2023 Cook Out Southern 500

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 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 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

' denotes rookie driver.
' denotes the driver ineligible for series driver points.
' denotes playoff driver.
' denotes owner’s playoffs car.
Practice

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

Practice results

Qualifying

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

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

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

Pos	Manufacturer	Points
1	Chevrolet	1,000
2	Ford	929
3	Toyota	927

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