DARLINGTON, S.C. — Martin Truex Jr. has qualified for the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs after a nerve-wracking few moments when he crashed on the third lap of the Southern 500 on Sunday.

Truex moved up to defending champion Ryan Blaney and both cars went to the garage. But after two stages (230 laps) at Darlington Raceway, NASCAR announced that Truex, the 2017 series champion, was locked into the 16-driver field.

Truex is in his final full season as a driver for Joe Gibbs Racing. He entered the race 58 points clear of the cutoff line to reach the playoffs, which begin next week in Atlanta, and he said Saturday that he felt good about his position in 14th place on the playoff grid as the weekend began.

The accident left Truex watching the race with dismay, hoping the others behind him wouldn’t react so badly that he would be knocked out.

“It was all my fault, my own fault,” Truex said outside the treatment center.

Truex said he was making a move on William Byron’s No. 24 car when the car pulled away from him.

“I thought everything was going well and I bumped into him. Of course it was my fault,” he said.

Blaney, like Truex, was taken to the medical center. The Team Penske driver said he was initially sore, but felt he would be fine as he prepares to defend his series title, which begins next week in Atlanta.

“I saw Martin get loose and I thought he was going to spin down so I got on the gas to get around him but it was just bad timing,” Blaney said. “He overcorrected and we were right on top of him.”

Truex’s JGR teammate Ty Gibbs started the championship without a win in 15th place, while Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing’s Chris Buescher was in contention for the playoffs in 16th place.

Bubba Wallace, who started from pole position, was the first man to lose the play-off position. He was 21 points behind Buescher when the race started.

Truex’s crash temporarily took him out of playoff position. Despite getting into it, he knows he needs to turn things around to make a deep playoff run.

“It sucks. We’ve just had two miserable months,” he said. “Tonight was my fault, sorry to my team and all the guys who work so hard.”