DARLINGTON, S.C. — Erik Jones gave the No. 43 car a landmark 200th victory, along with maybe a few regrets to his old employers at Joe Gibbs Racing.
Jones moved in front when JGR star Kyle Busch blew an engine, then outraced Denny Hamlin — another former teammate — over the final 31 laps to win the Southern 500 on Sunday night at Darlington Raceway. It's the first time a driver not in the playoffs has won the opener of the 10-race NASCAR Cup Series postseason.
Jones won this event in 2019 for JGR, the team he raced for in Cup Series competition from 2017 to 2020. He came out on top once more, this time for Petty GMS Motorsports, a team owned in part by NASCAR Hall of Fame driver Richard Petty.
"I never lost any belief in myself through any of it," Jones said. "I knew I could still do it, and I knew we needed to grow the program to do it. And we have."
The celebration continued for the Petty organization, which had not won since Aric Almirola's Daytona 500 victory in 2014.
"I know my dad," NASCAR commentator Kyle Petty said. "What time is it, 11? He just opened a bottle of red wine."
The King went to Twitter shortly after Jones took the checkered flag to congratulation Jones "and the entire #43 team!!!!"
Jones just wanted the King — known for his sunglasses and ornate cowboy hats — to keep his promise.
"He said I'd get a hat if I win," Jones said, laughing.
Hamlin, seeded sixth in the playoffs, closed in on the back bumper of Jones' Chevrolet on the final lap, but he couldn't make the winning pass.
"Erik just did a really great job," Hamlin said. "Great day for Erik, a great day for our team."
The third of Jones' old JGR teammates, Martin Truex Jr., held a substantial lead over Busch when his No. 19 had power steering problems and went off to the garage.
Jones remained in control and in one piece while many of the favored playoff participants couldn't do the same.
Along with the engine trouble for Busch, the 11th playoff seed, No. 9 seed Kevin Harvick's Stewart-Haas Racing Ford caught fire in a scary scene. Harvick scrambled away from his stopped car to safety.
Top-seeded Chase Elliott of Hendrick Motorsports was gone during the first stage, sliding into the wall, hitting Chase Briscoe as he tore up his Chevy's suspension on his way out of the race.
Kyle Larson, the 2021 series champion who is seeded fourth, was three laps down in the opening stage after engine problems. Larson finished 12th for Hendrick.
Hamlin was second, followed by three more playoff drivers: Tyler Reddick, Joey Logano and Christopher Bell. Michael McDowell was sixth, with Brad Keselowski, William Byron and Bubba Wallace filling out the top 10.
Busch led 155 of 367 laps, the most of anyone. He ended up 30th.
"It's unfortunate circumstances," Busch said. "We just had a great car and didn't come out with anything to show for it. That's what I hate about it."
Elliott finished 36th, last in the field. His plans going forward?
"Run better than we did today," he said.
The scariest incident came in the final stage when Harvick's car caught fire on lap 276 as he came down the front stretch. Harvick quickly pulled onto the grass and jumped out of the car, running to safety.
Moments later during the caution brought out by Harvick, J.J. Yeley's car headed into the pits on fire. That blaze, too, was extinguished.
Harvick said it's another safety problem with the Next Gen car that NASCAR must fix.
"What a disaster, man," Harvick said. "No reason ... here we are in the pits with a burned-up car, and we can't finish the race during the playoff."
The first round of the plaoffs continues next Sunday at Kansas Speedway.
Indy's Penske power
PORTLAND, Ore. — Scott McLaughlin led a Team Penske rout at Portland International Raceway by scoring his third victory of the season in a 1-2 finish that moved Will Power closer to the IndyCar season championship.
McLaughlin, who led 104 of 110 laps, trails only Penske teammate Josef Newgarden's five series wins this year, but an inconsistent season has the New Zealander clinging to any title chances.
McLaughlin goes to next Sunday's season finale at Laguna Seca in California fifth in the standings, 41 points behind teammate Power but still mathematically in the hunt.
"We did exactly what we needed to do this weekend, which was win and get maximum points," McLaughlin said. "We need to keep ourselves in it — and we're a long shot, but we've got a shot."
Either way, IndyCar goes to its finale locked in the tightest championship battle in 19 years. The 41 points that separate McLaughlin in fifth to leader Power is the closest since 30 points separated the top five in 2003, when the series was still called the Indy Racing League.
Power had a relatively easy drive but never enough to challenge McLaughlin for the win. In settling for second, he takes a 20-point lead into the finale over both Newgarden and six-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon of Chip Ganassi Racing.
"We're in the best position, we've got the best shot, we'll do the best we can," Power said.
Dixon finished third but gained no ground in the title fight; Newgarden dropped from fourth on the restart with 22 laps remaining to finish eighth and lose 17 points to Power in the Penske championship battle.
"We're still in the fight," said Dixon, who started 16th. "We need to stop getting these most improved of the race awards."
Newgarden lamented his late tire choice, which left him a sitting duck over the final stint.
"At this point, it just kind of is what it is. I'm going to go try to win that race and go for broke," Newgarden said. "I don't know how Laguna is going to play, but we're going to go to play and see what happens."
The three Penske entries were the class of the field in Portland, where the team had used its final test chance of the season to prepare for the penultimate race. The trio was fast in every session and had a clear advantage over Chip Ganassi Racing, which chose to use its final test at Laguna Seca in anticipation of the finale.
Ganassi had Dixon, Indianapolis 500 winner Marcus Ericsson and reigning IndyCar champion Alex Palou in the title hunt, but only Palou had a decent qualifying showing at Portland. Dixon and Ericsson failed to advance out of the first qualifying group, and Ericsson rallied only to 11th. He is 39 points behind Power, fourth in the standings.
Although Palou finished 12th and Pato O'Ward was fourth, both were eliminated from title contention.
"Didn't have enough for the Penske boys," O'Ward said. "They dominated everyone, not just us."
F1: Verstappen rolling
Max Verstappen stood on his Red Bull ride to milk the applause as the 100,000-strong Orange Army engulfed their national hero in a sea of their favorite color after he won the Dutch Grand Prix.
There was so much to celebrate Sunday.
A second straight win at the Zandvoort track by the seaside in the Netherlands; a fourth straight win for the first time in his Formula One career and already a 30th F1 victory overall; a 109-point lead with only seven races left this season. That orange wave is carrying him to a second straight title.
"It's nice to see all the crowd and the craziness; I appreciate it a lot," the 24-year-old driver said. "This was a very special weekend for me. It's been incredible."
It seems a question now of when, rather than if, Verstappen seals the title and if he can beat Sebastian Vettel's F1 record of 13 wins in a season in 2013, also achieved with Red Bull. Verstappen has won 10 races this season, matching his tally from last year as his challengers — Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and teammate Sergio Perez, who are tied for second in points — fell further back in the standings.
George Russell finished second for Mercedes ahead of Leclerc on Sunday, with seven-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton dropping from first to fourth.
Verstappen looked to be coasting to victory when a safety car came out on the 56th of 72 laps, after the engine cut out on Valtteri Bottas' Alfa Romeo.
Verstappen changed tires and was behind leader Hamilton's Mercedes with 12 laps left, but Hamilton was on a slower medium tire — and Verstappen on the quicker softs left the British driver pretty much a sitting duck, much like when he lost the title to Verstappen at last year's season-ending Abu Dhabi GP.
Hamilton misjudged his restart, and Verstappen overtook him straight away to bring a huge roar from the Orange Army. The Dutchman also took an extra point for the fastest lap.