Unfortunately, Darlington Raceway wasn’t the place for The Blue Oval to find Victory Lane on May 14th, 2023, but the NASCAR Ford teams managed to salvage decent finishes despite a chaotic Mother’s Day race.
Kevin Harvick’s No. 4 NASCAR Ford Mustang restarted on the front row for the final restart, which saw the race finish in Overtime. Unfortunately, the No. 4 Mustang was stalled by nose damage sustained in a large wreck on Lap 281. Because of the damage, he wasn’t able to keep up with the No. 24 Chevy Camaro ZL1 of William Byron on the way to the checkered flag, but brought home an encouraging second-place finish.
“We had a good car all day,” Harvick said after the race. “We just never could get up towards the front in our Sunny Delight Ford Mustang. Struggled in traffic today, but we were really good at the second half of the run and just struggled at the beginning of the run.”
He went on, “But we had good track position, then had a bad pit stop under green, and then wound up having everything work out there at the end. Didn’t have anything for William [Byron]. The front is torn up pretty good. But they did a great job and just kind of kept ourselves in the game, and you never know what’s going to happen.”
Chase Elliott’s No. 9 Camaro finished third, while Brad Keselowski piloted the No. 6 Mustang to a fourth-place result, followed by the No. 23 Toyota TRD Camry of Bubba Wallace rounding out the top five. Meanwhile, Ryan Blaney’s No. 12 Mustang finished ninth, the No. 17 Mustang of Chris Buescher finished 10th, and Todd Gilliland quietly finished 11th in the No. 38 NASCAR Ford.
Joey Logano’s No. 22 Mustang came to life in the latter stages of the race, but contact with the No. 19 Camry of Martin Truex Jr. ended his shot at the win. He finished 18th. Additionally, Ryan Newman struggled in the No. 51 NASCAR Ford in his first Cup Series race since 2021, spinning out twice and ultimately finishing 26th.
| Finish | Start | Car Number | Driver | Team | Laps Run | Laps Led | Car |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | 24 | William Byron | Axalta Throwback Chevrolet | 295 | 7 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 2 | 20 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | SunnyD Ford | 295 | 5 | Ford Mustang |
| 3 | 21 | 9 | Chase Elliott | LLumar Throwback Chevrolet | 295 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 4 | 10 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | Castrol GTX Ford | 295 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 5 | 2 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | Dr Pepper Toyota | 295 | 3 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 6 | 14 | 21 | Harrison Burton | DEX Imaging Ford | 295 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 7 | 12 | 8 | Kyle Busch | Lucas Oil Chevrolet | 295 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 8 | 22 | 31 | Justin Haley | LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet | 295 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 9 | 11 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Menards/Dutch Boy Ford | 295 | 4 | Ford Mustang |
| 10 | 27 | 17 | Chris Buescher | Fifth Third Bank Ford | 295 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 11 | 24 | 38 | Todd Gilliland | Serial1.com E-Bikes Ford | 295 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 12 | 8 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Federal Express Toyota | 295 | 9 | Ford Mustang |
| 13 | 3 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Kroger/Country Crock Chevrolet | 295 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 14 | 16 | 20 | Christopher Bell | DeWalt Toyota | 295 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 15 | 32 | 41 | Ryan Preece | United Rentals Ford | 295 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 16 | 13 | 54 | Ty Gibbs # | Shriners Children's Toyota | 295 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 17 | 31 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | Mahindra Tractors Ford | 295 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 18 | 15 | 22 | Joey Logano | Shell Pennzoil Ford | 295 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 19 | 25 | 2 | Austin Cindric | Freightliner Ford | 295 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 20 | 7 | 5 | Kyle Larson | HendrickCars.com Throwback Chevrolet | 295 | 29 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 21 | 17 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Smithfield Ford | 295 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 22 | 9 | 45 | Tyler Reddick | Forward Together Toyota | 295 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 23 | 30 | 16 | AJ Allmendinger | BTS Tire & Wheel Distributors Chevrolet | 294 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 24 | 34 | 7 | Corey LaJoie | NationsGuard Chevrolet | 293 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 25 | 28 | 43 | Erik Jones | Allegiant Chevrolet | 293 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 26 | 29 | 42 | Noah Gragson # | Sunseeker Resorts Chevrolet | 293 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 27 | 33 | 77 | Ty Dillon | Honest Charley Speed Shop Chevrolet | 293 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 28 | 26 | 51 | Ryan Newman | Biohaven/Jacob Co. Ford | 291 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 29 | 5 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Worldwide Express/UPS Chevrolet | 287 | 93 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 30 | 23 | 48 | Josh Berry(i) | Ally Throwback Chevrolet | 286 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 31 | 1 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota | 280 | 145 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 32 | 35 | 78 | BJ McLeod | The Daily Down Force Chevrolet | 226 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 33 | 19 | 34 | Michael McDowell | StageFront.VIP Ford | 200 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 34 | 6 | 99 | Daniel Suarez | Quaker State Chevrolet | 199 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 35 | 18 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet | 196 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 36 | 36 | 15 | Brennan Poole(i) | Macc Door Systems Ford | 39 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
# – Rookie
i – Points ineligible
* – Part-time driver
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