Briscoe Dominates Darlington: Double Crown in the Southern 500 and Heading to the NASCAR Title

Chase Briscoe Earns His Second Consecutive Victory at the Southern 500

Chase Briscoe has made history by obtaining his second consecutive victory in the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. The driver seeks to make his mark this season and get his first title in the NASCAR Cup Series. Briscoe overtook Tyler Reddick on the final lap, becoming the eighth driver in stock car racing history to achieve consecutive wins at this track, known as “Too Tough to Tame.” This exclusive list includes legends like Dale Earnhardt, Cale Yarborough, Jeff Gordon, and Bobby Allison.

The expectation was to compete for victories. It definitely took longer than I expected, but tonight I think we showed what we are capable of.

Chase Briscoe

Briscoe led from the start, winning both stages and dominating 309 of the 367 laps. In addition to advancing to the next round, he became the first driver with consecutive wins in this prestigious race since Greg Biffle in 2005 and 2006.

The 30-year-old driver, originally from Indiana, expressed his excitement: “It’s great to win two Southern 500s in a row. This is my favorite race of the year.” A year ago, in the last race of the regular season, Briscoe used a bold maneuver to secure the victory and qualify for the playoffs. This time, he proved to be the strongest throughout the competition. “I definitely feel like I’m doing my part,” Briscoe affirmed. After Reddick passed him on the restart of the final segment, Briscoe regained the lead on the next lap and held the position after their final three pit stops. Reddick attempted an attack on the last lap, but was unable to complete the overtake. Briscoe held firm and achieved his second victory of the season and the fourth of his career. “It was much harder than it should have been,” said Briscoe, who also won at Pocono in June. The owner of Briscoe’s team, Joe Gibbs, recalled receiving the driver in Victory Lane last year, when he was finishing his stint at Stewart-Haas Racing. Gibbs was surprised at how quickly Briscoe’s crew chief, James Smalls, got the car competing for wins as in the past. “Certainly, this wasn’t something we expected,” Gibbs said. Erik Jones, a two-time Southern 500 winner, finished third, followed by John Hunter Nemechek and AJ Allmendinger. Playoff drivers Bubba Wallace and Denny Hamlin, Briscoe’s teammate at Joe Gibbs Racing, rounded out the top spots.

Playoff Problems

The night was not favorable for several playoff contenders, with some difficulties for several drivers. Only four playoff drivers finished in the top ten. Josh Berry, who was already below the cut line before Darlington, spun early in the race and had to go to the garage. It was the first Cup playoff race for Berry, who drives for Wood Brothers. Berry returned to the track midway through the second stage, 119 laps behind the leader. Alex Bowman was one of two winless playoff drivers this year and needed a good performance at Darlington to move up from 16th place. Bowman made several pit stops to find speed, but instead found trouble, including a faulty air hose that kept him on pit road for about 30 seconds. Ryan Blaney, a Penske driver who won a NASCAR title two years ago and took Daytona last week, was one of the circuit’s most prominent drivers with six consecutive top-10 finishes. However, he spun on lap 209, while in 13th place, which caused him to drop in the playoff standings. The four drivers below the cut line are defending champion Joey Logano in 13th place, followed by Austin Dillon, Bowman, and Berry.

It wasn’t what we expected.

Joey Logano

Toyota at the Top

The first four drivers drove Toyotas, only the third time this has happened since the manufacturer joined the Cup Series in 2007. In the top six, seven were driving Toyotas, including playoff contenders Briscoe, Reddick, Wallace, and Hamlin. Hamlin co-owns 23XI Racing with Michael Jordan, with the team’s two playoff drivers, Reddick and Wallace, in the top six.

It was a good day for them and a great day for Toyota overall.

Denny Hamlin

Coming Soon

The playoffs continue on September 7 at World Wide Technology Raceway, outside of St. Louis, in the second of three races in the first round, the round concludes in Bristol on September 13, before the field is reduced from 16 to 12.