DARLINGTON, S.C.— Mitchell-native Chase Briscoe went three-wide to pass Kyle Larson and Ross Chastain for the lead, then outran two-time series champion Kyle Busch to win the Southern 500 and make the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.
Briscoe pulled away on a final restart with 17 laps in the regular-season finale at Darlington Raceway and held off Busch, who, like Briscoe, needed a victory to reach the postseason.
“Man, everybody knows I’m a diehard Tony Stewart fan, and to get this 14 car back in victory lane and, for all 320-something employees, to be able to race for a championship in their final year is unbelievable,” said Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 14 HighPoint.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse. “God is just so good. This group, the day that we found out that the team wasn’t going to exist anymore, went over to the shop floor, looked at each other, and said, ‘We’re in this till the end. We’re not going to give this up.’ We kept saying all week we’ve got one bullet left in the chamber. That bullet hit. It was like déjà vu at the end with Kyle (Busch), with the Xfinity race here in 2020. I didn’t know if I would be able to do it. I was sideways, counter-steering like I was in a sprint car. Yeah, this night just literally went perfectly. The pit crew did an incredible job. I was crying after the checkered. I just won the Southern 500! This is a crown jewel! What makes this race so special is all these race fans. Every time we come here, it’s sold out. It’s awesome. We love you guys. The last time I won here was during COVID; I didn’t experience it with the fans. I am glad that you are here and can’t wait to celebrate. I can’t thank HighPoint.com, Mahindra Tractors, Rush Truck Centers, Rinnai, Zep enough, and everybody who makes this deal go around. We’ll go to Atlanta and try to steal another one.”
Briscoe gave the Stewart-Haas team a final chance to compete for a title. This is Briscoe’s second playoff appearance.
Briscoe’s margin of victory over second-place Kyle Busch was 0.361 of a second. Briscoe was the 14th winner in the 26 NASCAR Cup Series races this season. There were seven caution periods for a total of 39 laps. Only 17 of the 37 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.
This was Briscoe’s second career NASCAR Cup Series victory. His first came in March 2022 at Phoenix Raceway. Both wins have come since he joined SHR in 2021.
In addition to this being Briscoe’s first victory of the season, it is his third top-five and seventh top-10 of the year. It is his second top-five in eight career Darlington starts. Before his win at Darlington, Briscoe’s best finish of the season had been a runner-up effort earned June 23 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon. This was Briscoe’s second straight top-15. He finished 14th last weekend at Daytona. Before winning the Cook Out Southern 500, Briscoe’s best finish at Darlington was fifth, earned in May at the Goodyear 400.
Briscoe finished third in Stage 1 to earn eight bonus points and second in Stage 2 to earn an additional nine bonus points. Briscoe led four times for 29 laps – his first laps led at Darlington.
Briscoe’s victory at the Cook Out Southern 500 marked the 104th overall win for Stewart Haas Racing. It was the organization’s milestone 70th points-paying NASCAR Cup Series victory, its first of the season, and its fourth at Darlington. SHR’s total win tally includes six non-points-paying Cup Series wins, 27 NASCAR Xfinity Series wins, and one ARCA Menards Series West win.
Tyler Reddick won the NASCAR Cup Series regular-season championship by one point over second-place Kyle Larson. But with a point reset for the 16 drivers who qualified for the NASCAR Playoffs, Larson takes over first place in the playoff standings via his series-leading four victories.
Playoff Standings:
- Kyle Larson (2,040 points)
- Christopher Bell (2,032 points, -8)
- Tyler Reddick (2,028 points, -12)
- William Byron (2,022 points, -18)
- Ryan Blaney (2,018 points, -22)
- Denny Hamlin (2,015 points, -25)
- Chase Elliott (2,014 points, -26)
- Brad Keselowski (2,008 points, -32)
- Joey Logano (2,007 points, -33)
- Austin Cindric (2,007 points, -33)
- Daniel Suárez (2,006 points, -34)
- Alex Bowman (2,005 points, -35)
- Chase Briscoe (2,005 points, -35)
- Harrison Burton (2,005 points, -35)
- Ty Gibbs (2,004 points, -36)
- Martin Truex Jr. (2,004 points, -36)
Kevin Harvick scored all three of SHR’s prior Darlington wins. The first came in April 2014 with the other two coming in May 2020 and September 2020. This was SHR’s 34th NASCAR Cup Series victory with Ford. Kurt Busch won the 2017 Daytona 500 to deliver the organization’s first win with the Blue Oval. This was Ford’s 735th all-time NASCAR Cup Series victory, its sixth of the season and its second straight. Ford driver Harrison Burton won last weekend at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. This was Ford’s 34th all-time NASCAR Cup Series victory at Darlington and its second straight. Ford won its first race at the 1.366-mile oval on Sept. 3, 1956, with NASCAR Hall of Famer Curtis Turner. Brad Keselowski won the series’ prior race at Darlington in May when he took the checkered flag in the Goodyear 400.
Preece earned his eighth top-15 of the season and his third top-15 in 10 career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Darlington.
“We just got caught in a tough spot there at the end of the race. We decided to stay out and risk it on fuel, which didn’t work in our favor today,” said Ryan Preece, driver of the No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse.
Preece’s 12th-place result equaled his previous best finish at Darlington, earned initially in September 2021.
Berry finished ninth in Stage 1 to earn two bonus points and seventh in Stage 2 to earn four more bonus points. He led twice for five laps – his first laps led at Darlington.
“Tough way to end such a promising day,” said Josh Berry, driver of the No. 4 Overstock.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse. “We had a great No. 4 Overstock.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse, and we were going to net out to have a good points day. It was one of those nights you look back on in frustration because this team deserves better. Our results don’t do us justice, and tonight was one of those nights. We have ten weeks to go chase a win.”
“I saw a couple of them wreck up front, so I tried to get on the brakes,” said Noah Gragson, driver of the No. 10 Bass Pro Shops/Winchester Ford Mustang Dark Horse. “Then I saw an opening and a little bit of smoke, but I thought they were all sliding down to the bottom, and I throttled up. I thought it was open, but it wasn’t. A bummer. We needed to be better all day.”
Next Up:
The next NASCAR Cup Series scheduled event is the Atlanta 400 on Sunday, Sept. 8 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The first race in the 10-race NASCAR Playoffs starts at 3 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by USA and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
