La Southern 500 messa in scena in quel di Darlington ha regalato una nuova vittoria a Kevin Harvick, che diventa il primo pilota ad ottenere una seconda vittoria nel 2014 in Sprint Cup Series. Infatti, il californiano, soprannominato come “The Closer”, bissa così il successo di Phoenix.
Grande gara per Harvick, capace di tenere la testa della gara per 238 dei 374 giri, allungata di sette tornate in più per due Green-White-Checkered Flag. Nemmeno un problema al pit-stop, per un dado ruota montato male, è stato in grado di fermarlo. Il vincitore ha beffato un ottimo Dale Earnhardt jr., giunto secondo. Dietro di loro, terzo Jimmie Johnson. Matt Kenseth e Greg Biffle chiudono la top five. Si segnala la grande prestazione del “rookie” Kyle Larson, che mostra il suo grande potenziale grazie ad un ottavo posto conquistato nonostante le difficoltà iniziali.
In campionato, Jeff Gordon è leader con un solo punto in più rispetto al primo inseguitore, Matt Kenseth.
1 1 4 Kevin Harvick Budweiser Chevrolet 374 48 5 148.9 $328,708 Running 7 238
2 15 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. National Guard Chevrolet 374 43 1 120.0 $205,690 Running 1 5
3 26 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s / Kobalt Tools Chevrolet 374 42 1 101.2 $215,101 Running 1 8
4 25 20 Matt Kenseth Home Depot Husky Toyota 374 41 1 114.2 $183,401 Running 1 12
5 19 16 Greg Biffle 3M / Red Cross Ford 374 40 1 90.0 $165,040 Running 1 5
6 8 18 Kyle Busch M&M’s Toyota 374 38 104.9 $157,156 Running
7 9 24 Jeff Gordon Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet 374 38 1 120.2 $155,576 Running 3 8
8 17 42 Kyle Larson # Target Chevrolet 374 36 81.7 $133,510 Running
9 23 14 Tony Stewart Mobil 1 / Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet 374 35 74.8 $136,873 Running
10 7 31 Ryan Newman Caterpillar Chevrolet 374 34 95.7 $109,665 Running
11 20 3 Austin Dillon # Dow Chevrolet 374 33 77.6 $144,441 Running
12 16 15 Clint Bowyer 5-hour Energy Toyota 374 32 85.2 $134,271 Running
13 21 99 Carl Edwards Ford EcoBoost Ford 374 31 69.2 $113,905 Running
14 4 9 Marcos Ambrose DeWalt Ford 374 30 71.0 $124,125 Running
15 18 47 AJ Allmendinger Clorox Chevrolet 374 29 72.0 $116,438 Running
16 6 1 Jamie McMurray Cessna Chevrolet 374 28 82.4 $134,694 Running
17 5 2 Brad Keselowski Miller Lite Ford 374 28 1 100.6 $137,288 Running 1 4
18 31 13 Casey Mears GEICO Chevrolet 374 26 63.1 $118,888 Running
19 10 11 Denny Hamlin Sport Clips Toyota 374 26 1 92.4 $101,905 Running 1 3
20 28 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Nationwide Ford 374 24 56.4 $130,280 Running
21 29 98 Josh Wise Phil Parsons Racing Chevrolet 374 23 56.3 $89,005 Running
22 33 10 Danica Patrick GoDaddy Chevrolet 374 22 54.5 $100,055 Running
23 24 51 Justin Allgaier # Sherwin Williams Automotive Finishes Chevrolet 372 21 61.0 $113,563 Running
24 3 43 Aric Almirola Fresh from Florida Ford 372 20 67.9 $127,641 Running
25 35 40 Landon Cassill(i) Hillman Racing Chevrolet 372 0 46.2 $87,305 Running
26 14 55 Brian Vickers Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota 371 19 1 80.6 $121,480 Running 2 30
27 12 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Chevrolet 371 17 70.9 $116,613 Running
28 27 38 David Gilliland A&W All American Food Ford 370 16 43.9 $107,663 Running
29 34 23 Alex Bowman # Dr Pepper Toyota 369 15 39.6 $97,252 Running
30 38 30 Parker Kligerman # SMS Audio Toyota 369 14 40.7 $89,005 Running
31 13 41 Kurt Busch Haas Automation Chevrolet 368 13 75.0 $84,305 Accident
32 32 34 David Ragan CSX Ford 367 13 1 44.5 $94,605 Running 1 1
33 41 32 Travis Kvapil Keen Parts Ford 367 11 32.9 $83,905 Running
34 43 66 Joe Nemechek(i) Justin Johnson / Land Castle Title Toyota 366 0 29.8 $91,705 Running
35 2 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 359 10 1 84.5 $123,471 Front Hub 1 37
36 37 33 David Stremme Chevrolet 326 8 34.1 $83,305 Brakes
37 22 5 Kasey Kahne Great Clips Chevrolet 323 8 1 87.0 $102,480 Accident 2 23
38 42 26 Cole Whitt # Swan Energy Toyota 301 6 31.5 $78,285 Running
39 40 36 Reed Sorenson Chevrolet 289 5 42.3 $74,285 Overheating
40 39 83 Ryan Truex # Borla Exhaust Toyota 274 4 25.0 $70,285 Running
41 11 27 Paul Menard CertainTeed / Menards Chevrolet 270 3 60.8 $93,499 Running
42 30 7 Michael Annett # Pilot / Flying J Chevrolet 101 2 44.6 $62,285 Accident
1) #24-Jeff Gordon, 297
2) #20-Matt Kenseth, 296, -1
3) #99-Carl Edwards [1 win], 278, -19
4) #88-Dale Earnhardt Jr. [1 win], 271, -26
5) #48-Jimmie Johnson, 270, -27
6) #18-Kyle Busch [1 win], 269, -28
7) #2-Brad Keselowski [1 win], 246, -51
8) #22-Joey Logano [1 win], 245, -52
9) #31-Ryan Newman, 236, -61
10) #3-Austin Dillon, 235, -62
