Live Race Updates For the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington

The NASCAR Cup Series Chase for the Championship is here, and Toby Christie will keep you up-to-date throughout the race with live race updates.

Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

It's time for 16 drivers to battle for the NASCAR Cup Series championship over a 10-race marathon known as The Chase. Tyler Reddick, who comes into the race third in the championship standings, will start from the pole position after weather forced the cancellation of qualifying on Saturday.

This page will be updated with top moments and video highlights from Sunday's crown jewel event as they happen. Check back often to see how your favorite driver is faring in the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.

1. Stage 2 Updates
2. Stage 1 Updates

Stage 2 Updates

Lap 114: Back to green, and it looked like Denny Hamlin spun his tires alongside Tyler Reddick on the restart. Reddick leads over Bubba Wallace, as Hamlin fades to a battle for third with Ryan Blaney.

Lap 110: Tyler Reddick wins the race off pit road.

Top-10 coming off of pit road going into Stage 2:

1. Reddick, 2. Bubba Wallace, 3. Denny Hamlin, 4. Christopher Bell, 5. Ryan Blaney, 6. Chase Briscoe, 7. Ryan Preece, 8. Austin Cindric, 9. William Byron, 10. Chase Elliott

Stage 1 Updates

Lap 107 -- Caution No. 2: Brad Keselowski has gone around after contact initiated by Carson Hocevar to bring out the caution. With less than 10 laps remaining in Stage 1, this will serve as the official end of Stage 1.

The No. 6 spins after making contact with @CarsonHocevar. pic.twitter.com/7A4ikgHUZK

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) September 6, 2026

Stage 1 Results:

1. Tyler Reddick, 10 points
2. Bubba Wallace, 9 points
3. Denny Hamlin, 8 points
4. Christopher Bell, 7 points
5. Ryan Blaney, 6 points
6. Chase Briscoe, 5 points
7. Ryan Preece, 4 points
8. Austin Cindric, 3 points
9. William Byron, 2 points
10. Ty Gibbs, 1 point

Lap 106: Bubba Wallace has now moved around Denny Hamlin for the runner-up spot, but he sits 2.130 seconds behind Reddick for the race lead. It's going to take a big time effort to catch Reddick for the Stage win. Can he do it?

Lap 100: Bubba Wallace takes over the third position from Christopher Bell. He now sits 1.898 seconds behind race leader Tyler Reddick. Denny Hamlin is 1.344 seconds behind Reddick in second.

Lap 98: Bubba Wallace, who came to pit road after the other leaders, is making moves on his slightly fresher tires. Wallace has just gotten around Chase Briscoe for fourth, and he is pressuring Christopher Bell for third. Wallace has 18 laps left to try to chase the Stage win.

Lap 94 -- Lead Change No. 9: Long run Tyler Reddick stirkes again, as he has gone around Denny Hamlin for the race lead.

Lap 88: Tyler Reddick continues to reel in Denny Hamlin for the race lead, the deficit is now 0.255 seconds. Meanwhile, he's gained breathing room to Christopher Bell, who is now trying to hold off Chase Briscoe for the third position.

Lap 83: As Tyler Reddick has cut about three tenths of a second off of Denny Hamlin's lead, he is now under fire from Christopher Bell, who is looking to take over the second position.

Lap 81: After the green flag pit stops, the top-11 are now all Chase contenders. The Chase drivers outside of the top-11 are: Chris Buescher (16th), Chase Elliott (17th), Kyle Larson (22nd), Carson Hocevar (23rd), and Daniel Suarez (28th).

Lap 79 -- Lead Change No. 8: As Carson Hocevar and Daniel Suarez finally come to pit road to end the green flag pit sequence, Denny Hamlin has once again regained the lead of this race. Tyler Reddick sits 1.3 seconds behind in second. Christopher Bell, Chase Briscoe, and Ryan Blaney make up the rest of the top-five.

Lap 78 -- Lead Change No. 7: Carson Hocevar has taken over the lead as Chase Elliott has gone to pit road.

Lap 77 -- Lead Change No. 6: Bubba Wallace comes to pit road, and nearly misses pit entry in the process. This hands the lead of the race to Chase Elliott. Carson Hocevar, and Kyle Larson are second and third.

Lap 74: Erik Jones had some hiccups on his pit stop, and will likely loose quite a bit of track position once this green flag pit sequence cycles out. Bubba Wallace remains on track, and continues to lead this race.

Lap 72 -- Lead Change No. 5: Bubba Wallace has assumed the lead as Denny Hamlin and Tyler Reddick are among the next group of cars to go to pit road on Lap 72.

Lap 71: Green flag pit stops have begun, as Christopher Bell leads the charge down pit road on Lap 71.

Lap 67: Denny Hamlin continues to lead Tyler Reddick. The lead is at 0.639 seconds as a green flag pit cycle is swiftly approaching. Chase Briscoe, Christopher Bell, Ryan Preece, Bubba Wallace, Ryan Blaney, Austin Cindric, Brad Keselowski, and William Byron round out the top-10 drivers on Lap 67.

Lap 63: Erik Jones, a two-time Darlington Southern 500 race winner, has clawed his way from 36th to 14th through the opening 63 laps.

Lap 46: All 16 Chase drivers are inside the top-24, but Kyle Larson continues to underwhelm in this race. Larson started 25th, and has only been able to get himself up to 24th.

Lap 45 -- Lead Change No. 4: Denny Hamlin has gotten back around Tyler Reddick for the race lead. It'll be interesting to see if his No. 11 car is any better on the long run this time around.

Lap 44: Chase Briscoe has moved around Ryan Preece and now runs third behind Tyler Reddick and Denny Hamlin. The top-seven spots are all Chase drivers, currently.

Lap 43: Chase Briscoe is starting to move forward. He is up to fourth, behind Reddick, Hamlin and Ryan Preece. Briscoe is going for his third consecutive win in the Cook Out Southern 500.

Lap 40: The green flag is back out, and Tyler Reddick leads the field to the green. Reddick is able to pull out front ahead of Denny Hamlin, who started to his inside.

Lap 37: Tyler Reddick wins the race off of pit road, ahead of Denny Hamlin.

Top 10 coming off pit road: 1. Reddick, 2. Hamlin, 3. Ryan Preece, 4. Chase Briscoe (up 3 spots), 5. Austin Cindric (down 1 spot), 6. Christopher Bell (down 1 spot), 7. Bubba Wallace (up 4 spots), 8. Brad Keselowski (up 1 spot), 9. Michael McDowell (down 3 spots), 10. Alex Bowman

Joey Logano dropped several spots from inside the top-10 to 19th.

Lap 35 -- Caution No. 1: NASCAR has thrown the competition caution on Lap 35. This caution gives teams, which had no practice or qualifying this weekend, a chance to tune on their cars before continuing the race.

Lap 34: Tyler Reddick is starting to stretch his lead out on Denny Hamlin on older tires. Kind of shocking, as Hamlin is typically one of the best at getting speed late in a run in the NASCAR Cup Series. But Reddick leads by 0.6 seconds.

Lap 29 -- Lead Change No. 3: Tyler Reddick, who had been chasing down Denny Hamlin, has regained the lead of the race. Reddick, while he started the race on the pole, leads his first lap of the race on Lap 29.

Lap 25: Tyler Reddick is closing the gap on Denny Hamlin for the lead. The lead is now down to 0.260 seconds.

Lap 20: There are eight Chase drivers inside the top-10 at this point in the race. Denny Hamlin, Tyler Reddick, Ryan Preece, Austin Cindric, Christopher Bell, Daniel Suarez, Chase Briscoe, and Joey Logano are the Chasers inside the top-10. The two non-Chasers inside the top-10, currently, include Michael McDowell (6th) and Alex Bowman (9th).

Lap 19: After a heated battle with Ty Gibbs, Carson Hocevar has moved into the 21st position. Hocevar is on the move early in this race, as he started 34th. Denny Hamlin continues to lead by roughly 0.700 seconds over Tyler Reddick.

Lap 14: Kyle Larson started 25th, and through the opening few laps of this race, he has yet to make any headway toward the front. Larson still sits mired in 25th, and the only Chase contender behind him in the running order is Chris Buescher, who sits 29th.

Lap 9: Bubba Wallace and Austin Dillon made contact in a battle for the 13th position. Wallace, a Chase contender, takes the spot.

Lap 5: Tyler Reddick has recovered a few laps into the race, and has now taken the runner-up spot from Daniel Suarez. Denny Hamlin leads by just over a second over Reddick. Ryan Preece, who started third, still runs fourth. Preece, who locked into the Chase with the Daytona win last weekend, has never finished top-10 at Darlington. He's looking good early.

Lap 3 -- Lead Change No. 2: Denny Hamlin has made quick work of Daniel Suarez, and the five-time winner at Darlington Raceway has now taken control of this race on the third lap.

Lap 1 -- Lead Change No. 1: Daniel Suarez was able to pull ahead of Tyler Reddick for the lead on the opening lap. Reddick, who was in the outside lane, has actually fallen to third. Denny Hamlin moved into the runner-up spot as Suarez led the opening lap of the race.

5:02 PM ET: After several pace laps, the pace car has peeled off of the racing surface, and Tyler Reddick is leading the field to the finish line to collect the green flag to start the Cook Out Southern 500. Reddick is side-by-side with Daniel Suarez, who finished second last weekend at Daytona, for the race lead.

THE CHASE IS ON!!! 🟢🟢🟢

📺 /📱 : USA Network pic.twitter.com/GKgQDTTAmk

— NASCAR on USA (@NASCARonUSA) September 6, 2026

4:50 PM ET: After a command from Roo Reaves, the engines have been fired for the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, the race that will kick off the 10-race Chase for the NASCAR Cup Series championship.