The ‘Lady in Black’ strikes back: Darlington targets playoff contenders

The Cook Out Southern 500 on Sunday night treated a handful of NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs contenders well. Chase Briscoe, for example, won to advance into the Round of 12.

Myriad issues for other championship hopefuls, however, led to some jumbled standings after the playoff opener at Darlington Raceway.

Let’s look at postseason players who ran into issues Sunday and who was able to overcome adversity.

Josh Berry

Into Darlington: 13th place, -1 to the cutline

Out of Darlington: 16th place, -19 to the cutline

Notable: Berry’s third-place qualifying effort was squandered in two turns when his No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford bottomed out through Turn 2, sending his car into a spin and into the outside SAFER barrier before he ever got up to speed. The crash put him behind the wall for 119 laps and he ultimately finished last, but he did earn the Xfinity Fastest Lap thanks to his team’s repairs. The extra point gained from that honor may prove pivotal in the first elimination race at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday, Sept. 13.

Tyler Reddick

Into Darlington: 14th place, -1 to the cutoff line

Out of Darlington: 4th place, +35 to the cutoff line

Notable: Reddick turned near-disaster into a near-win. When Berry broke traction, he slid right into Reddick’s door, forcing an immediate save from Reddick in that Lap 1 incident. The contact left its mark (literally), but Reddick overcame that to score a second-best 53 points Sunday and finished runner-up to Briscoe after a late charge for the win fell short.

Alex Bowman

Into Darlington: 16th place, -5 to the cutline

Out of Darlington: 15th place, -19 to the cutline

Notable: Bowman didn’t have the same dramatic issue that Berry did, but it feels like he may as well have. A green-flag pit stop on Lap 69 derailed the No. 48 team’s day when the air line to the rear changer’s primary air gun failed -- and got worse when the spare was disconnected as well. A 40-second stop dropped Bowman from the lead lap, and he ultimately finished 31st, two laps down.

Ross Chastain

Into Darlington: 11th place, +1 to the cutline

Out of Darlington: Eighth place, +21 to the cutline

Notable: Overall, Sunday was an excellent day for Chastain. The No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet scored stage points in each stage and was fighting for a top five all night. But a fueling issue left Chastain two laps short on gas, forcing him to cut his engine entering Turn 1 in the closing laps to nurse his car to the finish. An 11th-place finish isn’t bad, but some critical points may have been left on the table thanks to a pit-road miscue.

Shane van Gisbergen

Into Darlington: Sixth place, +16 to the cutline

Out of Darlington: 12th place, +3 to the cutline

Notable: While nothing specifically sent the No. 88 team’s night awry, van Gisbergen never felt comfortable driving his Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet after a Saturday change drastically altered its handling for the worse. SVG made the postseason thanks to four road-course wins, but the benefit of those 20 playoff points he earned for winning have nearly evaporated in one race due to a 32nd-place finish, even despite spending three laps at the front of the field.

Denny Hamlin

Into Darlington: Third place, +23 to the cutline

Out of Darlington: Second place, +43 to the cutline

Notable: Through much of the first half of the race, Hamlin was right on Briscoe’s tail, giving him a true fight for the lead. But a poor pit stop on Lap 154 of 367 mired the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota in traffic. The jackman dropped the right side of the car before the right-rear changer was done, extending the stop and dropping Hamlin from fourth to 23rd. Hamlin ultimately salvaged his night by driving back to a seventh-place finish, but a win was in the cards.

Ryan Blaney

Into Darlington: Fourth place, +20 to the cutline

Out of Darlington: Seventh place, +22 to the cutline

Notable: Blaney had a solid night going until the pit sequence on Lap 154 -- one that bit over a quarter of the playoff field at once. Blaney was trapped in his pit box after Carson Hocevar spun across the front bumper of Christopher Bell, sinking Blaney from ninth to 20th. On Lap 210, Blaney was running 13th when Kyle Busch slid through Turn 4 just ahead of him. Blaney checked up and was tagged from behind, sending Blaney spinning and ultimately resulting in an 18th-place finish.

Christopher Bell

Into Darlington: Fifth place, +17 to the cutline

Out of Darlington: 10th place, +11 to the cutline

Notable: The aforementioned contact between Bell and Hocevar as Bell was leaving his pit stall significantly damaged the right-front splitter of Bell’s No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. That plummeted Bell through the running order and left him 29th at the checkered flag, two laps behind race-winner and teammate Briscoe.

Bubba Wallace

Into Darlington: Ninth place, +2 to the cutline

Out of Darlington: Sixth place, +25 to the cutline

Notable: Another victim of the Lap 154 pit stops, Wallace’s No. 23 crew had to retighten the right-rear tire, dropping Wallace from fifth place to 14th. Fortunately for him, Wallace rebounded and carved his way back to the top five late before AJ Allmendinger passed him to leave Wallace sixth at the end of the race.

William Byron

Into Darlington: Second place, +26 to the cutline

Out of Darlington: Fifth place, +25 to the cutline

Notable: The final recipient on this list of Lap 154 bad luck is the Regular Season Champion, whose No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports crew had to retighten a wheel on Byron’s Chevrolet after completing service, necessitating Byron to reverse back to his stall. Byron dropped from 10th to 24th on that sequence and never truly recovered, finishing 21st on the night.

Chase Elliott

Into Darlington: Eighth place, +7 to the cutline

Out of Darlington: 11th place, +9 to the cutline

Notable: The good news for Elliott is he was Hendrick Motorsports’ best finisher in the Southern 500. The bad news is that it only took a 17th-place finish to accomplish that. Elliott had a slow pit stop on Lap 204 in which his No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports team had to retighten a wheel, leading to a 16-second stop. That dropped Elliott from 17th to 25th in the running order before he got those positions back.

Austin Dillon

Into Darlington: 15th place, -2 to the cutline

Out of Darlington: 14th place, -8 to the cutline

Notable: Dillon started the night competitively and was a player at the back of the top 10 before fading throughout the race. His key incident, though, came on Lap 210, when Blaney checked up for Kyle Busch – Dillon’s teammate. Dillon couldn’t slow in time to avoid Blaney, sending Blaney into his spin. Dillon continued to a 23rd-place finish, his second straight outside the top 20.