NASCAR Chase Opens with Costly Mistakes Everywhere

NASCAR Chase drivers talk constantly about the importance of victories and mistake-free races during the title run, which is why the numerous errors, especially on pit road, in Darlington’s Cook Out Southern 500 were surprising.

On pit road, they ranged from miscommunication to fuel issues to the tightening of lugs, and each time they were costly. On-track, they involved spinning another car to hitting the wall to an engine issue. The miscues involved 10 of the 16-driver playoff field, including race winner Christopher Bell, and resulted in the same number of competitors changing positions in the standings.

Bell jumped from sixth to second, Ryan Blaney dropped from second to third, and Tyler Reddick went from third to fourth. Even though Ty Gibbs finished second, he dropped from fourth to sixth, and Bubba Wallace jumped from 14th to 10th. Chris Buescher dropped from 10th to 11th, Daniel Suarez lost two positions to 13th, and Austin Cindric gained one as did Ryan Preece, moving into 14th and 15th, respectively. William Byron was the only Chase driver who failed to finish the race, dropping from 13th to 16th.

Twelfth-seeded Carson Hocevar created another enemy during the 367-lap event when he spun Brad Keselowski off turn four on lap 107. Hocevar may rank first in online retail sales on the official NASCAR Shop website and among the top five in trackside merchandise sales, but his popularity among his peers is falling fast. While his standings ranking didn’t change, his chances for a problem-free Chase decreased. After the event, Keselowski told Above The Yellow Line Media, “His day’s coming and it’s coming hard. Watch out Carson.”

Preece was the first Chase driver bitten by a pit road miscue. He had to pit twice during the first Stage’s caution period to make sure his Ford’s right-side wheel lugs were tight. That left him starting the second Stage in 28th.

Reddick’s pit road issues occurred during a green-flag stop on lap 188. After the four-tire change, his Toyota had to be jacked up again so the left-front lug could be tightened. That left him ninth after the green-flag stops.

A fueling issue on Briscoe’s Toyota during those green-flag stops resulted in his car running out of gas just as the second Stage ended. Briscoe had to stop for fuel before NASCAR opened pit road, incurring a penalty on lap 231. His car then stalled on pit road and on lap 233 he was assessed a penalty for a crew member going over the wall too soon. Those penalties sent him to the 20th position for the restart.

Denny Hamlin in the pits during the Southern 500.

Bell and Denny Hamlin also experienced pit road miscues during the caution period at the end of the second Stage. Bell’s front-tire changer didn’t get a clear roll to the wall on the right-front tire he removed. Hamlin’s crew had trouble getting his Toyota’s right-rear wheel tightened. Bell restarted the final Stage in 12th while Hamlin was 16th with 129 laps remaining.

Two laps later, Michael McDowell hit Hamlin in the rear, knocking him into the wall. Hamlin, who had led 68 laps, was never in contention again. With 101 laps remaining, he lost a lap. He regained the lost lap after repairs to his car and finished 18th, but his standings lead over teammate Bell decreased to 12 points.

Suarez’s Chevrolet experienced fuel pressure issues. He finished 21st.

After the 7-minute and 39-second rain delay, Wallace’s and Reddick’s cars stalled on pit road due to a dead starter issue. Ironically, this occurred in the same race where Wallace’s crew executed a four-tire change in a record 7.86 seconds.

During Chase Elliott’s final pit stop, the Georgia driver thought it was a two-tire change while crew chief Alan Gustafson had ordered four. He finished 14th.

Buescher hit the wall exiting turn four during the race’s first 100 laps and bent some rear suspension. He eventually finished 20th.

Byron’s woes occurred with 50 laps remaining when he spun in turn four while running ninth. When he re-started the engine it suffered a mechanical failure. He finished 37th in the 38-car field.

A North Carolina native, Deb Williams is an award-winning motorsports journalist who is in her fourth decade covering auto racing. In addition to covering the sport for United Press International, she has written motorsports articles for several newspapers, magazines and websites including espnW.com, USA Today, and The Charlotte Observer. Her awards include the American Motorsports Media Award of Excellence, two-time National Motorsports Press Association writer of the year, and two-time recipient of the Russ Catlin award. She also has won an award in the North Carolina Press Association’s sports feature category. During her career, Deb has been managing editor of GT Motorsports magazine and was with Winston Cup Scene and NASCAR Winston Cup Scene for 18 years, serving as the publication’s editor for 10 years. In 2024 she was inducted into the NMPA Hall of Fame.