The 2020 Cook Out Southern 500, the 71st running of the event, was a NASCAR Cup Series race held on September 6, 2020, at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina. Contested over 367 laps on the 1.366-mile (2.198 km) egg-shaped oval, it was the 27th race of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season, first race of the Playoffs, and the first race of the Round of 16. It was the first time Darlington hosted three Cup Series races in a single season.
| Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 27 of 36 in the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series | |||
 2020 Cook Out Southern 500 program cover | |||
| Date | September 6, 2020 | ||
| Location | Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 1.366 mi (2.198 km) | ||
| Distance | 367 laps, 501.322 mi (806.666 km) | ||
| Average speed | 132.256 miles per hour (212.845 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Hendrick Motorsports | ||
| Grid positions set by competition-based formula | |||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Martin Truex Jr. | Joe Gibbs Racing | |
| Laps | 196 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | NBCSN | ||
| Announcers | Rick Allen, Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Dale Jarrett and Kyle Petty | ||
| Nielsen Ratings | 1.4 (2.43 million) | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | MRN | ||
| Booth Announcers | Alex Hayden, Jeff Striegle and Rusty Wallace | ||
| Turn Announcers | Dave Moody (1 & 2) and Mike Bagley (3 & 4) | ||
Report
editBackground
edit
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
edit- (R) denotes rookie driver.
- (i) denotes driver who are ineligible for series driver points.
Qualifying
editChase Elliott was awarded the pole for the race as determined by competition-based formula.[4]
Starting Lineup
editRace
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Stage Results
editStage One Laps: 115
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 10 |
| 2 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 9 |
| 3 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 8 |
| 4 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 7 |
| 5 | 1 | Kurt Busch | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 6 |
| 6 | 88 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 5 |
| 7 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 4 |
| 8 | 24 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 3 |
| 9 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 2 |
| 10 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 1 |
| Official stage one results | |||||
Stage Two Laps: 115
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 10 |
| 2 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 9 |
| 3 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 8 |
| 4 | 88 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 7 |
| 5 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 6 |
| 6 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 5 |
| 7 | 20 | Erik Jones | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 4 |
| 8 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 3 |
| 9 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 2 |
| 10 | 1 | Kurt Busch | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 1 |
| Official stage two results | |||||
Final Stage Results
editStage Three Laps: 137
| Pos | Grid | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Laps | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 367 | 49 |
| 2 | 12 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 367 | 38 |
| 3 | 13 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 367 | 38 |
| 4 | 30 | 20 | Erik Jones | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 367 | 37 |
| 5 | 3 | 24 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 367 | 35 |
| 6 | 4 | 88 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 367 | 43 |
| 7 | 15 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 367 | 37 |
| 8 | 16 | 1 | Kurt Busch | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 367 | 36 |
| 9 | 10 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 367 | 28 |
| 10 | 9 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 367 | 29 |
| 11 | 5 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 367 | 26 |
| 12 | 14 | 41 | Cole Custer (R) | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 367 | 25 |
| 13 | 2 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 367 | 40 |
| 14 | 26 | 42 | Matt Kenseth | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 367 | 23 |
| 15 | 31 | 6 | Ryan Newman | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 367 | 22 |
| 16 | 19 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 367 | 21 |
| 17 | 35 | 37 | Ryan Preece | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 367 | 20 |
| 18 | 22 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 367 | 34 |
| 19 | 29 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 367 | 18 |
| 20 | 1 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 367 | 25 |
| 21 | 11 | 21 | Matt DiBenedetto | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 366 | 16 |
| 22 | 6 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 366 | 35 |
| 23 | 24 | 8 | Tyler Reddick (R) | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 366 | 14 |
| 24 | 7 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford | 366 | 13 |
| 25 | 28 | 96 | Daniel Suárez | Gaunt Brothers Racing | Toyota | 364 | 12 |
| 26 | 20 | 17 | Chris Buescher | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 364 | 11 |
| 27 | 25 | 13 | Ty Dillon | Germain Racing | Chevrolet | 363 | 10 |
| 28 | 23 | 15 | Brennan Poole (R) | Premium Motorsports | Chevrolet | 362 | 9 |
| 29 | 34 | 77 | Ross Chastain (i) | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 360 | 0 |
| 30 | 37 | 27 | J. J. Yeley (i) | Rick Ware Racing | Ford | 360 | 0 |
| 31 | 32 | 00 | Quin Houff (R) | StarCom Racing | Chevrolet | 357 | 6 |
| 32 | 38 | 7 | Josh Bilicki (i) | Tommy Baldwin Racing | Chevrolet | 356 | 0 |
| 33 | 39 | 51 | Joey Gase (i) | Petty Ware Racing | Ford | 351 | 0 |
| 34 | 21 | 95 | Christopher Bell (R) | Leavine Family Racing | Toyota | 349 | 3 |
| 35 | 33 | 66 | Timmy Hill (i) | MBM Motorsports | Toyota | 296 | 0 |
| 36 | 18 | 38 | John Hunter Nemechek (R) | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 245 | 1 |
| 37 | 27 | 32 | Corey LaJoie | Go Fas Racing | Ford | 234 | 1 |
| 38 | 17 | 43 | Bubba Wallace | Richard Petty Motorsports | Chevrolet | 217 | 1 |
| 39 | 36 | 53 | James Davison | Rick Ware Racing | Chevrolet | 162 | 1 |
| Official race results | |||||||
Race statistics
edit- Lead changes: 18 among 6 different drivers
- Cautions/Laps: 7 for 34
- Red flags: 0
- Time of race: 3 hours, 47 minutes and 26 seconds
- Average speed: 132.256 miles per hour (212.845 km/h)
Media
editTelevision
editNBC Sports covered the race on the television side. Rick Allen, two–time Darlington winner Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte and Dale Earnhardt Jr. covered the race from the booth at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Earnhardt Jr., Dale Jarrett and Kyle Petty also called a portion of the race as part of the Throwback Weekend, Dave Burns, Parker Kligerman and Marty Snider handled the pit road duties on site, and Rutledge Wood handled the features from his home during the race.
| NBCSN | ||
|---|---|---|
| Booth announcers | Pit reporters | Features reporter |
| Lap-by-lap: Rick Allen Color-commentator: Jeff Burton Color-commentator: Steve Letarte Color-commentator: Dale Earnhardt Jr. Throwback commentator: Dale Jarrett Throwback commentator: Kyle Petty |
Dave Burns Parker Kligerman Marty Snider |
Rutledge Wood |
Radio
editMRN had the radio call for the race, which was also simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.
| MRN Radio | ||
|---|---|---|
| Booth announcers | Turn announcers | Pit reporters |
| Lead announcer: Alex Hayden Announcer: Jeff Striegle Announcer: Rusty Wallace |
Turns 1 & 2: Dave Moody Turns 3 & 4: Mike Bagley |
Winston Kelley Steve Post |
Standings after the race
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References
edit- ^ "2020 schedule". Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. January 17, 2020. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
- ^ "Darlington Raceway". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. Archived from the original on April 30, 2017. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
- ^ "Entry List" (PDF). Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. August 31, 2020. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
- ^ a b "Starting Lineup". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. September 2, 2020. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
- ^ "Cook Out Southern 500 Results". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. September 6, 2020. Retrieved September 6, 2020.
- ^ "Points standings" (PDF). Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. September 6, 2020. Retrieved September 6, 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af McFadin, Daniel (August 31, 2020). "Retro Rundown 2020: Southern 500 paint schemes". NASCARTalk.com. NBC Sports. Retrieved August 31, 2020.