Instead, his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Matt Kenseth was the driver celebrating the race win, his third of the season and the first of his career at Darlington, despite his regular crew chief being physically absent because of suspension.

“I’ve only dreamed about winning the Southern 500,” Kenseth said. “This is probably one of the biggest wins of my career.”

Another Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Denny Hamlin finished second in his first full race after being sidelined for about a month-and-a-half for a back injury.

“I’m tired, just worn out,” Hamlin said after the race.

Jeff Gordon was the highest-finishing non-JGR driver, taking third. Finishing fourth was his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Jimmie Johnson.

“I thought (crew chief) Alan (Gustafson) called a great race,” Gordon said. “We made the right adjustments at the right time.”

Busch was still continuing his dominance of the race with 13 laps to go when he was passed by Kenseth for the top spot. In the laps that remained, he lost additional positions. In addition to being passed by Kenseth, Hamlin, Gordon and Johnson in the final laps, Kevin Harvick also passed Busch to claim the final spot inside the top-five.

Pole sitter Kurt Busch led the way until just before lap 80 when both Kyle Busch and Kenseth passed him to get into the top-two. The JGR duo of Busch and Kenseth ran first and second until Hamlin got off pit road second and ahead of Kenseth by taking only two tires during the first caution of the race on lap 124 to gain eight spots and restart second.

On lap 135, though, Kenseth retook the second spot Both Busch and Kenseth were among the last two to pit during a cycle of green flag pit stops that started on lap 178, and as a result, lost time to those who pitted earlier. When the cycle completed, the Hendrick Motorsports duo of Gordon and Johnson were in the top-two spots instead the Joe Gibbs Racing teammates of Busch and Kenseth.

It didn’t take long for Busch to get back to the front, though, passing Gordon to take the lead on lap 205. Soon after, Gordon was also passed by Johnson for second. Busch and Johnson then ran one and two for several laps, until Johnson gave up second to head down pit road during a caution that came out with 55 laps to go.

Johnson’s pit stop moved Kenseth up to second to restart next to Busch, and Kasey Kahne in the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet and Gordon to restart third and fourth. Johnson restarted fifth on four new tires.

Both Kahne and Johnson got by Kenseth on the restart to take second and third. Another caution came out a few laps leader, putting Busch and Kahne side-by-side on the front row for the restart. Kahne challenged Busch for the lead when the race went back to green, even getting out in front of Busch, but his lead was very short-lived. Kahne hit the wall with 34 laps to go, right after he cleared Busch, to bring out the fifth and final caution of the race.

“We were racing hard,” Kahne said. “I cleared him getting into (turn) three. I knew he wouldn’t be able to turn getting into the corner.”

By the time the yellow had waved, JGR was in possession of the top-three spots in the running order, with Busch up front, Kenseth back up to second and Hamlin in third. A few laps after the race went back to green, Busch began losing spots and continued to drop back until the checkered flag.

Carl Edwards was the only Ford driver to finish in the top-10, finishing seventh. The rest of the top-10 included Juan Montoya in eighth, Dale Earnhardt Jr. in ninth and Ryan Newman rounding out the top-10.

– Photo courtesy of Getty Images for NASCAR

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Darlington is also the site of the closest finish in series history since the implementation of electronic scoring in 1993. In 2003, Ricky Craven beat out Kurt Busch by 0.002 seconds to claim his final win. Craven has since retired from driving, but Busch is expected to compete this weekend, driving the No. 70 Furniture Row Racing Ford.

Here’s a statstical look at how several other drivers have fared at Darlington over the years (stats provided by NASCAR Media Group):

Greg Biffle (No. 16 Rousch Fenway Racing Ford)

· Two wins, two top fives, five top 10s; two poles

· Average finish of 14.0

· Average Running Position of 9.8, third-best

· Driver Rating of 110.5, second-best

· Series-high 283 Fastest Laps Run

· 2,170 Laps in the Top 15 (73.7%), fourth-most

· 249 Quality Passes (passes of cars in the top 15 under green), third-most

Kyle Busch (No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota)

· One win, two top fives, four top 10s

· Average finish of 15.5

· Average Running Position of 10.0, fourth-best

· Driver Rating of 102.3, fifth-best

· 470 Green Flag Passes, third-most

· Average Green Flag Speed of 159.837 mph, fifth-fastest

· 2,423 Laps in the Top 15 (82.3%), second-most

· Series-high 323 Quality Passes

Dale Earnhardt Jr. (No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet)

· Three top fives, seven top 10s

· Average finish of 15.3

· Average Running Position of 12.6, ninth-best

· Driver Rating of 90.4, 10th-best

· 485 Green Flag Passes, second-most

· 1,911 Laps in the Top 15 (64.9%), ninth-most

· 229 Quality Passes, sixth-most

Carl Edwards (No. 99 Roush Fenway Racing Ford)

· Three top fives, six top 10s

· Average finish of 13.1

· Average Running Position of 12.8, 10th-best

· Driver Rating of 93.9, ninth-best

· 149 Fastest Laps Run, seventh-most

· 418 Green Flag Passes, eighth-most

· Average Green Flag Speed of 159.490 mph, eighth-fastest

· 2,000 Laps in the Top 15 (68.0%), seventh-most

· 249 Quality Passes, third-most

Jeff Gordon (No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet)

· Seven wins, 18 top fives, 21 top 10s; three poles

· Average finish of 11.8

· Series-best Average Running Position of 8.3

· Series-best Driver Rating of 111.8

· 180 Fastest Laps Run, fourth-most

· Series-best Average Green Flag Speed of 160.041 mph

· Series-high 2,615 Laps in the Top 15 (88.9%)

· 245 Quality Passes, fifth-most

Denny Hamlin (No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota)

· One win, three top fives, six top 10s

· Average finish of 5.9

· Average Running Position of 8.8, second-best

· Driver Rating of 109.5, third-best

· 175 Fastest Laps Run, fifth-most

· Average Green Flag Speed of 159.896 mph, third-fastest

· 2,123 Laps in the Top 15 (82.5%), sixth-most

· 229 Quality Passes, sixth-most

Jimmie Johnson (No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet)

· Three wins, seven top fives, 10 top 10s

· Average finish of 9.1

· Average Running Position of 10.7, fifth-best

· Driver Rating of 105.7, fourth-best

· 210 Fastest Laps Run, second-most

· 453 Green Flag Passes, fifth-most

· Average Green Flag Speed of 159.918 mph, second-fastest

· 2,137 Laps in the Top 15 (72.6%), fifth-most

· 227 Quality Passes, eighth-most

Kasey Kahne (No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet)

· Three top fives, four top 10s; four poles

· Average finish of 13.9

· Average Running Position of 11.1, seventh-best

· Driver Rating of 98.3, sixth-best

· 192 Fastest Laps Run, third-most

· Average Green Flag Speed of 159.483 mph, ninth-fastest

· 1,985 Laps in the Top 15 (67.4%), eighth-most

Matt Kenseth (No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota)

· One top five, eight top 10s; one pole

· Average finish of 17.5

· Driver Rating of 86.5, 12th-best

· 76 Fastest Laps Run, 11th-most

· 431 Green Flag Passes, seventh-most

· 195 Quality Passes, 12th-most

Brad Keselowski (No. 2 Penske Racing Ford)

· One top five, two top 10s

· Average finish of 9.3

· Driver Rating of 84.5, 13th-best

Ryan Newman (No. 39 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet)

· Seven top fives, nine top 10s; one pole

· Average finish of 12.4

· Average Running Position of 11.0, sixth-best

· Driver Rating of 97.6, seventh-best

· Average Green Flag Speed of 159.652 mph, seventh-fastest

· 2,326 Laps in the Top 15 (79.0%), third-most

· 193 Quality Passes, 13th-most

Tony Stewart (No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet)

· Four top fives, 11 top 10s

· Average finish of 11.8

· Average Running Position of 14.1, 11th-best

· Driver Rating of 90.0, 11th-best

· 104 Fastest Laps Run, ninth-most

· Series-high 496 Green Flag Passes

· Average Green Flag Speed of 159.420 mph, 10th-fastest

· 1,813 Laps in the Top 15 (61.6%), 10th-most

· 266 Quality Passes, second-most

Martin Truex Jr. (No. 56 Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota)

· One top five, three top 10s

· Average finish of 11.3

· Average Running Position of 12.5, eighth-best

· Driver Rating of 95.2, eighth-best

· 115 Fastest Laps Run, eighth-most

· 437 Green Flag Passes, sixth-most

· Average Green Flag Speed of 159.673 mph, sixth-fastest

· 215 Quality Passes, ninth-most

Follow Stock Car Spin on Twitter @SCSblog or like Stock Car Spin on Facebook. Amanda’s also on Twitter @NASCARexaminer and has a fan/like page on Facebook: NASCAR Examiner