Regan Smith Edges Carl Edwards To Win Southern 500

Following a pit-road commitment line violation that doomed his chances of a top-10 finish at Darlington Raceway on Saturday night, Dale Earnhardt Jr. called a team meeting to apologize to his crew for his 14th-place finish.

“It sucks pretty bad,” said Earnhardt Jr., who was running sixth at the time he attempted to pit. “We had good speed and we worked really hard to get into the top 10. We made a mistake on pit road last week, and this week the driver screwed it up. That’s just the way it goes.”

Harvick, upset at Busch for what he deemed was an intentional wreck late in the race, tried to attack Busch on pit road following the race.

But as Harvick leaned in to punch Busch, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver hit the gas and shoved Harvick’s unmanned car out of the way, sending it crashing head-first into the pit road wall.

Regan Smith stunned the NASCAR world late Saturday night, pulling off a wild Southern 500 upset as tempers flared at Darlington Raceway.

Edwards was stalking as the white flag waved. Smith bobbled down the backstretch on the final lap, tapping the wall but recovering to keep the lead. And as they came to the wire, Smith was able to hang on, taking the win at Darlington in the Southern 500.

This is going to be a long, crazy night. So stretch out your fingers and get ready – there’s going to be plenty of time to chat.

The Southern 500 is a grueling, marathon event – where drivers race the track as much as each other.

Kasey Kahne won the pole for Saturday night’s Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, breaking Jamie McMurray’s year-old track record in the process.

Kahne, who went to Victory Lane in Darlington’s Truck race in March, became the new track record holder with an average speed of 181.254 mph during his lap. He was more than a tenth of a second faster than Ryan Newman, who will start on the outside pole.

Carl Edwards and his wife, Kate, became parents for the second time as they welcomed baby boy Michael Edwards on Wednesday afternoon.

Michael weighed in at eight pounds, six ounces and is healthy, the proud papa said Friday at Darlington Raceway.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. sat at home and thought about racing at Darlington all week long – and not because it’s one of his favorite tracks.

Mostly, Earnhardt Jr. thought about Darlington because he was eager to forget his disappointing 19th-place result last week at Richmond.

As you know, it’s Mother’s Day Weekend (well, at least we hope you knew that...if not, run to the Hallmark store NOW!) – and that means it’s Southern 500 Weekend at Darlington Raceway.

The Southern 500 used to mean Labor Day Weekend, of course. But times have changed – the track also used to have two races per season – and the “Lady In Black” now gets her moment under the lights on the Saturday night before Mother’s Day every year.

Apparently, Martin Truex Jr. was actually serious about firing his pit crew.

Truex will have new front and rear tire changers/carriers when his No. 56 team shows up at Darlington Raceway on Saturday night after what must have been the last straw in a series of mistakes this season.