It was a Southern 500 for the ages.
In a season that began with Trevor Bayne and the Wood Brothers shocking Daytona 500, Regan Smith driving for Furniture Row Racing, won the Showtime Southern 500 race at Darlington Raceway in a dramatic green-white-checkered-flag finish, 0.196 seconds ahead of Carl Edwards.
A tearful Smith could only commented in victory lane
"This is the Southern 500 - Legends win this race.- we're not supposed to win this thing."
Nearly three years after a NASCAR ruling denied him his first Sprint Cup victory, Regan Smith finally got the elusive win.
The victory was a redemption for Smith, who was deprived of an apparent victory at Talladega in 2008 when he was penalized for passing Tony Stewart below the yellow out-of-bounds line that separates the racing surface from the apron.
"This is no knock against Talladega at all, but I would trade in a lot of Talladega wins for one win in the Southern 500. This race is so special and so meaningful. We were standing there looking at the names and the faces on the trophy, and you just look at it, and you think, 'My face is going to be there right next to these guys, and it'll be there forever.'"
Edwards was comfortably in front during the last part of the race when Jeff Burton's engine blew and oiled the track with 10 laps left, causing the 10th caution of the night, most of the leaders, including Edwards, pitted for tires, but Smith, Brad Keselowski and Tony Stewart gambled and stayed out.
Smith radioed to crew chief Pete Rondeau that his No. 78 car was pretty good in clean air. Smith said the decision to stay out was "100 percent" up to Rondeau, who concurred with his driver. Garone texted team owner Barney Visser and got the same recommendation -- go for it. Buried in points, they really had nothing to lose.
Brad Keselowski, also on old tires, finished third, with pole-sitter Kasey Kahne running fourth and Ryan Newman fifth.
Although many have been waiting another Newman vs Montoya crash, the race ended with another even greater controversy involving Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick. Their cars crashed with two laps to go in regulation, sparking the night’s final caution and producing the green-white-checkered overtime period that led to Smith’s victory.
Racing near the front, Harvick and Busch made contact, and Clint Bowyer, Harvick’s teammate, dropped low to attempt to pass them. Instead, Harvick and Bowyer collided, sending Bowyer’s car sliding hard into the inside wall on the frontstretch. Busch hit Harvick’s car again, sending him into a slide in front of traffic. After the race, Harvick charged toward Busch’s car and lunged at him through the window of the car as Busch drove away. A few minutes later, members of the two crews confronted each other in the garage area while Busch and Harvick were called to the NASCAR hauler after the race to discuss the final laps.
Yet, The unusual crashing adventures of Juan Pablo Montoya continued for one more race after being involved into an early crash with the 5-time champion Jimmie Johnson. The two were racing side by side when they appeared to make slight contact, then Montoya apparently hit Johnson, sending him into a slide and causing the night’s fourth caution. Over the team radio, Montoya said his brakes locked, and he apologized for hitting Johnson but Johnson's crew chief Chad Knaus wasn't impressed. Still Johnson regained control of his car and remained on the lead lap but after losing control of his car in the heart of turn four, sliding onto the frontstretch, bringing out the sixth caution of the race.
Smith's victory may well have a major impact through the season, given that NASCAR changed its championship format to allow the two drivers with the most race wins outside the top 10 into the chase. For a driver who has endured so many low points, from rides disappearing due to sponsorship losses and apparent race wins evaporating into thin air, it was a moment to savor
But Smith who is currently 27th in points, still has to climb back into the top 20 to be eligible. But can he make it through? After Darlington, and 29 points out of 20th it's a distinct possibility.
"We've been thinking about that for three or four weeks now, since we dug the hole in points. We've had that talk already, that we need to take chances like we did [Saturday night]. Our main focus was to sneak out as many wins as we can and get back in the top 20 in points. We had a pretty big hole to dig out of. We get another win and get it back in the top 20, and all of the sudden, yeah, you could make the Chase and use that system to your advantage. You don't want to be in the position where you have to use the system to your advantage, you just want to be in the top 10. But it's there, and since we've had the bad luck we've had to start the year, we're going to try and use it."
