DARLINGTON, S.C. -- Erik Jones used every bit of stamina he had at Darlington Raceway.
Few know better than Jones the effort it took to hold off Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch and win the rain-delayed Southern 500 early Monday morning.
"I'm mentally drained," he said with a smile. "I'm physically drained."
Jones took the lead from Kyle Larson 85 laps from the end and stayed in front of Busch the rest of the way to add a win at iconic Darlington Raceway with his first NASCAR Cup Series victory at Daytona in July 2018.
"It's pretty crazy, right," he said. "I'm not a hugely emotional guy, but to get a win here means a lot to me."
Some had wondered whether the 23-year-old Jones was the soft spot in the JGR powerhouse as Busch, Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. had all won four times apiece this season while Jones' No. 20 was winless.
"Is there anything more to say?" Jones asked as the crowd cheered.
Not anymore. Jones' victory means all four of Joe Gibbs' drivers have taken the checkered flag and are locked into the NASCAR playoffs that start in two weeks.
"It takes a lot to beat them," Jones said of his teammates. "Especially when you're racing the same equipment."
To have the win come at Darlington made it even more special for Jones.
"This is one of those races for me that has always held a special place. You think of NASCAR, you think of Darlington," he said.
Larson was second, his third top-three finish at Darlington in the past four years. He led 497 laps during that stretch, including 44 in this one.
Busch, who started in the back after swapping out an engine after qualifying, got up to Jones' bumper near the end. But he brushed the wall on the next-to-last lap and ended third.
"We kind of lost control at that pit stop where we came in the leader and came out third," Busch said. "I thought if we could keep in touch with [Jones and Larson], keep close to them, we might be able to out-pit road them at the end of the race. We got by one of them, but not the other one. But overall, good day."
Busch clinched the regular-season points lead. Kevin Harvick was fourth and Brad Keselowski was fifth.
Clint Bowyer was sixth followed by the winner of the opening stage, Kurt Busch, Matt DiBenedetto, Paul Menard and Austin Dillon.
Jimmie Johnson made some headway on his quest for a 16th consecutive playoff appearance, but he was hindered when he was caught up in a final stage crash that bumped him back to 16th.
Johnson trimmed his playoff deficit from 26 points to 18. Still, he'll likely need a win in Indianapolis next week to qualify for the postseason.
"We're running out of days, and if we miss it, it's going to be by a few [points], I believe," Johnson said. "I can look back over the first half of the season and see a lot of races where we gave away a few points."
Heavy storms Sunday delayed the start of the race by more than four hours. Drivers were going through introductions shortly before the scheduled 6 p.m. Eastern start when skies got dark and heavy rain began. Crews covered up cars and racers grabbed umbrellas as they headed back through the garage areas to wait out the storm.
NASCAR spokesman Matt Humphrey said officials took many factors into consideration in starting the race after 10 p.m. local time, including the sell-out at Darlington and the approach of Hurricane Dorian toward South Carolina's coast. South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster ordered evacuations of coastal counties for Monday that included lane reversals on roadways in the area.
Humphrey said the storm's approach was a factor for leaders deciding whether to race or postpone. He said the biggest reason was that NASCAR runs races on the day that it's scheduled if at all possible.
Sports on 09/03/2019