Shane van Gisbergen during the NASCAR Cup Series at Daytona.
At the track dubbed ‘Too Tough to Tame’ it was the Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet Camaro, not the 1.3-mile oval, that proved too tough to get on top of.
Van Gisbergen bemoaned an overall lack of grip for the duration of the 367-lap contest.
“I don’t know how to say it. I’ve never felt so slow,” van Gisbergen radioed to his tema during the Lap 36 competition caution.
“It felt like I had 120-lap-old tyres when I started. I had no grip. No positives at all. My balance was okay but my grip was just so low.”
That was the trend for the rest of the evening and into the night, with SVG spending the lion’s share of the race towards the back as the team took massive swings at the set-up.
Van Gisbergen ended up the best of the Trackhouse Racing trio with teammates Ross Chastain and Connor Zilisch finishing 27th and 34th respectively.
The only moment of joy during the race was when van Gisbergen was told of Scott McLaughlin’s IndyCar Series win at Laguna Seca, prompting a “Hell yeah” over the radio.
The race was won by Christopher Bell, who ended a streak of runner-up finishes for his first win of the NASCAR Cup Series season.
The Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota driver had run second in seven instances this season. Bell’s last win before Darlington was at Bristol in the 29th race of the 2025 season.
“It’s been too damn long,” said Bell.
“Oh my gosh, man. I’m just so, so proud of all of these guys on this #20 car. All the mechanics, all the pit crew members. They deserve it more than anyone.
“This has been a long time coming. Darlington has been one that I’ve always wanted to win since I got into the sport.
“This is the ultimate drivers’ track. You fans, you guys are the best. This is why we’re here.
“I knew that we’d be able to win it, no matter what. I knew that we’d be able to win it.
“We can win any week, it just hasn’t happened yet.”
The Darlington victory represents something of a comeback for Bell, who earlier this year was hampered by a broken wrist.
“When I was sitting in the infield car centre at Michigan, I thought my season was over,” said Bell.
“I thought I was going to be out a couple of weeks, I wasn’t going to be able to make the Chase.
“We’re still in it, baby.”
The race for the win was set up on Lap 338 rain led to a caution and a brief red flag period.
Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson elected to stay out on track during the caution, as did Austin Cindric (Team Penske), Joey Logano (Team Penske) and Ryan Preece (RFK Racing).
Chase Briscoe (Joe Gibbs Racing) led the cars that pitted followed by Bell (JGR), Ty Gibbs (JGR), Josh Berry (Wood Brothers Racing), Tyler Reddick (23XI Racing) and Bubba Wallace (23XI Racing).
Larson led the restart with 24 laps to go. Cindric was slow away while Logano and Bell rose to second and third respectively.
Like Cindric, Logano began to fade and the Toyotas on fresher tyres surged forward. Larson held his own at the front of the field until Lap 357 when Bell got to the inside.
Larosn didn’t have enough tyre life and ultimately fell to fifth. Toyotas locked out the top three with Bell followed by Gibbs and Reddick. Blaney was the best of the Ford contingent in fourth.
Chase Briscoe was sixth while Josh Berry was the best of the non-Chase drivers in seventh. The top 10 was rounded out by Bubba Wallace, Joey Logano and Ryan Preece.
William Byron was the worst of the Chase contenders. He suffered an engine failure, forcing his retirement.
Denny Hamlin had a day to forget too. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver was among the contenders but was blighted by contact with Spire Motorsports’ Michael McDowell, which shot him into the outside wall and damaged his Camry en route to 18th.
The Chase for the NASCAR Cup Series continues with the Enjoy Illinois 300 at Gateway on September 14.
Results: NASCAR Cup Series Cook-out Southern 500, Darlington Raceway
Pos
Num
Driver
Team
Car
Laps/Diff
Gap
1
20
Christopher Bell (C)
Joe Gibbs Racing
Toyota Camry
367
2
54
Ty Gibbs (C)
Joe Gibbs Racing
Toyota Camry
1.038
1.038
3
45
Tyler Reddick (C)
23XI Racing
Toyota Camry
2.533
1.495
4
12
Ryan Blaney (C)
Team Penske
Ford Mustang
3.367
0.834
5
5
Kyle Larson (C)
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet Camaro
3.932
0.565
6
19
Chase Briscoe (C)
Joe Gibbs Racing
Toyota Camry
4.31
0.378
7
21
Josh Berry
Wood Brothers Racing
Ford Mustang
5.24
0.93
8
23
Bubba Wallace (C)
23XI Racing
Toyota Camry
7.787
2.547
9
22
Joey Logano (C)
Team Penske
Ford Mustang
8.548
0.761
10
60
Ryan Preece (C)
RFK Racing
Ford Mustang
9.201
0.653
11
77
Carson Hocevar (C)
Spire Motorsports
Chevrolet Camaro
9.591
0.39
12
48
Alex Bowman
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet Camaro
10.088
0.497
13
2
Austin Cindric (C)
Team Penske
Ford Mustang
12.509
2.421
14
9
Chase Elliott (C)
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet Camaro
13.123
0.614
15
43
Erik Jones
Legacy Motor Club
Toyota Camry
13.83
0.707
16
34
Todd Gilliland
Front Row Motorsports
Ford Mustang
14.954
1.124
17
71
Michael McDowell
Spire Motorsports
Chevrolet Camaro
15.714
0.76
18
11
Denny Hamlin (C)
Joe Gibbs Racing
Toyota Camry
15.897
0.183
19
67
Corey Heim
23XI Racing
Toyota Camry
16.355
0.458
20
17
Chris Buescher (C)
RFK Racing
Ford Mustang
16.714
0.359
21
7
Daniel Suarez (C)
Spire Motorsports
Chevrolet Camaro
16.765
0.051
22
16
AJ Allmendinger
Kaulig Racing
Chevrolet Camaro
17.502
0.737
23
6
Brad Keselowski
RFK Racing
Ford Mustang
18.617
1.115
24
42
John Hunter Nemechek
Legacy Motor Club
Toyota Camry
19.017
0.4
25
38
Zane Smith
Front Row Motorsports
Ford Mustang
21.305
2.288
26
97
Shane Van Gisbergen
Trackhouse Racing
Chevrolet Camaro
1 lap
27
1
Ross Chastain
Trackhouse Racing
Chevrolet Camaro
1 lap
28
33
Austin Hill
Richard Childress Racing
Chevrolet Camaro
1 lap
29
3
Austin Dillon
Richard Childress Racing
Chevrolet Camaro
1 lap
30
35
Riley Herbst
23XI Racing
Toyota Camry
1 lap
31
10
Ty Dillon
Kaulig Racing
Chevrolet Camaro
1 lap
32
4
Noah Gragson
Front Row Motorsports
Ford Mustang
1 lap
33
41
Cole Custer
Haas Factory Team
Chevrolet Camaro
1 lap
34
88
Connor Zilisch
Trackhouse Racing
Chevrolet Camaro
2 laps
1 lap
35
47
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Hyak Motorsports
Chevrolet Camaro
4 laps
2 laps
36
51
Cody Ware
Rick Ware Racing
Chevrolet Camaro
4 laps
37
24
William Byron (C)
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet Camaro
48 laps
44 laps
38
66
Chad Finchum
Garage66
Ford Mustang
124 laps
76 laps