at Darlington. This is where I got my very first start in Joe
Gibbs Racing, so this track, these fans means a lot to me.”
·
Denny
Hamlin
----------------
·
Denny
Hamlin won the 68th annual Bojangles’ Southern 500 Monster Energy
NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) race at Darlington Raceway Sunday night. It is
Hamlin’s 31st win in 423 career MENCS races and his second this year
(at New Hampshire, 7/16).
·
It
is Hamlin’s 14th top-10 finish and 10th top-5 in 25 races
this year. It is his second victory (2010) and 10th top-10
finish in 12 races at Darlington.
·
Hamlin
also won the XFINITY race at Darlington on Saturday, the second time he has
completed a weekend sweep at Darlington (2010). Only two other drivers
have done this – Dale Earnhardt Sr. (1987) and Mark Martin (1993).
·
Kyle
Busch (2nd) posted his 15th top-10 finish in 25 MENCS
races this year and his fifth in a row.
·
Kurt
Busch (3rd) posted his 12th top-10 finish in 25 races
this year. It was also his fourth top-5 showing and his second straight.
·
Erik
Jones (5th) was the highest finishing rookie.
·
For
2017, NASCAR has introduced a new stage format in all three national series
where each race is segmented into three stages. In addition to the points
awarded at the end of a race (Final Stage), points are also awarded to the
top-10 finishers of the first two stages (Stage 1 & Stage 2).
·
Martin
Truex Jr. won both Stage 1 and Stage 2 of Sunday’s race, giving him a
series-high 17 stage wins on the year.
·
Truex
also clinched the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series regular season
championship on Sunday.
·
Martin
Truex Jr. (1,000) leads the 2017 point standings by 107 points over Kyle Busch
(893). They are followed by Kyle Larson (884) and Kevin Harvick
(867).
·
Thirteen
drivers currently have qualified for the 16-driver field of the 2017 Monster
Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. The list consists of Kurt Busch, Brad
Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr., Ryan Newman, Kyle Larson, Jimmie Johnson, Ricky
Stenhouse Jr., Austin Dillon, Ryan Blaney, Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, Kasey
Kahne and Kyle Busch, each of whom has won at least one race this season. The
Playoffs culminate with the Ford EcoBoost 400 championship finale on November
19 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
·
Denny
Hamlin has captured a pair of victories (2009, 2013) in 12 starts at
Homestead-Miami Speedway. In 2014 he was part of the Championship 4 in
the Ford EcoBoost 400 where he finished eighth.
NASCAR
XFINITY SERIES
·
Denny
Hamlin won the 35th annual Sports Clips Haircuts VFW 200 at
Darlington Raceway Saturday afternoon. It is his 17th victory in 159
career XFINITY Series starts, and his second win this year.
·
Joey
Logano was second and Kevin Harvick finished third.
·
Rookie
William Byron (5th) was the highest finishing XFINITY Series regular.
·
With
victories to their credit this year, William Byron (3), Justin Allgaier (1),
Ryan Reed (1) and Jeremy Clements (1) have clinched spots in the 12-driver
playoff field in the 2017 NASCAR XFINITY Series Playoffs. Other drivers
who have clinched playoff spots as a result of points are Elliott Sadler (858),
Brennan Poole (674), Daniel Hemric (654) and Cole Custer (590). The
Playoffs culminate with the Ford EcoBoost 300 XFINITY Series championship race
at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Saturday, November 18.
·
Elliott
Sadler (858) leads the XFINITY Series points standings by 91 points over rookie
William Byron (767). They are followed by Justin Allgaier (739).
NASCAR
CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES
·
Rookie
Austin Cindric won the 5th annual Chevrolet Silverado 250 NASCAR
Camping World Truck Series race Sunday afternoon at Canadian Tire Motorsport
Park in Bowmanville, Ontario. It marked his first victory in 21 career
NCWTS starts.
·
This
is Cindric’s ninth top-10 finish and fourth top-5 in 21 races this year.
·
Noah
Gragson (2nd) accounted for his 10th top-10 finish and
third top-5 showing in 15 NCWTS races this year.
·
Kaz
Grala (3rd) posted his fifth top-10 finish and third top-5 showing
in 15 races this year.
·
Christopher
Bell (4 wins), John Hunter Nemechek (2 wins), rookies Kaz Grala (1 win) and
Austin Cindric (1 win), Johnny Sauter (1 win) and Matt Crafton (1 win) all have
qualified for the 8-driver field in the 2017 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Playoffs. The Playoffs culminate with the Ford EcoBoost 200 Camping World
Truck Series championship race at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Friday, November
17.
·
Christopher
Bell (634) leads the points standings by 30 points over Johnny Sauter
(604). Two-time series champion Matt Crafton has compiled 574, while
rookie Chase Briscoe has collected 573 points.
