Denny Hamlin edges Kyle Larson to open Cup Series playoffs with victory
By Bob Pockrass
FOX Sports NASCAR Writer
DARLINGTON, S.C. – Kyle Larson made one last attempt to pass Denny Hamlin, and he admitted to his team right afterward how much of a longshot it was Sunday night at Darlington Raceway.
He called his final move a "video game" move.
The video game move didn’t work, as Larson smacked the wall on the final lap and Hamlin pedaled to his first victory of the season to open the 2021 Cup Series playoffs.
"With the lead, you can be a little more defensive," Hamlin said. "You can somewhat aero-block there. ... He got an exceptional run off of Turn 4 [for the final lap] and he got just enough to get close to us."
Hamlin and Larson, who has won five races this year, battled through the first 26 races for the regular-season title, with Larson emerging victorious.
But Hamlin got the first trophy of the playoffs and with the win, Hamlin clinched a spot in the second round (quarterfinals) of the NASCAR playoffs. Larson is 80 points ahead of the cutoff after one race of the three-race round, with Richmond and Bristol still remaining. The four drivers winless in the round with the fewest points will be eliminated to cut the playoff field from 16 to 12.
Takeaways from the Southern 500:
Hamlin relieved and excited
Hamlin had 13 top-5 finishes in the regular season (half the races), so his win at Darlington was a mix of relief and excitement. Darlington is one of his best tracks, and he won there for the fourth time in his career.
"This team deserves it," Hamlin said. "We just had the anvil drop on us so many times over the course of the year. ... Our number was going to hit [eventually]. Today it did."
Hamlin led the final 69 laps and 146 of the 367 (Larson led 156) as he earned five valuable playoff points with the win. Playoff points are added to a driver’s total when the points are reset following each round.
"We didn't have the playoff points that certainly we wish we had going into these playoffs," Hamlin said. "There was no room for error.
"And now to punch our ticket to the next round, we get to go out there and focus on getting through that second round, which I think is probably the most dangerous."
Playoff drivers beat themselves
Four playoff drivers saw their days end in wrecks, and at least three at least partially blamed themselves. Michael McDowell, Chase Elliott and Kyle Busch saw their days end early when mistakes or just ill-handling cars put them in poor positions. William Byron also saw his day end early.
Elliott had contact with another car on pit road, missed pit road at one point and had radio issues.
"Way too many mistakes," Elliott said. "That’s what you deserve when you make that many mistakes."
Even drivers who finished the race had issues, including Alex Bowman, who hit the wall in the opening 10 laps and finished four laps down. Christopher Bell, Martin Truex Jr. and Kevin Harvick were among drivers who had to make unscheduled pit stops for vibrations or loose wheels.
Truex (fourth) and Harvick (fifth) were able to rally from their mistakes. Others were not as fortunate.
Bell (+5), Elliott (+4) and Aric Almirola (+3) are barely above the cutoff, where Tyler Reddick and Bowman are tied for the final spot. Busch (two points behind), Byron (nine) and McDowell (20) must rally.
"We weren’t doing a good job and we got crashed," Busch said. "It wasn’t the 3’s [Austin Dillon’s] fault. Just a bad spot."
Larson’s big cushion
Larson could take a chance at the end of the race as he enjoys a big cushion in the points thanks to his victories this year.
"I didn't want to wreck him, I just wanted to try to get to his outside there," Larson said. "But he did a great job not really making any mistakes during the last run, and I was having to push really hard in second to try and just stay with him."
Truex (+36) and Kurt Busch (+26) might feel a little safe, but one accident or parts failure early in the next two races could reverse their fortunes.
"We gave away a few points," Kurt Busch said. "I would have loved to have had a shot at trying to win it. We might have ended up wrecked, but we gave away three or four points tonight. Not all that bad."
Bob Pockrass has spent decades covering motorsports, including the past 30 Daytona 500s. He joined FOX Sports in 2019 following stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @bobpockrass. Looking for more NASCAR content? Sign up for the FOX Sports NASCAR Newsletter with Bob Pockrass!