DARLINGTON, S.C. — Regan Smith wasn’t sure he would ever come as close to winning a Sprint Cup race as he did three years ago at Talladega Superspeedway.
Now he can’t imagine he will spend time thinking about that 2008 miss after gaining his first series victory in the Southern 500 on Saturday.
Smith, who drives for Denver-based Furniture Row Racing, was denied a victory at Talladega when NASCAR ruled he ran below the yellow line on a pass of Tony Stewart. This time, Smith survived a green-white-checkered finish at Darlington Raceway.
“Winning here means more to me than that (Talladega) win ever could’ve meant,” Smith said.
He started the Southern 500 in 23rd and was outside the top 10 with less than 70 laps left. But he stayed out on old tires during a caution nine laps from the end to take the lead and held off series points leader Carl Edwards in the two-lap overtime to win for the first time in 105 career starts.
“I don’t really know how to put it in words — it is so surreal,” Smith said on the team’s website. “(Crew chief Pete Rondeau) made a great pit call — that won the race for us.”
On the last lap, Smith bobbled when he hit the wall.
“The chances of me checking up there were about zero,” Smith said on the website. “I could have torn the right front off and kept going.”
With the win, Smith and Furniture Row Racing qualify for the All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 21.
On the team website, Furniture Row general manager Joe Garone put the team’s first victory in perspective. “Tonight just solidifies all that hard work and shows the racing community that you can win races outside of the normal North Carolina area,” he said.
While Smith, 27, was celebrating in Victory Lane, tempers erupted after Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch and Clint Bowyer tangled in an accident that set up the wild finish.
After the race, Harvick tracked down Busch’s car, stopped in front of Busch on pit road, then got out of his car and attempted to punch or grab Busch through his window. Busch then slammed into Harvick’s driverless car, sending it into the wall.
Harvick and Busch then stared down each other from their cars as they entered the garage before a standoff that looked as if it might erupt further. It ended when Busch bumped Harvick several times to make space to drive off. Both drivers were summoned to the NASCAR hauler.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. said he couldn’t wait to get “on the Internet tonight and check it out.”
NASCAR spokesman Kerry Tharp said Sunday the organization will review the incidents.
Fighting among drivers is nothing new. Before the 2010 season, the organization told drivers to show more emotion. NASCAR’s vice president for competition, Robin Pemberton, even said, “We will put it back in the hands of drivers and we will say, ‘Boys, have at it and have a good time.’ ” There’s been no shortage of dust-ups since.
