Matt Kenseth won the 64th annual Bojangles’ Southern 500, taking the lead from Kyle Busch in the final moments of the event. It is his 27th victory in 483 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races and his third win this season. This is his first Sprint Cup win in 20 races at Darlington Raceway and one of special significance.
Kenseth radioed his crew after crossing the finish line and told them, “This is a dream come true.”
When asked to describe how he felt about winning at Darlington Raceway, he said, “I don’t know that I’ve had a win that feels bigger than this at this moment. This is just obviously a really historic racetrack. The Southern 500 is one of the most storied and historic races that there is anywhere. It’s pretty cool to be able to stand in victory lane in this place on the same spot where a lot of great drivers have stood. It’s a pretty neat race to win, for sure.”
Kyle Busch had the most dominant car during the race, leading a total of 265 laps. But late in the race, his car began fading. With only 13 laps to go, Kenseth swept past Busch for the lead and cruised to victory lane. Busch finished in sixth place.
Denny Hamlin finished second in his first full race since his back injury in March, scoring his second top-10 finish this season.
Jeff Gordon finished third in his 700th consecutive start. This was his 300th top-five finish in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. He is only the fourth driver to accomplish this and joins an elite club which includes David Pearson, Bobby Allison and Richard Petty.
Jimmie Johnson finished fourth increasing his lead in the standings to 44 points. Kevin Harvick placed in the fifth position.
Johnson leads the point standings followed by Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Clint Bowyer.
| Unofficial Race Results | |||||
| Bojangles’ Southern 500, Darlington | |||||
| http://www.speedwaymedia.com/cup/race.php?race=11 | |||||
| ========================================= | |||||
| Pos. | St. | No. | Driver | Make | Points |
| ========================================= | |||||
| 1 | 7 | 20 | Matt Kenseth | Toyota | 47 |
| 2 | 6 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | 42 |
| 3 | 8 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Chevrolet | 42 |
| 4 | 2 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | 40 |
| 5 | 10 | 29 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet | 39 |
| 6 | 3 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 40 |
| 7 | 17 | 99 | Carl Edwards | Ford | 37 |
| 8 | 12 | 42 | Juan Pablo Montoya | Chevrolet | 36 |
| 9 | 16 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Chevrolet | 35 |
| 10 | 21 | 39 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | 34 |
| 11 | 13 | 15 | Clint Bowyer | Toyota | 33 |
| 12 | 5 | 56 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | 32 |
| 13 | 9 | 16 | Greg Biffle | Ford | 31 |
| 14 | 1 | 78 | Kurt Busch | Chevrolet | 31 |
| 15 | 20 | 14 | Tony Stewart | Chevrolet | 29 |
| 16 | 25 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | 28 |
| 17 | 4 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | 27 |
| 18 | 14 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. # | Ford | 26 |
| 19 | 15 | 27 | Paul Menard | Chevrolet | 25 |
| 20 | 18 | 43 | Aric Almirola | Ford | 24 |
| 21 | 11 | 31 | Jeff Burton | Chevrolet | 23 |
| 22 | 30 | 22 | Joey Logano | Ford | 22 |
| 23 | 28 | 93 | Travis Kvapil | Toyota | 21 |
| 24 | 27 | 51 | Regan Smith(i) | Chevrolet | 0 |
| 25 | 22 | 55 | Mark Martin | Toyota | 19 |
| 26 | 23 | 47 | Bobby Labonte | Toyota | 18 |
| 27 | 37 | 7 | Dave Blaney | Chevrolet | 17 |
| 28 | 40 | 10 | Danica Patrick # | Chevrolet | 16 |
| 29 | 29 | 38 | David Gilliland | Ford | 15 |
| 30 | 32 | 33 | Landon Cassill | Chevrolet | 14 |
| 31 | 43 | 87 | Joe Nemechek(i) | Toyota | 0 |
| 32 | 26 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Ford | 12 |
| 33 | 41 | 32 | Timmy Hill # | Ford | 11 |
| 34 | 24 | 9 | Marcos Ambrose | Ford | 10 |
| 35 | 42 | 36 | JJ Yeley | Chevrolet | 9 |
| 36 | 33 | 83 | David Reutimann | Toyota | 8 |
| 37 | 19 | 13 | Casey Mears | Ford | 7 |
| 38 | 34 | 35 | Josh Wise(i) | Ford | 0 |
| 39 | 31 | 34 | David Ragan | Ford | 5 |
| 40 | 39 | 30 | David Stremme | Toyota | 4 |
| 41 | 36 | 95 | Scott Speed | Ford | 3 |
| 42 | 35 | 98 | Michael McDowell | Ford | 2 |
| 43 | 38 | 19 | Mike Bliss(i) | Toyota | 0 |
