Erik Jones won, the first race win for Petty GMS Motorsports, in dramatic fashion after inheriting the lead from Kyle Busch, whose Toyota's engine failed on Lap 344 as the field was preparing for the restart.
Darlington Raceway is a race track built for NASCAR racing located near Darlington, South Carolina. It is nicknamed "The Lady in Black" and "The Track Too Tough to Tame" by many NASCAR fans and drivers and advertised as "A NASCAR Tradition." It is of a unique, somewhat egg-shaped design, an oval with the ends of very different configurations, a condition which supposedly arose from the proximity of one end of the track to a minnow pond the owner refused to relocate. This situation makes it very challenging for the crews to set up their cars' handling in a way that is effective at both ends.
Surface Issues
Darlington Raceway was last repaved following the May 2007 meeting (from 2005 to 2019, there was only one meeting; the second meeting was reinstated in 2020), and from 2008 to 2019, there was one night race. In 2020, a day race returned to the schedule, and instead of two races (one Xfinity and one Cup) during the entire year, the track hosted six races (three Cup, two Xfinity, and one Truck). The circuit kept repairing the circuit with patches during each summer before the annual Cup race in September. The circuit's narrow Turn 2 rapidly deteriorated with cracks in the tarmac allowing water to seep in the circuit. In July 2021, the circuit repaved a six hundred foot section at the entrance of Turn 2 and ending at the exit of the turn to repair the tarmac and resolve the issue for safety and to reduce the threat of weepers and surface issues in that section of the circuit.[8]
Entry list
(R) denotes rookie driver.
(i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.
Note: Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings.
Notes
^Kurt Busch's medical suspension from the Pocono Q2 crash (concussion) has not been lifted and has withdrawn from the drivers' championship playoff participation as of August 25, 2022.
^Because the 23XI No. 45 team qualified for the Playoffs with Kurt Busch's win, before his season-ending injury, it was decided on August 31, 2022 that the 23 and 45 teams will swap drivers. Busch's withdrawal does not affect the No. 45 team's standing, so it was decided to swap numbers.
