The Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway proved to be everything a NASCAR race at “The Lady In Black” traditionally is every year.
The other nickname for Darlington is “The Track Too Tough To Tame.” That indeed was what it was to several Cup Series drivers. Kyle Larson, Corey LaJoie, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch, BJ McLeod, Daniel Hemric, Ross Chastain, Alex Bowman, Kurt Busch, Bubba Wallace, Cole Custer, Erik Jones and Martin Truex Jr. all failed to finish the race. They were knocked out from different issues at different points of the race. Some had engine issues. Others were involved in on track incidents.
There were 13 different drivers that exchanged the lead 23 times during the race. Joey Logano led the most laps at 107 and was the winner of stage one. Ross Chastain was able to win stage two before going out of the race.
In the end it was William Byron who held the lead as the laps were drawing to a close. Joey Logano was chasing him down in second place. With just over a lap to go in the race, Joey hit William’s rear bumper sending him up and into the wall. Joey was then able to take the lead. Joey held that lead for the final lap and became the 10th 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Season winner. It is his first career win at Darlington in the series.
Tyler Reddick came in second with Justin Haley in third. Kevin Harvick claimed fourth-place and Chase Elliott rounded out the top five. In case you were wondering, William Byron fell all the way back to a 13th place finish after Joey’s bump and run on him. See the complete race results for the Goodyear 400 here.
Chase Elliott remains the leader in the point standings for another week. William Byron is in second-place. Ryan Blaney sits in third with Joey Logano in fourth. Ross Chastain rounds out the top five. See the complete NASCAR Cup Series Point Standings here.
Next up for the NASCAR Cup Series drivers is a trip to Kansas Speedway for the AdventHelath 400 Sunday, May 15th.
By: Buck Stevens
