September 4, 2022 | By Lee Spencer

Erik Jones plays spoiler in Cup Playoff opener at Darlington

DARLINGTON, S.C.--Despite all the Playoff hype leading into the Southern 500, a driver from the outside looking in pulled the upset on Sunday night.

Erik Jones collected his second Crown Jewel at Darlington Raceway—and his first win behind the wheel of the iconic No. 43 Petty GMS Racing Chevrolet.

The victory is the first for the Petty organization since 2014. Richard Petty received his one-and-only Southern 500 trophy 55 years to the day of Jones' win.

“I get a hat,” Jones said of the King's signature Charlie 1 Horse. “He told me I get a hat if I win. But Richard hasn't been to Victory Lane at Darlington probably since he last won here. It's just awesome. Just so proud of these guys, Petty GMS and Focus Packer Crew. We've been so close all year, and I didn't think today was going to be the day.

“It was going to be a tough one to win, I knew, but no better fitting place. I love this track, I love this race. On that trophy twice, man. I was pumped to be on it once, but to have it on there twice, pretty cool."

If the Lady in Black believes in karma, she doled it out in a major way on Sunday night. Jones scored his last victory at Darlington in 2019 driving for Joe Gibbs Racing. The following year, the company released him.

Jones was running fourth when Martin Truex Jr. took the lead on Lap 326. Five laps later, Truex reported his power steering was locking up and his engine was overheating. He pitted on Lap 335 and was done for the night.

Kyle Busch had been the dominant car all evening. He led a race-high 155 laps. But during the ninth and final caution on Lap 343, he reported his car was “blowing up.” The exit of two JGR Toyotas opened the door for Jones to take the point for the final restart on Lap 348. Despite a valiant effort from Denny Hamlin over the final 20 laps, Jones held off the No. 11 JGR Camry by 0.252-seconds at the line.

“I never lost any belief in myself through any of it,” Jones said. “I knew I could still do it, and I just knew we needed to grow the program to do it, and we have. We've brought on a lot of great people in the last year. (Crew chief) Dave Elenz called a great race today. His first Cup win; that's pretty cool for him. 

“I'm excited, man. We've been talking about this day a long time, and it is redemption in a lot of ways. Very fitting that it's here at this race again. I felt like this was the race that saved my job the first time around, and coming back here with this win, I guess it puts you back on the map.”

Hamlin was thrilled for his former teammate.

“Erik is a great competitor, a great driver,” Hamlin said. “He performs very well. He’s certainly well-deserving. He’s won this race in the 20 car before, so it’s no surprise from a competitor’s standpoint. Erik drives this track extremely well and he was a very deserving winner today.”

Tyler Reddick finished third followed by Joey Logano, Christopher Bell, Michael McDowell, Brad Keselowski, William Byron, Bubba Wallace and Alex Bowman.

Logano took a six-point lead in the Cup standings over Byron. 

The first race of the 2022 Playoffs was one of attrition with champions and first-time contenders suffering at the Track too Tough to Tame. Kevin Harvick was the first of the Playoff drivers with a miscue. On the Lap 35 competition caution, the pit crew had an issue with the left front. He dropped to 34th on the restart and battled up to fourth before the No. 4 Ford burst into flames on Lap 276.

Kyle Larson reported power issues on Lap 78, then pitted on the next lap. The team assessed the problem and Larson returned to the track—but dropped to 35th, four laps down.

Meanwhile, his teammate Byron exhibited the same speed he showed in the spring. He led 50 laps and won the first stage—which came under caution early on Lap 114 when Chase Elliott spun in Turn 1 and hit the wall. With nowhere to go, Chase Briscoe T-boned the No. 9 Chevy. Briscoe dropped to 30th but was able to continue. The No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports team worked to repair the car but time expired on the DVP clock.

“That’s it fellas, get ready to take it to the garage,” crew chief Alan Gustafson told the No. 9 Hendrick team.

Elliott entered the Playoffs as the leader—and the favorite. He left Darlington with a 36th-place result and dropped to ninth in the standings.

Kyle Busch grabbed the lead on pit road for the Lap 122 restart with Hamlin and Byron in tow. Seventeen laps later, Byron reported his engine felt flat but he only lost one position before green-flag stops on Lap 150.

After a routine stop for service, Ross Chastain returned to the pits on Lap 160, reporting a suspension issue. When he couldn’t go full speed, the team called him to the pits again on Lap 169. The crew discovered an issue with his left rear drive pans after debris wedged between the wheel and the pans. Chastain dropped to 28th, four laps down.

Todd Gilliland triggered the fourth caution on Lap 179 after he spun off of Turn 2. Busch held serve through pit stops. Larson spun off Turn 4 and tagged the left rear of his car to ignite the fifth caution. He fought for a 12th-place finish.

While the JGR Toyotas of Truex and Busch seemed destined to battle it out for the win, their losses became Jones’ gain.

Since the inception of the Playoff system, the 26-year-old racer became the first driver outside of the title contenders to win the first race of the postseason.

“Well, we had a lot of good stuff go our way,” Jones said. “We got the lead there with the 18 losing a motor, and man, we've got a good shot if we can just get clear. We had a good car, we just weren't quite with the pace of some of those guys up front.

“And I knew—we took the lead, I'm like 20 laps, I can just run hard, and those last two I was losing the balance a lot. I had been running really hard. But it was just enough. So just really proud.”