Kevin Harvick was able to get himself in position to take the NASCAR win in the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway when leaders find trouble.

Race one of the 2020 NASCAR post-season was set to be one of the longest races of the year. The Cook Out Southern 500 was scheduled for 367 laps/501.3 miles. While six drivers exchanged the lead 18 times, it was quite obvious the race was likely to come down to a battle between Martin Truex Jr. and Chase Elliott. Truex Jr. led a race high 196 laps (winning stages one and two) with Elliott logging 114 laps out front (2nd most). The next closest was Harvick at 32 laps as the leader. Of course one of Harvick’s laps led was the most important in the race.

With less than 20 laps remaining Truex Jr. passed Elliott for the lead. However, he didn’t quite clear Elliott’s car before moving up in front of him. The contact between the two cars slammed them into the wall and caused enough damage that neither could continue at the same pace to win the race.

That allowed Harvick to race to the lead and hold it for the final 13 laps to win the race. The win gives him an automatic advance to the next round in the NASCAR Playoffs. It also gives him a total of eight wins in the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season.

Austin Dillon was able to capture the runner-up finish with third place going to Joey Logano. Erik Jones claimed fourth place and William Byron took home a fifth place finish. By the way, Chase Elliott wound up finishing in 20th place and Martin Truex Jr. in 22nd. See the complete race results for the Cook Out Southern 500 st Darlington Raceway here.

Kevin Harvick sits at the top of the Playoff Standings with a “Golden Ticket” to the Round of 12. Denny Hamlin is in second place and Joey Logano holds third place. Brad Keselowski is in possession of fourth place currently with Alex Bowman in fifth place. See the complete NASCAR Cup Series point standings here.

Things do not get easier for the 15 drivers still looking to advance to the next round in the NASCAR Playoffs. Race #2 in the post-season takes place Saturday night, September 12th when NASCAR goes Short Trackin’ at Richmond Raceway in the Federated Auto Parts 400.

By: Buck Stevens