Darlington puts Chase contenders to the test from the outset

Ryan Blaney described Sunday night’s Southern 500 as “scrappy,” and it applied to more than just the night for his Team Penske group.

The track nicknamed “Too Tough to Tame” again delivered as the opening race of the postseason, with multiple championship contenders encountering trouble. It started at the top with Denny Hamlin seeing some of his lead evaporate because of a bad pit stop that led to him being knocked into the wall by Michael McDowell. Then it was compounded when teammate Christopher Bell earned 73 points with a victory.

The slow pit stop for Hamlin's No. 11 team happened under caution at the end of the second stage. A delay on the right rear forced the jackman to come back to that side of the car (having already started toward the left with the other crew members) and re-lift it. It was shortly after the lap 238 restart that Hamlin completed a pass and moved up in front of Michael McDowell when he was tagged by McDowell and bounced off the wall.

Hamlin finished 18th. McDowell, ironically, finished one spot ahead in 17th.

The end of the second stage was near disastrous for three Joe Gibbs Racing drivers. Although Bell won, he came back from a slow pit stop on the same cycle (end of the stage) as Hamlin. Bell’s No. 20 team was slowed when the front tire changer could not get the right front tire to roll cleanly back to the wall. 

And for Chase Briscoe, who finished fifth, he ran out of fuel at the end of the stage. The No. 19 team had not gotten it fuel during a previous pit stop, and he had to pit while pit road was closed and go to the rear.

Tyler Reddick had to back up for his team to tighten the left front during a pit stop early in the race. He finished fourth. 

William Byron had a mechanical issue, a suspected blown engine, after a spin in the final stage. He finished 37th. 

It was also a long night for Daniel Suarez, who started strong by taking the lead at the start of the race but then struggled all night. He finished 21st. 

Chase Elliott finished 14th. Confusion during one pit stop about whether it was a two- or four-tire stop led Elliott to try to leave after the right sides were done, but the team was taking four. 

And Carson Hocevar was again the center of attention because of his run-in with Brad Keselowski. Hocevar, who finished 11th, made contact with Keselowski on lap 107.

Here is where the Chase drivers finished at Darlington:

• Christopher Bell – 1st
• Ty Gibbs – 2nd
• Tyler Reddick – 3rd
• Ryan Blaney – 4th
• Kyle Larson – 5th
• Chase Briscoe – 6th
• Bubba Wallace – 8th
• Joey Logano – 9th
• Ryan Preece – 10th
• Carson Hocevar – 11th
• Austin Cindric – 13th
• Chase Elliott – 14th
• Denny Hamlin – 18th
• Chris Buescher – 20th
• Daniel Suarez – 21st
• William Byron – 37th

And the updated Chase standings after the first race:

1. Denny Hamlin

2. Christopher Bell – 12

3. Ryan Blaney – 16

4. Tyler Reddick – 24

5. Chase Briscoe – 37

6. Ty Gibbs – 39

7. Kyle Larson – 49

8. Chase Elliott – 72

9. Joey Logano – 72

10. Bubba Wallace – 81

11. Chris Buescher – 88

12. Carson Hocevar – 89

13. Daniel Suarez – 94

14. Austin Cindric – 102

15. Ryan Preece – 104

16. William Byron – 114

World Wide Technology Raceway near St. Louis is next up as the second race of the Chase.