NASCAR at Darlington 2016: Winners and Losers from the Bojangles' Southern 500
Martin Truex Jr. only led 28, but it wasn’t the sheer number of laps led that mattered in the Bojangles’ Southern 500, it was the timing of them on NASCAR’s Throwback Weekend.
The No. 78 car was the fastest car when it mattered as it held off a frustrated Kevin Harvick (more on this later) to win two-thirds of NASCAR’s crowned jewels: the Coca-Cola 600 and the Southern 500. To think Truex came within an inch of sweeping those 1,600 miles.
“This is unbelievable,” Truex told NBC during the broadcast. “I’ve always loved this race track. Something always happened. I’m so proud to get to Victory Lane. Pit crew won this race for us tonight.”
The weekend was colored all kinds of retro, and Truex took a car that wasn’t the best and piloted it to Victory Lane.
Truex stands tallest, but let’s dive deeper into the winners and losers from this penultimate race of the regular season.
Loser: Left Side of the Engine
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Trevor Bayne entered the Southern 500 17th in the driver standings, which on its face is peachy-keen*.
Thanks to the Chris Bueschers, Tony Stewarts and Kyle Larsons, Bayne’s actual place in the standings was 19th, 58 points back of Jamie McMurray on the cutline.
At this point in the season, Bayne needs a win to make the playoffs. That took a significant and sour hit at Darlington when he leaked oil all over the track and pit road. He eventually went to the garage, ending with just 161 laps completed.
“Something wrong in the left side of the engine, looking at the data,” Bayne told Motor Racing Network.
Just two races ago, Bayne finished ninth at Bristol, earned 29 points and moved up to a season-high 15th in the driver standings.
Mechanical issues ended Bayne’s day in Darlington and, as a result, his hopes at making the Chase.
*: Throwback lingo
Winner: Throwbacks
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Throwback, throwback, throwback.
Throwback paint schemes. Throwback outfits. Throwback songs. Throwback commentators.
The Southern 500, an iconic race of historic stature, became the most fun race on the entire calendar.
The only thing missing was a 35-millimeter camera to document the entire day.
Even Bobby Allison, whose car was enthusiastically repped by Tony Stewart, tweeted his gratitude. Is Allison tweeting?! Does Allison have people tweeting for him? I have to think it’s him, right?
Anyway, this race embraces the history of NASCAR like few others. It’s like the Daytona 500 without the Daytona 500-iness of it all.
And how about Ken Squier, Ned Jarrett and Dale Jarrett? Great to see them call a few laps like they’ve been doing it all year. Nice and understated. In an age of the at-times raucously obnoxious broadcaster, hearing Squier’s measured tone felt so welcome.
Also, many sports take themselves too seriously, so it’s refreshing to see NASCAR pay its respects to its storied past while all the while having handle-bar-mustache fun.
Loser: Throwback Tony Stewart
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Did Tony Stewart really need to get into Brian Scott?
Stewart got into the throwback theme of the night giving Scott a bump that sent the No. 44 car—a car just looking to survive—to the garage and out of the race.
“Hard to defend the three-time champion,” NBC’s Steve Letarte said during the broadcast.
“Either way, certainly on Tony Stewart’s shoulders,” Jeff Burton added on the broadcast.
Scott went up the track to give Stewart the room he needed to get by on the inside. Scott even waved out the window. Stewart, for whatever reason, saw red and wrecked Scott.
Scott told NBC:
"We were just in a bad situation. Our tires were really gone. I was slipping a lot. I was trying to let Tony go. I was trying to point him to the inside to let him go, but I guess he got mad at me. I’m not sure what he thought I was doing there. I was trying to let him go. It’s getting to the point where people’s tempers are getting short.
"
What happened?
“He wrecked,” Stewart told NBC, tongue so far lodged in cheek he nearly poked a hole through it.
Stewart’s in the Chase. Scott is…not. What did this prove?
Nothing. It proved nothing.
Maybe karma came and bit Stewart in the engine. With under 50 to go, he lost his engine. Night over in his final Southern 500.
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Winner: Ryan Newman's Steady Climb
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Here comes Ryan Newman.
Newman sits in 17th on the Chase Grid seven points back of Jamie McMurray.
Newman cut into that McMurray’s lead—previously 15 points—by eight.
Now the No. 31 car heads to Richmond where it’ll look to surpass McMurray and reach the Chase for the third straight season in its current format.
“I hate it!” NBC’s Steve Letarte said during the broadcast. “I don’t care what they say. Those drivers will be nervous Friday night.”
It’s the bottom of the ninth for those bubble drivers, and the good news for Newman is he has one win and six top fives at RIR. Couple that with McMurray’s zero wins and three top fives, and it appears Newman has the ammo to finish eight spots ahead of McMurray Saturday night and reach the Chase.
Loser: Kevin Harvick's Pit Crew
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One gets the sense Harvick goes home at night, tacks a picture of his pit crew to a dartboard and fires darts at it through the witching hour.
On Lap 251, Harvick’s crew lost him 11 spots on pit road. He lost four hard-earned spots on Lap 281. Harvick led 214 laps and would finish second, but it felt far worse.
“Same old thing, get in position to bring a domination car from shop,” Harvick told NBC during the broadcast. “Then the guys on pit road are doing a terrible job. You get them in position to win races, and they step on their toes. You can only make so many excuses on pit road.”
It was harsh criticism but deserved.
“I think so many times Kevin Harvick gets out of a car with a chance to win and something goes wrong on pit road,” NBC’s Kyle Petty said during the broadcast. “They haven’t got it right all year long. Those guys have got to go in there and find out what’s wrong. Somebody’s got to get up off their butt and fix this thing.”
Harvick’s team could not contend with Truex’s pit stops. Truex’s team threw down 11s, while Harvick’s pitted 40-50 percent slower.
That won’t win races and certainly won’t win championships.
The only way Harvick advances to Homestead is by cleaning up these issues. Can they do it?
If you can’t get it clean for the Southern 500, can it get cleaned up for the Chase?
Winner: Two Crowned Jewels for Martin Truex Jr.
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Darlington had always been one of Truex’s better tracks, but you wouldn’t necessarily have said that Sunday night.
I mean, Truex was good, don’t get me wrong, but he wasn’t driving with Harvickian aplomb.
Truex did what he was supposed to do, which was race the track and then the drivers. And that No. 78 team gave him 11s on pit road all night long. That was the difference.
“Pit crew, man, what a job they did tonight,” Truex told NBC. “It was frustrating to lead laps here and let a few slip away. It was worth the wait. We’ll do some celebrating tonight.”
The win gives Truex two wins in NASCAR’s premier races and the win earned him his first multi-win season on the Cup circuit.
“I knew when the bad luck would stop coming we’d start racking them off,” he said. “I don’t know. I could go on for hours and hours. With the Chase coming, get that confidence up and another win in the pocket.”
The win cements Truex as one of the four best drivers proceeding into the Chase. The Toyota engines are too strong and the No. 78 car might be the best of the Big Five.
“We never lost confidence, I don’t think,” said Truex. “We’ve been one of the fastest cars if not the fastest cars all summer long.”
If you’re filling out your Chase bracket, you’d be remiss not to put Truex in your final four.
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