DARLINGTON, S.C. -- A look at all the results and action from Sunday night's Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway:
WINNER: Carl Edwards, the biggest advocate of the low-downforce rules package, won the race off pit road with eight laps to go in the Southern 500 to score the victory. NASCAR was using the aero package Edwards had been endorsing for years, and it helped him get his second win of 2015 -- his first year with Joe Gibbs Racing. Edwards won the race off pit road with Brad Keselowski and took the lead on the final restart.
Edwards also won the Coca-Cola 600, another marathon Sprint Cup race on NASCAR's 36-race slate. Edwards won the longest race of the year time-wise (more than 4 1/2 hours) as a track-record 18 caution flags flew, mostly for spins and cars smacking the wall. He became the third driver in a row to win at Darlington in his first year with a new team (Matt Kenseth in 2013 with Joe Gibbs Racing, Kevin Harvick in 2014 with Stewart-Haas Racing).
"I loved it. This is as good as it gets. This is what it's about - sliding cars, the tires are falling off," Edwards said. "If there's any way we can run this in the Chase ... "
CAUTION FEST: The race was filled with accidents – perhaps a product of the low-downforce rules package which made the cars harder to drive – and set a new Darlington track record for cautions. The previous record was 17, which was tied with 60 laps still left in the race when Kurt Busch was spun by Martin Truex Jr. There were also more than 15 accidents listed on the official race report, which was unusually high.Jeb Burton's spin with 12 laps to go set the record.
OLD-SCHOOL ANNOUNCERS: On lap 50, NBC swapped its usual announcing trio of Rick Allen, Steve Letarte and Jeff Burton for Hall of Famers Ken Squier, Ned Jarrettand Dale Jarrett. Social media lit up with approval, particularly hearing the voice of legendary Squier calling racing again. It seemed all was right in the world with Squier in the booth. The trio called roughly 75 laps.
THROWBACK RACE: The broadcasters weren't the only throwback. The entire Southern 500 had a retro theme, complete with throwback paint schemes (more than 30 in the field) and decorations around the track in addition to cheap food prices.
BAD NIGHT FOR STENICA: NASCAR's only driver couple didn't have a good night.Danica Patrick and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. crashed in separate incidents just a few laps apart. Patrick broke a suspension in her crash, which started when she got loose and hit the wall, and Stenhouse lost control coming off Turn 4 and hit the inside frontstretch wall. "It's a bummer," Patrick said. "I love this car and my (Lady in Black) suit. The Lady in Black thing was a cool thing, but unfortunately I think it's come to an end."
CAR MEET WALL: On lap 19, Kenseth's car suddenly got loose and he smacked the wall with the right rear corner of his car, causing significant damage. Kenseth had to make a green-flag pit stop to attempt repairs, but his problems went well beyond an easy fix.
EARLY CRASH: The race was only five laps old when Brett Moffitt suddenly checked up and caused the cars of Chase Elliott and Cole Whitt to collide behind him. Whitt's car was torn up and he had to go to the garage, while Elliott and Moffitt had minor damage.
PHOTOS: Darlington throwback paint schemes
