NASCAR at Darlington results: Denny Hamlin holds off Kyle Larson to earn spot in Round of 12

Jacob Camenker

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NASCAR at Darlington results: Denny Hamlin holds off Kyle Larson to earn spot in Round of 12 image

Kyle Larson made a hard push to overtake Denny Hamlin during the final 10 laps of Sunday's Cook Out Southern 500, but Hamlin ultimately emerged with his first victory of the 2021 NASCAR season.

"It was a matter of time," Hamlin said of his win on the NBCSN broadcast. "We can't just keep leading with 10 laps to go every week and not get a win."

That said, it looked as if Hamlin might see the lead slip away during the final lap. Larson made one last effort to pass Hamlin on the final corner. He came right up behind Hamlin's car as he tried to "video game it," by his own admission.

Bu Hamlin never feared that Larson would be able to pass him.

"He was going to have to go through me," Hamlin said.

Hamlin's confidence was rewarded, and his final maneuver to stay in front of Larson sealed the victory.

Hamlin's near-flawless race came at a perfect time. Many of his playoff counterparts dealt with car troubles throughout the night. Four — Michael McDowell, Kyle Busch, William Byron and Chase Elliott — crashed out of the race entirely. Several others, like Alex Bowman, Martin Truex Jr., Christopher Bell and Ryan Blaney, saw loose wheels, car damage and penalties impact them.

Hamlin advances to the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs Round of 12 as a result of his win. Bowman, Busch, Byron and McDowell, meanwhile, all find themselves below the cut line heading into the second of three Round of 16 races, Saturday at Richmond.

Sporting News tracked live updates and lap-by-lap highlights from NASCAR's playoff race at Darlington on Sunday night. Here are the complete results from the Southern 500.

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NASCAR at Darlington live updates, highlights from Southern 500

(All times Eastern).

10:44 p.m. — And here's an updated look at the playoff standings. Denny Hamlin has advanced to the Round of 12.

10:28 p.m. — Denny Hamlin earns his first victory of the season. He holds off Kyle Larson by less than a half a second to clinch a spot in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs Round of 12. Below are the unofficial top 10 finishers from the race.

1. Denny Hamlin
2. Kyle Larson
3. Ross Chastain
4. Martin Truex Jr.
5. Kevin Harvick
6. Kurt Busch
7. Brad Keselowski
8. Joey Logano
9. Chris Buescher
10. Austin Dillon

10:25 p.m. — Five laps to go, and Hamlin is still in the lead. Larson is than a second behind him.

10:22 p.m. — There are 10 laps left. Denny Hamlin is still ahead of Larson and Chastain. Hamlin is 0.68 seconds ahead as he looks for his first win of the season.

10:21 p.m. — Ross Chastain is continuing to gain, and Kyle Larson's car is getting loose. Chastain is in third behind Larson and Denny Hamlin, but he could make a move on Larson with 13 laps to go. They are separated by less than a second.

10:19 p.m. — Kyle Larson is gaining on Denny Hamlin. With 18 laps to go, he's about 0.35 seconds back of Hamlin.

10:16 p.m. — Martin Truex Jr. is gaining ground fast. He moved ahead of Kevin Harvick for fifth place and is chasing down Joey Logano in fourth place. He is less than five seconds off the lead.

10:14 p.m. — There are 25 laps to go. Denny Hamlin is leading Kyle Larson by about 0.5 seconds. Ross Chastain is just over a second back.

10:10 p.m. — Martin Truex Jr. has rebounded nicely from his penalty. He is in seventh place and is just over two seconds off the lead.

10:08 p.m. — We've restarted again. Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson are jockeying for first place with 35 laps to go. Ross Chastain is looking to play spoiler and currently sits in third.

10:02 p.m. — Caution 11 (Lap 327). Chase Elliott has crashed into the wall. It came just after the latest restarter. Bubba Wallace, Christopher Bell and Chase Elliott ended up driving three-wide, and Elliott suffered damage as a result and it looks like his day is done.

10:01 p.m. — The race has restarted again. There are 42 laps to go. Denny Hamlin is in the lead with Kyle Larson in hot pursuit. There are 15 cars on the lead lap.

9:58 p.m. — Ryan Blaney is back on the track despite his brakes failing. He's a lap down, however.

9:57 p.m. — Martin Truex Jr. has been hit with a penalty for speeding on pit road. That's yet another issue for a playoff driver.

9:51 p.m. — Caution 10 (Lap 319). Ryan Blaney's brakes failed and caused him to spin out. He didn't crash, but he did spin out on a turn and suffered a flat tire as a result. This gives the drivers on the lead lap a massive advantage, as the cars behind them will remain a lap down following the caution.

9:50 p.m. — Seven cars are now on the lead lap. Hamlin is in the lead and it looks like he's planning to make just one more pit stop to stay ahead of the field. It will likely come soon. There are 50 laps left in the race.

9:46 p.m. — Only five drivers are on the lead lap with 60 laps to go. Why? Because Denny Hamlin hasn't made a pit stop during the latest green-flag cycle. It looks like he's trying to stretch as long as possible to set up just one or two more pit stops, though his plans could certainly change.

9:44 p.m. — Per the broadcast, since NASCAR switched to this format of 16 playoff drivers starting in the top 16 spots, nobody outside the top 16 has won a race. Ross Chastain has a chance to buck that trend tonight. He is racing in fourth place right now.

9:41 p.m. — Ross Chastain and Kyle Larson are starting another cycling of pit stops on the 300th lap. Larson continues to make excellent time in the pit. That's part of the reason why he has maintained a lead for most of the evening.

9:35 p.m. — Kevin Harvick has a loose wheel and has to make a pit stop with 79 laps to go. He's now down to 23rd in the racing order. It's been a tough night for the playoff drivers.

9:32 p.m. — Larson is back in the lead after some pit road cycling. Denny Hamlin stopped a few laps after Larson and is now in ninth. Pitting strategy will come into focus during the final 85 laps; some cars will look to make just a couple more stops while others will have to stop more frequently.

9:27 p.m. — Kyle Larson barely made it into pit road at his last stop. He's not the only racer to have issues in that area; the entrance at Darlington is very narrow.

9:25 p.m. — Cars are heading into pit road again with 97 laps to go. Kyle Larson went to the pit, and Denny Hamlin is now in front.

9:23 p.m. — Chase Elliott and Kevin Harvick bumped each other just a bit. They ended up being OK, but it was a close call.

9:17 p.m. — Joey Logano has worked his way up to third place. He has been running near the back of the top 10 for most of the night, but he is making a run toward the top early in Stage 3. We're through 255 of 367 laps at Darlington.

9:15 p.m. — Christopher Bell's car is a bit loose, and he has fallen to ninth place. He is planning to pit soon as a result.

9:10 p.m. — Chase Elliott has climbed into sixth place, his highest rank since some early tire troubles. He's just about four seconds back of Kyle Larson.

9:08 p.m. — Stage 3 is underway. Kyle Larson continues to lead the field through 239 laps. There are 128 to go.

9:07 p.m. — Ryan Blaney picked up a penalty for an uncontrolled tire. As a result, he has been penalized ahead of the restart.

9:02 p.m. — Kyle Larson is the leader coming off pit road. He will lead the pack out of caution and into Stage 3.

8:57 p.m. — Caution 9 (Lap 231). Kyle Larson emerged with the victory in Stage 2. Christopher Bell and Ross Chastain were able to pass Denny Hamlin, who dealt with an issue on his back right tire in the final couple laps of the stage. Here are the results from Stage 2:

1. Kyle Larson
2. Christopher Bell
3. Ross Chastain
4. Denny Hamlin
5. Kevin Harvick
6. Kurt Busch
7. Joey Logano
8. Chase Elliott
9. Ryan Blaney
10. Tyler Reddick

8:54 p.m. — Aric Almirola has fallen to 18th place after finishing in the top 10 during Stage 1. Needless to say, Stage 2 has not been good for him.

8:52 p.m. — Things continue to hold to form with 10 laps left in Stage 2. Kyle Larson has a 3.3-second lead.

8:48 p.m. — There are 20 laps to go in Stage 2. Christopher Bell and Denny Hamlin are battling for second place while Kyle Larson remains in first. Chase Elliott has worked his way up to eighth place.

8:45 p.m. — Another restart, another lead for Kyle Larson. Danny Hamlin is in second place and Christopher Bell is in third as the race enters its 208th lap.

8:41 p.m. — Byron is the third playoff driver to crash out of the race. Michael McDowell was the first and Kyle Busch was the second. Thirteen of the 16 playoff contenders remain in the race.

8:37 p.m. — Caution 8 (Lap 201). William Byron's day has come to an end. He recovered from a small, early accident and climbed back into seventh place, but his left front scraped across the ground after the tire went flat in the 200th lap. Then, he hit the outside wall hard. He was OK after the crash.

8:36 p.m. — Now, Bell heads to pit row. Larson takes the lead back from him, and Bell comes out of the pit in sixth place.

8:35 p.m. — Drivers are starting to pit with 34 laps left in Stage 2. Larson just pitted along with most of the other leaders. Christopher Bell now leads, as he has yet to pit.

8:33 p.m. — Christopher Bell is in fourth place after dealing with issues related to debris he hit on the track. He is just about six seconds off the pace but is well-positioned to finish top-five in Stage 2.

8:28 p.m. — We have reached (roughly) the halfway point of the race. Through 183 laps of 367, Larson is still in front with Hamlin and Busch in second and third respectively.

8:25 p.m. — Chase Elliott and Erik Jones bumped each other a bit. They came away relatively unscathed. Meanwhile, Denny Hamlin and Kurt Busch had a close call battling for second place behind Kyle Larson.

8:24 p.m. — William Byron was involved in an early accident with Alex Bowman. Both cars stayed in the race, and Byron has worked his way back into the race. He is in seventh place right now and is about 6.5 seconds behind Kyle Larson.

8:20 p.m. — The race has restarted once again. Kyle Larson is in the lead through 168 laps and 53 of 115 laps in Stage 2.

8:16 p.m. — Christopher Bell actually hit the debris in question twice. He ran it over the second time, but it hit him on the bounce the first time. That's more car trouble for a driver in the 16-man playoff field.

8:12 p.m. — Caution 7 (Lap 164). There's some debris on the racetrack, so there's a caution here. Martin Truex Jr. has a loose wheel, so this will allow him a chance to get to pit road. Christopher Bell, who was running in first place, hit the debris and will need to have his car repaired. He hasn't pitted since lap 126, so he needed to pit soon anyway.

8:10 p.m. — Chase Elliott just missed pit road as he tried to come down to make some changes to his car. He made it in after the next lap, but he dropped from ninth to 11th with his miss.

8:07 p.m. — Some race updates: Aric Almirola has had trouble during the second stage. He has fallen to 15th place after finishing Stage 1 in the top 10. Meanwhile, Ross Chastain is in fourth place and is doing everything he can to try to pass Denny Hamlin in third place.

8:04 p.m. — Busch also sped off the racetrack after his crash.

8:02 p.m. — Kyle Busch discussed his accident and refused to blame Austin Dillon for the crash. He blamed his race team for the issues.

"Run like s— and you get wrecked," Busch said on the NBCSN broadcast. "It wasn't the No. 3's fault. That's what you get when you run like s—."

Jacob Camenker

Jacob Camenker first joined The Sporting News as a fantasy football intern in 2018 after his graduation from UMass. He became a full-time employee with TSN in 2021 and now serves as a senior content producer with a particular focus on the NFL. Jacob worked at NBC Sports Boston as a content producer from 2019 to 2021. He is an avid fan of the NFL Draft and ranked 10th in FantasyPros’ Mock Draft Accuracy metric in both 2021 and 2022.