Hamlin wins the very first Chase race back
Denny Hamlin won the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, taking the opening race of NASCAR's revived Chase playoff format from fourth on the grid. Hamlin jumped to the lead by Lap 3, lost it to 23XI Racing's Tyler Reddick — his own team's co-owner — on a Lap 30 slide job through Turns 3 and 4, then reclaimed it and held on to win. Reddick finished second, with Chase Briscoe completing the podium in third.
It's the kind of result Hamlin, already entering the playoffs as the No. 1 seed, could hardly have scripted better: not just banking the points and stage bonuses that come with a win, but doing it at a track where he already carries plenty of history.
Why this playoff format is new again
Darlington marked the return of NASCAR's "Chase" format after 13 years away, replacing the elimination-style, "win-and-in" bracket that had run the Cup Series playoffs from 2014 through 2025. There are no more knockout rounds: the 16 Chase drivers had their points reset exactly once, immediately after the regular-season finale at Daytona, with bonus points allocated purely by regular-season finishing order. From here, it's a straight 10-race postseason with no further resets, ending at Phoenix.
Hamlin won the regular-season title by 89 points over Ryan Blaney, which set him up with the biggest bonus and the No. 1 seed — a 2,100-point starting total and a 25-point cushion over Blaney in second, with Reddick, Ty Gibbs, Briscoe, Christopher Bell, Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Joey Logano, Chris Buescher, Daniel Suárez, Carson Hocevar, William Byron, Bubba Wallace, Austin Cindric and Ryan Preece rounding out the 16-driver field.
How Darlington played out
Rain wiped out qualifying for the sixth time this season, so the grid was set by NASCAR's competition-based formula instead — Reddick started on pole with Suárez alongside him, Preece third and Hamlin fourth. Suárez led the first two laps before Hamlin powered past both him and Reddick in short order, only for Reddick to reel him back in and retake the lead with a slide job at Lap 30. Suárez, meanwhile, faded hard from his front-row start once the pace settled, dropping well outside the top 15 by the race's later stages.
From there it was largely a Hamlin-Reddick affair at the front, with Hamlin doing enough over the closing distance to cross the line first. Briscoe's third-place run was the best finish of the day for a driver outside the top two Chase seeds heading in.
Who had a good or bad start to the Chase
Ryan Preece, seeded 16th and last of the Chase field entering Darlington, finished fourth — arguably the best possible opening result for the driver with the smallest cushion. Blaney, the No. 2 seed, had a quiet day in eighth. Further back, Kyle Larson — seeded seventh — endured a rough Chase opener, finishing 23rd after starting 25th, while Suárez's late fade dropped him to 20th from his front-row start. Ty Gibbs (11th), William Byron (12th), Chase Elliott (14th), Carson Hocevar (16th), Joey Logano (17th) and Chris Buescher (18th) all had modest, mid-pack days without disaster or standout results.
As of publication, neither NASCAR nor other trackers had yet posted the exact updated Chase points total following Darlington — those typically follow within the day, factoring in stage points on top of the finishing order above. What's already clear is that Hamlin, already the No. 1 seed, extended his advantage by winning outright, while Larson's 23rd-place run cuts into the cushion he carried into the postseason.
What's next
The Chase moves to Gateway (World Wide Technology Raceway) for the Enjoy Illinois 300 on Sunday, September 13, the second of the postseason's 10 races, with no elimination cutoff to navigate this time around — every driver in the 16-car field carries their points forward all the way to the season finale at Phoenix.
Frequently asked questions
Who won the 2026 Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington?
Denny Hamlin, from fourth on the grid, in the opening race of NASCAR's revived Chase playoff format. Tyler Reddick finished second and Chase Briscoe third.
What is NASCAR's "Chase" format, and why did it return in 2026?
The Chase is the points-based, non-elimination NASCAR playoff format used from 2004-2013. It returned for 2026, replacing the elimination-bracket "win-and-in" playoffs used from 2014-2025. There's a single points reset after the regular season and no further cutoff rounds across the 10-race postseason.
Who was the No. 1 seed entering the 2026 Chase, and why?
Denny Hamlin, after winning the regular-season title by 89 points over Ryan Blaney. That gave him the largest bonus-point allocation and a 25-point cushion over second place (2,100 points to Blaney's 2,075) heading into Darlington.
Which playoff drivers had a rough start to the 2026 Chase?
Kyle Larson, seeded 7th, finished 23rd at Darlington after starting 25th. Daniel Suárez started on the front row but faded to 20th.
When is the next race in the 2026 NASCAR Chase?
The Enjoy Illinois 300 at Gateway (World Wide Technology Raceway), Sunday, September 13, 2026 — the second of 10 Chase races with no elimination cutoffs.
Sources
Pippa has followed open-wheel racing for 12 years, from Formula 1's turbo-hybrid era to IndyCar's short ovals, and has watched competitive sim racing grow from a niche hobby into a genuine motorsport discipline in its own right. She covers circuit and open-wheel racing, touring cars and esports for CNMOTOS.
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