2017 Bojangles' Southern 500
The 2017 Bojangles' Southern 500, the 68th running of the event, was a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race held on September 3, 2017 at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina. Contested over 367 laps on the egg-shaped oval, it was the 25th race of the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season. Report. Background. Darlington Raceway is a race track built for NASCAR racing located near Darlington, South Carolina. It is nicknamed "The Lady in Black" and "The Track Too Tough to Tame" by many NASCAR fans and drivers and advertised as "A NASCAR  Tradition." It is of a unique, somewhat egg-shaped design, an oval with the ends of very different configurations, a condition which supposedly arose from the proximity of one end of the track to a minnow pond the owner refused to relocate. This situation makes it very challenging for the crews to set up their cars' handling in a way that is effective at both ends. Practice. First practice. Kyle Larson was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 28.415 seconds and a speed of . Final practice. Kyle Busch was the fastest in the final practice  session with a time of 28.373 seconds and a speed of . Qualifying. Kevin Harvick scored the pole for the race with a time of 27.669 and a speed of . Race. Race results. Stage results. Stage 1 "Laps:" 100 Stage 2 "Laps:" 100 Final stage results. Stage 3 "Laps:" 167 Media. Television. NBC Sports covered the race on the television side. Rick Allen, two–time Darlington winner Jeff Burton and Steve Letarte had the call in the booth for the race. As part of the throwback weekend, Ken Squier, Ned Jarrett and Dale Jarrett also called a portion of the race . Dave Burns, Marty Snider and Kelli Stavast reported from pit lane during the race. Radio. The Motor Racing Network had the radio call for the race, which was simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Dave Moody called the race from a billboard outside of turn when the field raced through turns 1 and 2, and Mike Bagley had the call of the race atop of the Darlington Raceway Club outside of turn 3 when the field raced through turns 3 and 4.