NASCAR Cup Series: Erik Jones wins 2019 Bojangles’ Southern 500
By Asher Fair
Erik Jones secured the second victory of his NASCAR Cup Series career by winning the Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.
Following a rain delay of roughly four hours, the penultimate race of the 26-race 2019 NASCAR Cup Series regular season, the Bojangles’ Southern 500, finally got underway at Darlington Raceway on Sunday, September 1.
Shortly before 2:00 a.m. ET on Monday, September 2, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Erik Jones took the checkered flag for the first time in the 2019 season and for the second time in his Cup Series career. He earned his first victory in the race at Daytona International Speedway in July of 2018.
Jones started this 367-lap race around the four-turn, 1.366-mile (2.198-kilometer) Darlington Raceway oval in Darlington, South Carolina in 15th place in his #20 Toyota, and he won it by 4.058 seconds over Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyle Larson in second in his #42 Chevrolet.
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By winning this race, Jones clinched a playoff berth, although he would have done so even had he not won it as a result of his point total.
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch, who ultimately still finished in third place in his #18 Toyota, gave Jones a run for his money, but after hitting the wall late, he fell more than half a lap behind Jones and hit the wall a few more times as well.
The highest finishing Ford drivers of this race were Stewart-Haas Racing teammates Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer and Team Penske’s Brad Keselowski. Harvick finished in fourth place in his #4 Ford ahead of Keselowski in fifth in his #2 Ford and Bowyer in sixth in his #14 Ford.
Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kurt Busch, Leavine Family Racing’s Matt DiBenedetto, Wood Brothers Racing’s Paul Menard and Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon rounded out the top 10 by finishing in seventh, eight, ninth and 10th place in their #1 Chevrolet, #95 Toyota, #21 Ford and #3 Chevrolet, respectively.
Jones, who led 79 laps of the race, was one of seven drivers who led laps. The other six were Larson, the Busch brothers, Keselowski, Bowyer and Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jimmie Johnson and Chase Elliott. Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron, who started the race from the pole position, did not lead any laps.
The seven drivers who led the race exchanged the lead 12 times, and Kyle Busch led more laps than anybody else in the field with 118 laps led. The race featured seven caution flag periods, and 36 of the 39 drivers who competed in it finished it, with 12 doing so on the lead lap.
Here are the full race results of the 2019 Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.
Race Results
1st – Erik Jones
2nd – Kyle Larson
3rd – Kyle Busch
4th – Kevin Harvick
5th – Brad Keselowski
6th – Clint Bowyer
7th – Kurt Busch
8th – Matt DiBenedetto
9th – Paul Menard
10th – Austin Dillon
11th – Daniel Suarez
12th – Chris Buescher
13th – Ryan Blaney
14th – Joey Logano
15th – Martin Truex Jr.
16th – Jimmie Johnson
17th – Aric Almirola
18th – Alex Bowman
19th – Chase Elliott
20th – Ty Dillon
21st – William Byron
22nd – Ryan Preece
23rd – Ryan Newman
24th – Darrell Wallace Jr.
25th – Landon Cassill
26th – David Ragan
27th – Matt Tifft
28th – Ross Chastain
29th – Denny Hamlin
30th – Reed Sorenson
31st – Joe Nemechek
32nd – J.J. Yeley
33rd – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
34th – Joey Gase
35th – Garrett Smithley
36th – Corey LaJoie
37th – Daniel Hemric
38th – Michael McDowell
39th – B.J. McLeod
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The Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard, more commonly known as the Brickyard 400, is the next race on the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series schedule, and this race is the final race of the regular season. It is scheduled to take place on Sunday, September 8, and it is set to be broadcast live on NBC from Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana beginning at 2:00 p.m. ET.