2021 Cook Out Southern 500


The 2021 Cook Out Southern 500, the 72nd running of the event, was a NASCAR Cup Series race held on September 5, 2021 at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina. Contested over 367 laps on the egg-shaped oval, it was the 27th race of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season, first race of the Playoffs, and the first race of the Round of 16. Denny Hamlin took his first victory of the season and clinched a spot in the round of 12.

Report

Background

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.

Surface issues

Darlington Raceway was last repaved following the May 2007 meeting, and from 2008 to 2019, there was one night race. In 2020, a day race returned to the schedule, and instead of two races during the entire year, the track hosted six races. The circuit kept repairing the circuit with patches during each summer before the annual Cup race in September. The circuit's narrow Turn 2 rapidly deteriorated with cracks in the tarmac allowing water to seep in the circuit. In July 2021, the circuit repaved a six hundred foot section at the entrance of Turn 2 and ending at the exit of the turn to repair the tarmac and resolve the issue for safety and to reduce the threat of weepers and surface issues in that section of the circuit.
The 2021 race also marked the addition of an athletics event as part of the Southern 500 weekend, the Terrence Carraway Memorial 5K athletics event, held around the circuit. The Darlington Raceway 5k was first held in November for 2018 and 2019 in memory of a local policeman killed in the line of duty. After taking a year off in 2020, the event moved to the Southern 500 weekend for 2021.

Entry list

  • ' denotes rookie driver.
  • ' denotes driver who are ineligible for series driver points.

    Qualifying

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 10 different drivers
  • Cautions/Laps: 11 for 52
  • Red flags: 0
  • Time of race: 4 hours, 8 minutes and 1 second
  • Average speed:

    Media

Television

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, Parker Kligerman and Marty Snider handled the pit road duties from pit lane.

Radio

had the radio call for the race, which was also simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.

Standings after the race

;Drivers' Championship standings
;Manufacturers' Championship standings
PosManufacturerPoints
1Chevrolet995
2Ford934
3Toyota920

  • Note: Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings.