Martin Truex Jr., Ryan Blaney out early in Darlington crash

Martin Truex Jr.’s chances to make the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs nearly took a hit in a Lap 3 crash that ousted him from Sunday’s Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.

The 2017 Cup champion slid up the asphalt in Turn 1 into the left-rear tire of William Byron’s No. 24 Chevrolet. Truex darted his No. 19 Toyota sideways to avoid crashing Byron but sent himself into the outside SAFER barrier with Ryan Blaney, the defending series champion.

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The resulting damage was enough to retire both Truex and Blaney from the event after just three laps, triggering significant playoff implications. Sunday’s race marked the regular-season finale. Truex entered 14th on the 16-driver playoff bracket, provisionally 58 points above the elimination line. Despite the early exit, Truex did mathematically lock into the NASCAR Playoffs at the conclusion of Stage 2.

“It just took off on me, and that’s obviously on me,” Truex told reporters after being evaluated and released from the infield care center. “I hate to make a mistake that early in the race. It’s all my fault. I hate it for Blaney and apologize to his guys. Yeah, it caught me by surprise, and it’s just a stupid mistake — inexcusable.”

“Can’t change it now, so I’m not going to get too crazy about it, but just really sad for my team,” Truex added. “They deserve better than that. We had an amazing race car. I felt so good about tonight. Just really sorry I let everybody down.”

Unable to continue, Truex will shift his focus toward his pursuit of a second championship in his final full-time year of competition. In June, the 44-year-old announced he will retire from Cup Series competition on a full-time basis.

Blaney’s involvement had less postseason ripple effects attached, with his No. 12 Ford driving to wins this season at Iowa Speedway and Pocono Raceway to lock into the playoffs. But his Team Penske entry appeared to be a genuine threat for success based on Saturday’s practice, where Blaney was second-quickest on 15-lap averages.

“I was super confident in the race tonight,” said Blaney, who was also evaluated and released from the care center. “I thought our car was great. I think our cars have good speed in them. This was just a crappy deal at the start of this thing. So yeah, I don’t think we have to rebound big time. Our group’s alright. They understand that it was just poor timing, poor luck and going to Atlanta next week and be ready to go.”

As quickly as Truex’s car lost control, Blaney was left with a split-second decision and nowhere to go.

“He was so sideways, I thought he was just going to spin to the left,” Blaney said. “So I kind of gassed up to get outside and around him, and like right as I got to him, his car hooked up and went right, just tore both of us up. So that’s one of those unfortunate timing things. I mean, no one had did anything wrong. It was just one of those things where you kind of guess wrong. I hate it happened on Lap 3. I mean, gosh, we didn’t even get to race. Early day, and I hope next week goes better.”

Radio transmissions from the No. 12 car indicated a sore arm for Blaney before he exited his Ford, but he quelled concerns upon his exit.

“I think my arm got twisted up a little bit, but I’ll be there next week,” he said.

Truex will be credited with a 36th-place finish while Blaney will be scored last in 37th, both earning just one point from the event.

This story will be updated.

Contributing: Zack Albert