NASCAR at Darlington Toyota 500 race results: Denny Hamlin wins rain-shortened event

Last Sunday, NASCAR rejoiced after completing its first race back after a two-month COVID-19-related hiatus. The feeling could be fleeting as rain continues to threaten the sport’s upcoming races and further delay events at Darlington Raceway.

The next Cup Series race is scheduled to run at 6 p.m. Wednesday (TV broadcast on FS1), but a flash flood watch is currently in effect in Darlington, S.C., through Thursday evening, according to the National Weather Service. Rain has already hit the track.

Driver William Byron said his No. 24 team made it to the venue and through NASCAR’s pre-race coronavirus event screening process.

“All good,” Byron said in a Twitter video he shot from inside his bus around 2 p.m. Wednesday. “Unfortunately, it’s raining a little bit. That’s not good, but I feel like as long as we can get this thing going, that we’ll be in good shape.”

NASCAR has already rescheduled its first Xfinity race back, which was originally supposed to run on Tuesday evening. That race has been moved to noon on Thursday due to rain.

If Wednesday’s Cup Series race is also postponed, it will be moved to Thursday at 7 p.m. but the situation remains fluid.

If the second Cup race at Darlington is able to get underway on Wednesday, it could be called official at the halfway mark, meaning NASCAR would not need to reschedule or resume the race if weather conditions threaten completion of all three stages.

Reporter Lou Bezjak is at Darlington Raceway for the NASCAR race. He and Alex Andrejev will be providing live updates here throughout the night.

NASCAR Toyota 500 at Darlington results

Live updates

Stage 3

10:48 p.m. Final: Denny Hamlin declared winnner. It is his third Cup win at Darlington, 39th overall.

10:38 p.m.: Lap 208: Race red-flagged because of rain. Denny Hamlin is the leader.

10:30 p.m., Lap 200: Kyle Busch and Chase Elliott get together near the start-finish line to bring out the caution.

10:22 p.m., Lap 194: Clint Bowyer, who won the first two stages, spins out to bring the caution. Chase Elliott is leader at time of caution but Denny Hamlin takes the lead after not pitting.

10:14 p.m., Lap 184: Chase Elliott regains lead after Brad Keselowski and Brennan Poole finally pit. Keselowski is in second place.

10:08 p.m., Lap 178: Matt Kenseth brings out caution after spinning in Turn 2.

9:57, p.m. Lap 161: Chase Elliott passes Erik Jones to take the lead at Darlington. Elliott’s father won the Winston Million at Darlington Raceway in 1985.

9:42 p.m., Lap 134: Erik Jones takes the lead with a three-wide pass of Ryan Newman and Clint Bowyer. Jones is the defending Southern 500 champ.

Stage 2

9:36 p.m., Lap 125: Clint Bowyer wins the second stage after taking the lead from Harvick off pit road. Elliott, Truex, Jones, Harvick, Byron, Hamlin, Bowman, Logano and DiBenedetto finish in the top 10 and get stage points. “We’re firing on all eight cylinders!” Bowyer tells FOX Sports.

9:28 p.m., Lap 116: The race is called official at the halfway mark. There are still 10 laps to go in this stage, but Bowyer could take this stage as well after that last pit stop. He is followed by Chase Elliott and Truex.

9:26 p.m., Lap 112: Cars on the lead lap pit for the seventh caution of the night on Lap 109, and Bowyer wins the race off pit road. Kyle Busch also has an efficient pit stop, moving into ninth from 14th place.

9:18 p.m., Lap 100: A familiar face takes the lead. Kevin Harvick rounds Truex for the top spot and Bowyer moves into second.

9:16 p.m., Lap 98: Ryan Blaney pits after he gets loose rounding a turn and takes a lot of damage to the right side of his car. Pole-sitter Ryan Preece has dropped to the end.

9:08 p.m., Lap 84: Truex has moved into the lead over Harvick and Byron in the top three. A caution was called earlier for Stenhouse Jr. Bowyer stayed out to run in the lead, but Truex surpassed him. Truex has not pitted since Lap 63 and Bowyer has fresher tires.

8:57 p.m., Lap 72: A fifth caution is called for Chris Buescher after he makes contact with Michael McDowell on the outside lane. Buescher grazes the wall, but has minimal damage. Leader Clint Bowyer stays out instead of pitting. Bowman and Hamlin follow in second and third place.

Stage 1

8:51 p.m., Lap 65: Cole Custer receives a penalty for an uncontrolled tire violation while on pit road.

8:43 p.m., Lap 60: Bowyer dominates the first stage. He is followed by Truex Jr. and Blaney in second and third, respectively. Bowman, Logano, Almirola, Elliott, Hamlin, Kenseth, Preece follow in the top 10.

8:38 p.m., Lap 50: Clint Bowyer is up to a two second lead over second-place Ryan Blaney, and his car is looking fast. Alex Bowman, Martin Truex Jr. and Joey Logano are top five with 10 laps to go in the first stage. Matt Kenseth is running 10th.

8:28 p.m., Lap 30: NASCAR gives Aric Almirola an uncontrolled tire violation then rescinds the penalty after Almirola says Ricky Stenhouse Jr. knocked the tire out of the carrier’s hand. Bubba Wallace stays out and takes the lead briefly, then Clint Bowyer takes over for first spot.

8:20 p.m., Lap 25: Joey Logano, Clint Bowyer and Ryan Blaney are running in the top three, respectively, but Logano and Bowyer are pulling away. The competition caution is out so teams can check their tires. Ty Dillon has dropped to 15th.

8:14 p.m., Lap 14: Nemechek brings out a second caution on Lap 11. He spins out towards the back of the pack. Joey Logano has moved into first place. Ty Dillon is now in second. Drivers including Tyler Reddick, Bubba Wallace, Matt DiBenedetto, Erik Jones and Denny Hamlin all pit under caution.

8:03 p.m., Lap 4. Caution is called for John Hunter Nemechek, who spins out and makes contact with Matt Kenseth. Ty Dillon immediately jumps to the lead. He is followed by Ryan Preece and Clint Bowyer.

Pre-race

8:00 p.m.: Green flag! Ryan Preece is starting on the pole. Erik Jones has also had move to the rear of the field for unproved adjustments.

7:57 p.m.: NASCAR is asking drivers about the track conditions as they make pace laps. Some are reporting rain and wet spots on the track. “S---, I’m ready to give it a whirl,” Jimmie Johnson says.

7:39 p.m.: Celebrity chef Guy Fieri gives drivers the command to start engines on the FS1 broadcast. At the track, the command comes from the tower. We’re going racing!

7:32 p.m.: NASCAR and NFL Hall of Fame member Joe Gibbs delivers the invocation. Singer Jewel performs the national anthem. Drivers are sporting a variety of masks, including John Hunter Nemechek in a shark mouth pattern and a Kyle Busch in a license plate design.

7:15 p.m.: NASCAR says the national anthem, innovation and call to start engines will come at 7:30 p.m. and the green flag will wave at 7:50 p.m. A competition caution will be called Lap 25.

7:05 p.m.: Cars begin moving to pit road. We might get to see some racing tonight.

6:30 p.m.: Track drying continues at Darlington Raceway and the race won’t begin at 6:26 p.m. as scheduled. No new start time has been given.

Several drivers will have to start in the rear of the field. BJ McLeod and Corey Lajoie failed inspection multiple times. McLeod must also serve a pass-through penalty. JJ Yeley and Gray Gaulding also must start in the back because of driver changes. All drivers cleared inspection.

6 p.m.: The jet dryers continue at Darlington Raceway. NASCAR has a fleet of more than 10 Air Titan Toyota Tundras onsite to help with the drying process. There are still puddles near the bottom of some of the corners but progress is being made and odds are looking better to get into tonight’s race.

5:30 p.m.: Jet dryers returned to the track and the rain has stopped for the moment. The weather radar shows a break in the rain with only 19-30% percent chance from 6-9 p.m so a good chance the race gets in tonight although it might not begin at scheduled time of 6:26 p.m.

5:00 p.m.: After a brief stoppage, the rain returned to Darlington Raceway. Air Titan jet dryers were able to start drying the track for about 30 minutes before the rain returned at 4:30 p.m. NASCAR said they would make a decision by 8 p.m. to see if they will be able to get tonight’s race in.

If the race is postponed, there would be a doubleheader Thursday with Xfinity at noon and Cup Series at 7 p.m. If tomorrow’s race is rained out, it will run Friday at noon.

3:15 p.m.: Teams and drivers have arrived at a wet track and remain awaiting updates from NASCAR on the race schedule.

NASCAR Toyota 500 at Darlington starting lineup

* Gray Gaulding and J.J. Yeley will drop to the rear of the field for Wednesday’s race because those teams made a driver change between the two races at Darlington this week.

This story was originally published May 20, 2020 at 2:06 PM with the headline "NASCAR at Darlington Toyota 500 race results: Denny Hamlin wins rain-shortened event."