Throughout more than 70 years of NASCAR history at Darlington, there are a great number of races that have been decided in the final few laps that are still being talked about today. And the chances are, they'll be talking about the time Joey Logano shoved William Byron out of the way to win Darlington for a long time to come.
After starting on the pole, Joey Logano ran down William Byron in the closing laps and then took the lead by force with two laps to go, laying the bumper to Byron entering Turn 3 with two laps to go before driving away and taking his first win of 2022. Byron, who had been seeking his third win of 2022, ended up 13th after cutting down a tire following contact with the wall.
On the final run, Logano felt that William Byron had run him up and into the wall as the two raced for the lead after a restart. And with that in mind, Logano decided to lay down the gauntlet after running Byron's No. 24 over the final 10 laps to put his Team Penske Ford -- painted just like his very first quarter-midget race car -- in Victory Lane.
"You're not gonna put me in the wall and not get anything back. That's how that works," Logano told Fox Sports. "... The coolest thing is getting this car into Victory Lane. This is the car where it all started for me back in '95 in a quarter-midget. Really, honestly, all the young kids out there racing right now, this could be you."
Here's more from the fallout from the finish, and an eventful day at Darlington overall.
On the other side of the race-deciding contact was Byron, who was left fuming as he drove his battered car back to pit road. Upon exiting his car, Byron was frank about his feelings on Logano -- reporters picked up Byron calling Logano a "piece of s--t" who "can't f--king win unless he drives through everyone" before making more worksafe comments to Fox Sports.
"We were really close off of (turn) two, and I think it spooked him and got him tight and he was right against the wall and I got the lead," Byron said. "He's just an idiot. I mean, he does this stuff all the time. I've seen it with other guys. He drove in there 10 miles an hour too fast, and with these Next Gen cars he slammed me so hard it knocked the whole right side off the car and no way to make the corner.
"He's just a moron. He can't win a race, so he does it that way."
Byron may have not had a problem had he been able to hold the gap he had built on Logano, which was just over a second with 10 to go. But over the final few laps, Byron's right rear tire fading and causing a loose condition gave Logano the chance he needed.
Ironically enough, Byron being on the receiving end of contact for the lead came one day after he muscled short tracker Stephen Nasse out of the way to win a super late model race at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway.
After being repaved ahead of last year's Southern 500, Turn 2 at Darlington has become a major problem spot given the abrupt transition from relatively new asphalt to old and worn-out asphalt. Sure enough, Turn 2 proved to be calamity corner throughout the day, ensnaring a number of contenders in major accidents.
After leading 26 laps and winning Stage 2, Ross Chastain looked like he might contend for his third win of the season with under 100 laps to go. But racing for the lead on a Lap 194 restart, Chastain lost it on the exit of Turn 2 and slammed the inside wall, ending his day. Then, Martin Truex Jr. getting sideways under Ricky Stenhouse Jr. triggered a nine-car pileup on Lap 260 that took out a number of cars that had been running in the Top 10, including Denny Hamlin, Kurt Busch, Bubba Wallace, Erik Jones and more.
Sunday's race featured a heavy level of attrition, as just 23 of the 36 cars that started the race were running at the finish -- the fewest of any race this season.
After running in the top five and leading 19 laps early, Kyle Busch's day came to an early end when Brad Keselowski had a right front tire go down in front of him off Turn 2, leading to the continuation of a strange Darlington saga that started last September.
In last year's Southern 500, Busch was fined $50,000 for unsafe driving after he pulled into the garage area at considerable speed through a pit wall opening he was not supposed to enter, knocking over traffic cones and scattering bystanders. This time around, with the front end of his car broken and unable to steer, Busch opted to simply leave his car at the opening in the pit wall and walk back to his team's hauler.
Track workers had to tow Busch's car away before pit road could be opened, leading to the field running under caution a few laps longer than NASCAR would have cared for. Speaking to Fox Sports, Busch shrugged the matter off by saying his car couldn't corner.
"It's frustrating for having a good M&M's Camry. It was nice to be running top five, lead some laps there," Busch said. "Just felt like we were trying to hone in on the setup: The short run versus the long run, and where we wanted to be good and what was gonna pay dividends at the end of the day. Oh well."
The NASCAR Cup Series heads west to the plains of Kansas Speedway for the AdventHealth 400, next Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on FS1.
Tyler Reddick can't get close enough to challenge on the last lap. Joey Logano drives off Turn 4 and takes his first win of 2022!
1 - #22 - Joey Logano
2 - #8 - Tyler Reddick
3 - #31 - Justin Haley
4 - #4 - Kevin Harvick
5 - #9 - Chase Elliott
6 - #20 - Christopher Bell
7 - #34 - Michael McDowell
8 - #47 - Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
9 - #3 - Austin Dillon
10 - #99 - Daniel Suarez
Logano gets a run on the exit of Turn 2. He's there and he lays the bumper and puts Byron in the wall! White flag!
The leaders are coming up on the lapped car of J.J. Yeley. Yeley goes to the inside and gives them room coming to two to go.
Joey Logano is running down William Byron and quickly. It's down to two tenths of a second with 3 to go.
Joey Logano is back to within seven tenths of a second of Byron. Five laps to go.
Under 10 to go now. Byron's lead is now over a second on Logano. Looks like the race will be for second unless Reddick can make quick work of Logano.
The gap between the leaders is fairly stable. Byron has a lot of clean racetrack in front of him once he gets around the lapped car of Denny Hamlin. 11 laps to go.
Now under 20 laps to go. William Byron has extended his lead over Joey Logano to eight tenths of a second as he seeks his third win of the season.
Byron's exact paint scheme won Darlington in 2007 with Jeff Gordon behind the wheel of a car that was overheating and blowing up over the entire final couple of laps.
Lost in the sequence of the last couple dozen laps was a major break for Chase Elliott. Elliott spun as he was leaving pit road following a green flag stop, but the caution coming out shortly afterwards saved him from losing significant time.
Michael McDowell brushed the wall while racing Aric Almirola for 9th.
Green flag is back out with 26 laps to go. Kevin Harvick squeezed Ricky Stenhouse Jr. into the outside wall, allowing Justin Haley to take fourth. William Byron gets clear to the lead as Tyler Reddick heats up Joey Logano for second.
A total of nine cars in all were involved in that crash in some way. Looks about like the time Tony Stewart crashed trying to lap Buckshot Jones in Turn 2 20 years ago and about a dozen cars piled in.
