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Driving the #43 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, Erik Jones won the first playoff race of the 2022 season at the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway on Sunday. The 26-year-old secured his first win of the 2022 season after beating Denny Hamlin in the closing laps of the 500-mile-long race.
Kyle Busch, who led a race-high 155 laps, began experiencing mechanical issues in his car as a result, which brought out the caution and allowed Jones to end a three-year long winless drought with a win on Sunday. Jones' win as a non-playoff driver, gave a major upset to open NASCAR’s playoff run and put the 16 playoff drivers in danger.
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Erik Jones emerged victorious after grabbing the lead when Kyle Busch suffered a blown engine under caution with 22 laps remaining and held off a late charge from Denny Hamlin in the closing laps. Jones steadily built a solid margin between himself and Hamlin and took an impressive 0.252-second win on the 1.366 -mile-long track. He led the final 20 laps as he took over the lead on Lap 347 of 367 from Hamlin with some skillful drives around the turn.
The win marked the third Cup victory for the #43 driver, making him the 17th different winner of the 2022 season. He became the first non-playoff driver to ever win the first playoff race of the NASCAR post-season since the introduction of the elimination format in 2014.
The win also put Richard Petty's iconic #43 back in Victory Lane for the first time since 2014 and the 200th win in the history of the #43 car number.
The Cook Out Southern 500 saw 21 lead changes among 11 different drivers. The venue hosted its 73rd Cup race and the new Next Gen cars for the second time on the 1.366-mile-long Superspeedway and witnessed nine caution flags.
Erik Jones talks about his Cook Out Southern 500 win
Sunday’s win was amazing for Erik Jones and the #43 Chevrolet Camaro team as he took the iconic Richard Petty car to Victory Lane after eight years and claimed the second victory in the Cook Out Southern 500.
During the post-race interview, speaking about his first win of the 2022 season at Darlington Raceway, Jones said:
“We’ve been so close all year, and I didn’t think today was going to be the day. It was going to be a tough one to win, I knew, but no better fitting place. I love this track. I love this race. On that trophy twice, man. I was pumped to be on it once, but to have it on there twice — pretty cool.”
Catch Erik Jones next weekend for the Hollywood Casino 400, the second playoff race at Kansas Speedway on Sunday, September 11, 2022.
