Race Information
- Round: NASCAR Cup Series race No. 27 of 36 (Playoffs Round of 16)
- Track Location: Darlington Raceway – Darlington, South Carolina
- Race Name: Cook Out Southern 500
- Broadcast: Sunday, September 3rd at 6:00 PM ET live on USA Network (TV), MRN (Radio), and SiriusXM NASCAR Channel 90
- Team Entrants:
No. 42 | Carson Hocevar & Luke Lambert – Sunseeker Resort Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
No. 43 | Erik Jones & Dave Elenz – Allegiant Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
Carson Hocevar, No. 42 Sunseeker Resort Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
Darlington Raceway Stats
-Carson Hocevar will make his first NASCAR Cup Series start at Darlington on Sunday
-NXS: Starts: 1; Best Start: 28th (2023), Best Finish: 6th (2023); Top 10s: 1; Laps Led: 3
-NCTS: Starts: 4; Best Start: 5th (Fall, 2021), Best Finish: 2nd (2022); Top 5s: 3; Top 10s: 3; Laps Led: 10
2023 NASCAR Cup Series Season Stats
-Starts: 1; Best Start: 26th (WWT Raceway); Best Finish: 36th (WWT Raceway)
2023 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Season Stats
-Starts: 18; Wins: 3 (Texas, Nashville, Richmond); Best Start: 2nd (North Wilkesboro); Top 5s: 9; Top 10s: 10; Laps led: 223; Current Points Position: 4th
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Welcome to the Club: On Monday, LEGACY MOTOR CLUB announced that NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series standout, Carson Hocevar, would join the team to drive the No. 42 Sunseeker Resort Chevrolet at Darlington Raceway. Sunday’s Cook Out Southern 500 will mark Hocevar’s second career Cup start, and a link to the full press release from the announcement can be found here.
NASCAR Cup Series Debut: Carson made his NASCAR Cup Series debut at World Wide Technology Raceway in June, filling in for the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet team. He impressed early on, qualifying ahead of his teammate in the 26th position, but would be relegated to a 36th place finish due to a brake rotor failure which led to a crash.
Focusing on Cup: Hocevar was originally slated to drive the No. 77 Chevrolet entry for Spire Motorsports in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Darlington this weekend, but has opted to skip the event so he can pour all of his focus into competing in the Cup race. In five NXS starts this season, Hocevar has finished inside the top-10 on two occasions and earned his best finish of sixth place in the spring race held at Darlington.
Darlington Success: Carson can dance quite well with the Lady in Black. Counting five total starts at Darlington, Hocevar has finished inside the top-10 in every single race except for one, where he finished 11th. In last year’s Truck Series race at the historic track, he came close to taking home the checkered flag, and would wind up finishing in the runner up spot.
Championship Contention: 2023 has been an incredible season for Carson Hocevar in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series. Back in April, the driver of the No. 42 Chevrolet was finally able to break through and secure his first career win at Texas Motor Speedway in an exciting finish. As the year went on, Hocevar would capitalize and win two more races at Nashville Superspeedway and Richmond Raceway. Most recently, at the Milwaukee Mile, Hocevar would challenge GMS Racing’s Grant Enfinger for another win, ultimately finishing second. Currently seeded fourth in the playoffs standings, he has a large buffer to the cutline and has his sights set on advancing to the Round of 8.
Lambert at Darlington: Luke Lambert has 13 starts on top of the pit box in the NASCAR Cup Series at Darlington Raceway. His first race as a Cup crew chief at this track came in 2013, and since that time, his cars have finished in the top-10 five times. In the spring race, the No. 42 team finished in 26th position. Lambert has made three NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Darlington, and last year, his team finished second in the spring race and won in the fall.
Quoting Carson Hocevar: Hocevar’s thoughts on competing at Darlington Raceway:
“Darlington is a place that I’ve ran really well in the past, and whether that be in the Xfinity car or the truck, it’s always been a place that I found very familiar right off the bat. It’s a track that I really enjoy racing and running around, so to be able to go there in a Cup car now, a car that I’m hoping to continue to grow on and learn more about, at a place I feel really comfortable at, hopefully brings me up to speed with it. We get to have some fun this week; I’ll definitely be leaning on Erik (Jones). Being from Michigan, we were teammates at one point when we were racing late models, and now to be teammates with him on Sunday will be cool. Obviously, he won this race here last year, so I’ve got a lot of tools and resources to get myself comfortable for Sunday. I’m very thankful of this opportunity from Maury (Gallagher) and Jimmie (Johnson), and look to give the guys on this Sunseeker Resort team a good run and continue to build my notebook with their car.”
Erik Jones, No. 43 Allegiant Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
Darlington Raceway Stats
-NCS: Starts: 11; Best Start: 7th; Wins: 2 (2019 and 2022 Southern 500s); Top-5s: 5; Top-10s: 7; Laps Led: 132
-NXS: Starts: 2; Best Start: 10th; Best Finish: 4th (2017); Top-5s: 1; Top-10s: 2
2023 NASCAR Cup Series Season Stats
-Starts: 26; Best Start: 8th; Best Finish: 6th (Talladega); Top-10’s: 5; Laps Led: 17; Current points position: 28th
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Daytona in the Rearview: Jones’ aspirations for securing his second Coke Zero Sugar 400 victory and his final opportunity to enter the playoffs were cut short at Daytona. After successfully avoiding the initial major wreck of the night, Jones surged to the front. He even managed to restart from the front row; however, an untimely pit stop during the final stretch cost the No. 43 valuable track position. Consequently, Jones faced a disadvantage in the closing laps, coming home with an 18th-place finish. This outcome effectively eliminated the No. 43 from playoff contention.
First Southern 500 Win: Erik Jones triumphed his first Southern 500 at the track revered ‘Too Tough to Tame’ in 2019. Beginning the race from the 15th position, Jones earned stage points with a 10th place finish at the conclusion of stage one, and then climbed into the top-five by the end of stage two, adding to his tally of stage points on the day. Jones restarted the final stage in the front row, and would hold the lead for the final 41 laps. When the second-place threat, Kurt Busch, got into the wall with just two laps to go, Jones was able to pull away and took the checkered by an almost four-second margin. Erik led for a total of 79 laps that day, ensuring a dominant victory in his 100th career start.
The No. 43 Returns to Victory Lane: To have your face grace the Southern 500 trophy is a prestigious honor, but achieving this feat twice is an accomplishment held only by a select few drivers in NASCAR’s storied 75-year history. Erik Jones is among the fortunate few who have won a second dance with ‘The Lady in Black’. Last year, Jones was at the helm for one of the most memorable races of the year in the Southern 500, overcoming the odds stacked against him to bring the iconic No. 43 car back to the winner’s circle. His victory, which was the first for the organization, marked the historic 200th win for the No. 43 car, and was its first win since the July race held at Daytona in 2014. Notably, Jones became the first non-playoff driver to secure victory in the playoff opener at Darlington.
Dave at Darlington: Dave Elenz has found success in both the Xfinity Series and Cup Series, taking home the checkered flag in his most recent attempt in the Xfinity Series in 2020, on top of his most recent attempt at the Southern 500 last year. Elenz has three starts in the Cup Series, including last year’s victory, and has led for a total of 24 laps. In nine Xfinity starts, Elenz holds one win, one pole, 142 laps led, six top-fives, and eight top-10 finishes. Elenz’s Xfinity cars have finished inside the top-10 in all but one of his starts.
A Track with History: Darlington is known to be one of NASCAR’s oldest tracks and with Richard Petty being one of the drivers with an extensive history, he holds stats that will most likely never be touched again. ‘The King’ holds the record with 65 starts at the 1.36-mile asphalt track, and in those 65 starts Petty holds 4 poles, 3 wins, a record-breaking 25 Top-5s, 34 top-10s, and 2,391 laps led.
One Short of the Bosses: Jones has the opportunity to join some elite company should he be able to pull off a third win at Darlington. LEGACY MOTOR CLUB’s own Jimmie Johnson and Richard Petty each hold three race wins at the historic track. Johnson won back-to-back in 2004 and later followed up with another victory in 2012, while Richard Petty won his first race in 1966 and then went back-to-back the next year in 1967. Combined, Johnson and Petty have led for a staggering 2,954 laps at “The Lady in Black”.
READwithErik: Fans are in for a special treat as they can join Erik Jones and his furry friend Oscar in the NASCAR Fan Zone at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday for a #READwithErik session. During this event, Jones will read “Hot Rod, Hot Dog” by Todd H. Doodler and donate copies of the book to a limited number of attendees.
Quoting Erik Jones: “Darlington is always a place I am excited to go to. Darlington for me has always been a good track; I always look forward to getting there and having an opportunity to run well. We were fortunate to win this race last year, so with us going back, hopes are high. I think everyone has gotten better, but I believe we have a good car and a solid opportunity to run really well. So, I always look forward to going to Darlington and having an opportunity to win a third Southern 500; that would be an awesome accomplishment.”
ABOUT LEGACY MOTOR CLUB:
LEGACY MOTOR CLUB is a professional auto racing club owned by businessman and entrepreneur Maurice J. Gallagher and seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion (NCS) Jimmie Johnson. The club competes full-time in the NCS fielding the Nos. 42 and 43 Chevrolet Camaro entries, respectively, along with the No. 84 part-time entry for Johnson in 2023. Richard Petty “The King” serves as team ambassador.
In 2021, Gallagher acquired Richard Petty Motorsports and renamed the team to Petty GMS. With the addition of Johnson to the ownership structure in 2023, the organization rebranded to LEGACY MOTOR CLUB (LEGACY M.C.). With a unique title signifying a nod to car clubs of past eras, LEGACY M.C. is an inclusive club for all motorsport enthusiasts to celebrate the past and future legacies of its members, while competing for wins and championships at NASCAR’s elite level.
Based in Statesville, N.C., LEGACY M.C. operates alongside GMS Racing (GMS), which currently fields three full-time entries in the NASCAR Truck Series. Since the formation of GMS in 2012, Gallagher and Mike Beam, team president, have shared incredible success. GMS Racing captured the 2015 ARCA Racing Series championship, the 2016 and 2020 NASCAR Truck Series championships and the 2019 and 2020 ARCA East championships, accumulating over 65 wins across six national racing circuits.
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