The 2014 Bojangles' Southern 500, the 65th running of the event, was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race held on April 12, 2014, at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina. The race was contested over 374 laps – extended from 367 laps due to two attempts at a green–white–checker finish – on the oval, it was the eighth race of the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Kevin Harvick of Stewart–Haas Racing won the race, his second win of the season and first at Darlington, while Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished second. Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth, and Greg Biffle rounded out the top five. The race was also the first Darlington race won by a polesitter since Dale Jarrett, in the 1997 Rebel (then a 400-mile race). The top rookies of the race were Kyle Larson (8th), Austin Dillon (11th), and Justin Allgaier (23rd). It was the longest race in Darlington Raceway history.
Previous week's race Joey Logano passed Jeff Gordon on the final lap to score the victory in the Duck Commander 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. "Talk about a lot of emotion," Logano said. "You feel like you are about to win the race and then the caution comes out when you come to take the white and you’re like, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me.'" “That was a great battle,” said Gordon. “At one point I thought we had a shot at it. We got a pretty good restart. Joey was right on me and I was pretty loose in one and two, and I wish I had gone a little bit higher in three and four. But, he got that run off of four and he got in the back of me, and I thought I was going to wreck, so at that point I was like second would be good."
Report
Background
Darlington Raceway is a four-turn oval. The track's first two turns are banked at twenty-five degrees, while the final two turns are banked two degrees lower at twenty-three degrees. The front stretch (the location of the finish line) and the back stretch is banked at six degrees. Darlington Raceway can seat up to 60,000 people. Matt Kenseth was the defending race winner after winning the 2013 race.
Entry list The entry list for the Bojangles' Southern 500 was released on Tuesday, April 8, 2014 at 9:07 a.m. Eastern time. Forty-four drivers were entered for the race.
Driver Team Manufacturer 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 11 2nd 2 Brad Keselowski (PC2) Team Penske Ford 5 3rd 3 Austin Dillon (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 0 — 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 13 2nd 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 10 3rd 7 Michael Annett (R) Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 0 — 9 Marcos Ambrose Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 5 9th 10 Danica Patrick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 2 28th 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 8 1st 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet 10 17th 14 Tony Stewart (PC3) Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 15 3rd 15 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 8 9th 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 11 1st 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 1 18th 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 9 1st 20 Matt Kenseth (PC5) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 15 1st 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 5 9th 23 Alex Bowman (R) BK Racing Toyota 0 — 24 Jeff Gordon (PC6) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 21 1st 26 Cole Whitt (R) Swan Racing Toyota 0 — 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 7 13th 30 Parker Kligerman (R) Swan Racing Toyota 0 — 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 12 2nd 32 Travis Kvapil Go FAS Racing Ford 7 8th 33 David Stremme Circle Sport Chevrolet 7 24th 34 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 7 11th 35 David Reutimann Front Row Motorsports Ford 7 11th 36 Reed Sorenson Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 7 11th 38 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 7 20th 40 Landon Cassill (i) Circle Sport Chevrolet 3 26th 41 Kurt Busch (PC4) Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 13 3rd 42 Kyle Larson (R) Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 0 — 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 2 19th 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 6 17th 48 Jimmie Johnson (PC1) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 12 1st 51 Justin Allgaier (R) HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 0 — 55 Brian Vickers Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 8 10th 66 Joe Nemechek (i) Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 18 6th 77 Dave Blaney Randy Humphrey Racing Ford 13 9th 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 8 5th 83 Ryan Truex (R) BK Racing Toyota 0 — 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 14 4th 98 Josh Wise Phil Parsons Racing Chevrolet 2 38th 99 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing Ford 10 2ndOfficial entry list Key Meaning (R) Rookie (i) Ineligible for driver points (PC#) Past champions provisional
Practice
First practice Kevin Harvick was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 27.679 and a speed of . Kyle Larson was forced to go to a backup car after hitting the wall in turn 1.
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 27.679 177.665 2 15 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 27.823 176.746 3 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 27.835 176.670Official first practice results
Second practice Ryan Newman was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 27.447 and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 27.447 179.167 2 9 Marcos Ambrose Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 27.476 178.978 3 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 27.487 178.906Official second practice results
Qualifying Kevin Harvick won the pole with a time of 26.802 and a speed of . “I was on the bottom all day in practice and Rodney felt like in order to get the pole you were going to need to run the top after we ran our first run,’’ Harvick said. “That is the driver in him that is why he is good to have sitting there watching because he knows what is going on and he can relay. Also having Tim Fedewa up on top as a former driver knowing what is going on to relay what you need to do. We moved up and picked up in the second (session), felt like I didn't roll through there fast enough. In the last (session), felt like I rolled through there pretty good. It all worked out. Knockout qualifying paid off for us today. We were able to save the best for last.” Harvick's car had to go through tech inspection three times before he could take his car onto the track for qualifying. “It just seemed like the machine was a little bit off there for qualifying,’’ Rodney Childers said of NASCAR’s measuring device. “A lot of people had left-rear toe issues. We rolled through the first time and saw what it was and did what we always do to fix that amount, and we rolled back through again and it read the same thing again, which it shouldn't have. It's part of the process. It's up to the teams to get it right. Different teams have different tools in order to know whether they're going to be good or not. We haven't got the right tools developed yet to know that. It's something we’ve got to work on at (Stewart–Haas Racing). NASCAR works hard every week to try to get their machine closer and closer and more consistent. It's a two-way street. We’ve got to do a better job.’’ The only driver that failed to qualify was David Reutimann.
Qualifying results Pos Driver Team Manufacturer 1 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 26.951 26.883 26.802 2 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 26.902 26.745 26.865 3 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 26.789 26.705 26.880 4 9 Marcos Ambrose Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 26.849 26.891 26.948 5 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 26.947 26.927 27.011 6 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 26.767 26.879 27.017 7 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 26.817 26.947 27.017 8 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 26.916 26.969 27.055 9 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 26.846 26.960 27.056 10 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 26.766 26.961 27.087 11 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 26.734 26.924 27.097 12 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 26.982 26.969 27.139 13 41 Kurt Busch Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 26.816 26.993 — 14 55 Brian Vickers Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 26.962 27.022 — 15 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 26.993 27.066 — 16 15 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 27.000 27.132 — 17 42 Kyle Larson (R) Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 27.004 27.140 — 18 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 26.954 27.150 — 19 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 26.932 27.177 — 20 3 Austin Dillon (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 26.933 27.182 — 21 99 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing Ford 26.894 27.184 — 22 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 26.945 27.201 — 23 14 Tony Stewart Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 26.973 27.292 — 24 51 Justin Allgaier (R) HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 26.979 27.479 — 25 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 27.011 — — 26 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 27.033 — — 27 38 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 27.087 — — 28 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 27.110 — — 29 98 Josh Wise Phil Parsons Racing Chevrolet 27.237 — — 30 7 Michael Annett (R) Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 27.270 — — 31 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet 27.273 — — 32 34 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 27.289 — — 33 10 Danica Patrick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 27.296 — — 34 23 Alex Bowman (R) BK Racing Toyota 27.321 — — 35 40 Landon Cassill Circle Sport Chevrolet 27.363 — — 36 77 Dave Blaney Humphrey Racing Ford 27.380 — — 37 33 David Stremme Circle Sport Chevrolet 27.469 — — 38 30 Parker Kligerman (R) Swan Racing Toyota 27.543 — — 39 83 Ryan Truex (R) BK Racing Toyota 27.565 — — 40 36 Reed Sorenson Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 27.633 — — 41 32 Travis Kvapil Go FAS Racing Ford 27.663 — — 42 26 Cole Whitt (R) Swan Racing Toyota 27.680 — — 43 66 Joe Nemechek Identity Ventures Racing Toyota 27.757 — —Failed to qualify 44 35 David Reutimann Front Row Motorsports Ford 27.551 — —Official qualifying results
Race
The race began at 6:45 p.m. Eastern time with Kevin Harvick leading the field to the green flag. He didn't hold the lead for long as Joey Logano passed him to take the top spot.
Jeff Gordon took the lead on lap 38.
The first caution of the race flew on lap 41 after rookie Ryan Truex slammed the wall in turn 3. David Ragan stayed out to lead a lap when Gordon pitted. Ragan made his stop the next lap and Gordon assumed the lead.
The race restarted on lap 47 and Kevin Harvick took the lead for the first time on the restart.
The second caution of the race flew on lap 59 after Travis Kvapil slammed the wall in turn 3. Denny Hamlin exited pit road with the lead by taking just two tires while Harvick took four.
The race restarted on lap 64 and Matt Kenseth took over the lead from his teammate.
Kevin Harvick retook the lead on lap 76.
The third caution of the race flew on lap 93 after rookie Michael Annett slammed the wall in turn 2.
The race restarted on lap 100.
The fourth caution of the race flew on lap 125 after rookie Cole Whitt slammed the wall in turn 1. David Ragan also slammed the wall in turn 2.
The race restarted on lap 131.
Kevin Harvick surrendered the lead on lap 180 to make his pit stop. Brad Keselowski took over the lead.
Keselowski ducked onto pit road on lap 183. Kasey Kahne assumed the lead.
The fifth caution of the race flew on lap 201 after Paul Menard slammed the wall in turn 1. Kahne swapped the lead with Kevin Harvick on pit road with the former stall being behind the start/finish line, but he exited as the leader.
The race restarted on lap 208 and Harvick took over the lead.
Austin Dillon and A. J. Allmendinger rubbed together in turn 2. Allmendinger's left-rear tire began rubbing real bad. He was saved by the sixth caution of the race on lap 222 after Aric Almirola clipped Danica Patrick and spun out in turn 2. Brian Vickers exited pit road with the lead thanks to taking two tires.