Hamlin seeks to end drought, earn playoff spot

DARLINGTON, S.C. — Brad Keselowski beat leader Kyle Larson out of the pits with 22 laps to go, then pulled away on a restart to win the Southern 500 on Sunday night and sweep the weekend at Darlington Raceway.

Keselowski took the Xfinity race Saturday when leaders Ross Chastain and Kevin Harvick wrecked late. This time, Keselowski and his crew took advantage on the final caution to move in front with a fast pit stop.

Keselowski took care of the rest as he opened a second-and-a-half lead down the stretch.

It was Keselowski’s first win of the season and the first time a Team Penske driver has won at Darlington since Bobby Allison in the 1985 Southern 500.

Joey Logano, Keselowski’s Penske teammate, finished second, and Larson was third on the 1.366-mile egg-shaped layout.

Larson won the first two stages and led 284 of the 367 laps. Yet, he leaves disappointed with his seventh top-three finish of the season.

Larson passed polesitter Denny Hamlin for the lead early and was rarely challenged as he took stage one.

Larson took the lead on the 12th lap and led the rest of the stage, sometimes stretching his lead to seven or eight seconds in front of the next competitor.

Erik Jones was second and Martin Truex Jr. third in stage one. Logano was fourth, followed by Keselowski.

Seven-time series champion Jimmie Johnson struggled through much of the opening segment. He started from the back of the field because of unapproved changes from qualifying, then served a pass-through penalty after getting called for a commitment line violation when trying to enter pit road.

The start of the race was delayed about 45 minutes because of threatening weather.

After track officials had twice cleared the stands, NASCAR drivers finally fired up their cars and got rolling at the track “Too Tough To Tame.”

Hamlin led the field to the green flag, Larson started second and last year’s series champion, Martin Truex Jr., was third.