2019 Bojangles' Southern 500

2019 Bojangles' Southern 500

Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]
Race 25 of 36 in the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
2019 Bojangles' Southern 500 program cover, featuring Dale Earnhardt Sr., Jeff Gordon, Harry Gant, and Bill Elliott
Date	September 1–2, 2019
Location	Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina
Course	Permanent racing facility 1.366 mi (2.198 km)
Distance	367 laps, 501.322 mi (806.666 km)
Average speed	133.825 miles per hour (215.370 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	William Byron	Hendrick Motorsports
Time	28.510
Most laps led
Driver	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing
Laps	118
Winner
No. 20	Erik Jones	Joe Gibbs Racing
Television in the United States
Network	NBCSN
Announcers	Rick Allen, Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Dale Jarrett and Kyle Petty
Nielsen Ratings	2.139 million[9]
Radio in the United States
Radio	MRN
Booth Announcers	Alex Hayden, Jeff Striegle and Rusty Wallace
Turn Announcers	Dave Moody (1 & 2) and Mike Bagley (3 & 4)

The 2019 Bojangles' Southern 500, the 70th running of the event was a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race held on September 1-2, 2019, at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina. Contested over 367 laps on the 1.366-mile (2.198 km) egg-shaped oval, it was the 25th race of the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season.

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.

• (i) denotes driver who are ineligible for series driver points.
• (R) denotes rookie driver.

Kurt Busch was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 28.714 seconds and a speed of 171.261 mph (275.618 km/h).^[11]

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 29.125 seconds and a speed of 168.845 mph (271.730 km/h).^[12]

William Byron scored the pole for the race with a time of 28.510 and a speed of 172.487 mph (277.591 km/h).^[13]

Stage One Laps: 100

Stage Two Laps: 100

Stage Three Laps: 167

• Lead changes: 13 among 8 different drivers
• Cautions/Laps: 7 for 35
• Red flags: 0
• Time of race: 3 hours, 44 minutes and 46 seconds
• Average speed: 133.825 miles per hour (215.370 km/h)

NBC Sports covered the race on the television side. Rick Allen, two–time Darlington winner Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte and Dale Earnhardt Jr. were in the booth to call the race. Dave Burns, Marty Snider and Kelli Stavast reported from pit lane during the race. Earnhardt Jr., Dale Jarrett and Kyle Petty also called a portion of the race as part of the Throwback Weekend.

The Motor Racing Network (MRN) called the race for radio, which was simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Alex Hayden, Jeff Striegle, and Rusty Wallace called the action for MRN when the field raced down the front stretch. Dave Moody called the race from a Billboard outside of turn 1 when the field raced through turns 1 and 2, and Mike Bagley called the race atop of the Darlington Raceway Club outside of turn 3 when the field raced through turns 3 and 4. Winston Kelley, Steve Post, and Kim Coon called the action on pit road for MRN.

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Kyle Busch 983 2 Joey Logano 919 (–64) 3 Denny Hamlin 877 (–106) 1 4 Kevin Harvick 864 (–119) 1 5 Martin Truex Jr. 862 (–121) 6 Brad Keselowski 832 (–151) 1 7 Kurt Busch 790 (–193) 1 8 Chase Elliott 780 (–203) 2 9 Kyle Larson 714 (–269) 1 10 Ryan Blaney 710 (–273) 1 11 Alex Bowman 694 (–289) 2 12 Erik Jones 694 (–289) 1 13 William Byron 683 (–300) 1 14 Aric Almirola 674 (–309) 2 15 Clint Bowyer 625 (–358) 16 Daniel Suárez 617 (–366) Official driver's standings

Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos Manufacturer Points 1 Toyota 917 2 Ford 883 (–34) 3 Chevrolet 849 (–68) Note: Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings. . – Driver has clinched a position in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.