NASCAR at Darlington results: Hamlin sweeps, Truex wins regular-season title

By winning the first two stages, Truex adds enough playoff points to clinch the title

By Matthew Mayer

Sep 3, 2017 at 8:40 pm ET • 2 min read

Denny Hamlin completed the sweep at Darlington Raceway on Sunday, passing Martin Truex Jr. with fewer than 10 laps to go for his second checkered flag of the season. The No. 11 overcame a brutal blunder after missing pit road during the final green flag stops.

Disaster for @dennyhamlin coming to pit road! #NASCARThrowback pic.twitter.com/fIh6IdHwWR
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) September 4, 2017

The mistake put Hamlin more than 20 seconds behind the leader at the time, but he was able to close the gap thanks to a strong car as well as to Truex suffering a flat tire with less than three to go. Hamlin now has two Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victories at the track in addition to Saturday's Xfinity Series victory.

Despite the heartbreaking finish, Truex clinched the Cup Series regular-season title, earning the necessary points by sweeping both midrace stages at the South Carolina oval. It's the first career regular-season crown for the 37-year-old New Jersey native as well as his team, Furniture Row Racing, which is based out of Denver.

Truex came out of nowhere and passed Kyle Larson at the last second to win Stage 1 and then won Stage 2 under caution after taking the lead from Hamlin. Truex has a remarkable 17 stage wins to go along with his four race victories this season. The regular-season champion also gets 15 more playoff points added to his total, bringing it to 52. That is more than double second-place Kyle Busch's 20 and third-place Kyle Larson's 18.

That's worth another look!#NASCARThrowback pic.twitter.com/wMCFELewON
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) September 3, 2017

Ryan Blaney and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. were among playoff contenders to run into early trouble. Blaney went hard into the wall and was forced to pit just five laps into the race. The No. 21 missed the entrance on the way in and had to come back around. Stenhouse slammed the outside wall on lap 41 after getting loose at the exit of Turn 4. Both drivers went multiple laps down, however Blaney was able to climb his way back to the lead lap.

Sooooo close to saving that one, @StenhouseJr! Caution back out at Darlington.#NASCARThrowback pic.twitter.com/UDSX4yXYDd
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) September 3, 2017

Playoff hopeful Clint Bowyer had to take his Stewart-Haas Racing Ford to the garage early after his No. 14 suffered a broken valve. Bowyer was on the bubble heading into the race and will need to win at Richmond in order to clinch a shot at the title. Fortunately for Bowyer, he has two career wins there and an average finish of 12.87.

Rookie Daniel Suarez suffered heavy damage in Stage 2, ending his day early as well. Suarez has had a similar season to Bowyer, notching eight top-10 finished. Like the No. 14 however, Suarez will need to win at Richmond if he wants to be in the playoffs. The pressure will be on next week especially after news surfaced that Subway dropped their sponsorship of his No. 19.

Before the race, Richard Petty took his famous 1967 No. 43 Plymouth Belvedere, which won 10 consecutive races, for a spin around the track. The King had to be black flagged onto pit road as he stayed out a little longer than expected. Another No. 43 remained on the track, however, as Aric Almirola started 15th in a car paying tribute to Petty's 200th career victory.