Martin Truex Jr.’s chances of qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs were nearly dashed by a third-lap accident that knocked him out of the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway on Sunday.

The 2017 Cup champion slid into the left rear tire of William Byron’s No. 24 Chevrolet on the asphalt in Turn 1. Truex steered his No. 19 Toyota sideways to avoid a collision with Byron, but in doing so, he crashed into the outside SAFER barrier with defending series champion Ryan Blaney.

RELATED TOPICS: Live Leaderboard | Race Photos: Darlington

The resulting damage was enough to take both Truex and Blaney out of the race after just three laps, with significant playoff implications. Sunday’s race marked the finale of the regular season. Truex started 14th in the 16-driver playoff bracket, provisionally 58 points above the elimination line. Despite the early exit, Truex was mathematically qualified for the NASCAR playoffs after the conclusion of Stage 2.

“It just got away from me, and that’s obviously my fault,” Truex told reporters after he was examined and released from the Infield Care Center. “I hate to make a mistake this early in the race. It’s all my fault. I hate it for Blaney and apologize to his guys. Yeah, it caught me off guard, and it’s just a stupid mistake — inexcusable.”

“I can’t change it now, so I’m not going to get too crazy, but I’m just really sorry for my team,” Truex added. “They deserved better. We had a fantastic race car. I felt so good tonight. I’m just really sorry for letting everybody down.”

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

Blaney’s involvement had less of a postseason impact, as his No. 12 Ford picked up wins at Iowa Speedway and Pocono Raceway this season to secure the playoffs. But his Team Penske effort seemed a real threat to success based on Saturday’s practice session, in which Blaney was second-fastest in the 15-lap average.

“I was super confident about the race tonight,” said Blaney, who was also examined and released from the nursing home. “I thought our car was great. I think our cars have good speed. That was just a crappy deal at the beginning. So, yeah, I don’t think we have much to recover from. Our team is OK. They understand it was just bad timing and bad luck and they go to Atlanta next week and they’re ready to go.”

As soon as Truex lost control of his car, Blaney had to make a split-second decision and could no longer continue.

“He was so sideways I thought he was going to turn left,” Blaney said. “So I hit the gas to get around the outside of him and as I got to him his car hooked to the right and took us both out. So it’s one of those unfortunate situations. I mean nobody did anything wrong. It was just one of those situations where you kind of guessed wrong. I think it’s terrible that it happened on lap 3. I mean, gosh, we didn’t even get to race. It’s early in the day and I hope next week goes better.”

Radio messages from car No. 12 indicated that Blaney had a sore arm before getting out of his Ford, but after getting out he calmed his concerns.

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

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

This story will be updated.

Contributors: Zack Albert