Chase Briscoe wins Southern 500 and advances to Playoffs
Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images
DARLINGTON, S.C. — Chase Briscoe took the checkered flag in Sunday night’s Cook Out Southern 500 and simultaneously broke three hearts.
Ending a 73-race winless streak for Stewart-Haas Racing, Briscoe foiled Kyle Larson, who led 263 of 367 laps and won the first two stages but finished fourth and lost the NASCAR Cup Series regular-season title to Tyler Reddick by a single point.
With the second victory of his career and his first since March 2022 at Phoenix, Briscoe eliminated Chris Buescher from the playoffs. In a valiant run, Buescher finished sixth but lost the final playoff spot on points to Ty Gibbs and Martin Truex Jr.
Briscoe disappointed Kyle Busch, who charged into second place after a restart on Lap 351 and used all his skills attempting to pass Briscoe for the win and force his way into the playoffs. Busch was runner-up for the second straight Cup race, having run second to Harrison Burton on Aug. 24 at Daytona.
Stewart-Haas Racing is ceasing operations at the end of the year, but Briscoe already has secured a ride with Joe Gibbs Racing, replacing Truex, who is retiring from full-time racing at the end of the season.
“For all 320 employees, everybody, to be able to race for a championship in their final year, man, unbelievable,” Briscoe said. “This group, the day that we found out that the team wasn’t going to exist anymore, we went over to the shop floor, we all 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 got one bullet left in the chamber. That bullet hit.”
Ross Chastain also was eliminated from playoff contention, but he figured in the outcome of the Southern 500. Chastain stayed on the track under the sixth caution for Carson Hocevar’s wreck while the rest of the contending cars came to pit road for tires on Lap 338.
Larson was battling Chastain for the lead in Turn 3 on Lap 342 when Briscoe steered decisively toward the bottom of the track and shot past Ty Gibbs, Larson and Chastain into the lead.
Briscoe held the top spot the rest of the way despite enormous pressure from Busch throughout the final 17-lap green-flag run.
SHOP: Race winner gear
“I was sideways, counter steering,” Briscoe said. “Like I was in a sprint car. Yeah, this night just literally went perfect. 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. Last time I won here (in the NASCAR Xfinity Series) was during COVID. I didn’t experience it with the fans. Glad that you are here and can’t wait to celebrate.”
Busch restarted on the inside of the fourth row on Lap 351, in the first car on new tires. He quickly dispatched every car in front of him — except Briscoe’s.
“When I made it through a few of those guys right there on the start, I thought we had a shot to get there,” Busch said. “I think I just needed him to have maybe three or four more lap older tires for me to be able to break through the wake.
“Once I got within his air, I really didn’t have enough to power through that, to get closer. I was kind of sliding already.”
Reddick was suffering from nausea throughout the race, but he persevered over the 500 miles, took fresh tires under the final caution on Lap 346 and gained two spots from the restart to finish 10th and edge Larson for the regular-season championship and the 15 playoff bonus points that go with it.
“The car was really, really strong right from the get-go,” Reddick said. “It was tough, man, when we just were bleeding points to the 5 (Larson) in the middle of the race. I was trying to think of what I needed to do to go faster.
“It was really, really hard to focus on that stuff. I was just not able to really do what I normally do good here in the car. I don’t know, I was just kind of driving with one hand, almost. I don’t know how to really describe it. It was really tough in the car.”
Larson nevertheless will start next Sunday’s playoff race at Atlanta Motor Speedway as the No. 1 seed with 40 Playoff points in the bank.
Disaster struck one of the playoff hopefuls on Lap 3. The Toyota of Martin Truex Jr. broke loose during an attempted pass of William Byron. Truex’s Camry shot into the outside wall and collected the Ford of Ryan Blaney, who was running behind him.
Truex entered the race 58 points above the playoff cut line and his inclusion in the postseason seemed little more than a formality. But formality became calamity with the early wreck, which put Truex out of the race in 36th place, worth one point.
“Yeah, it was all my fault, all my doing. I got a run on the 24 (Byron) and went to the inside and thought everything was going fine, and the car just took off and I ran into him,” Truex said.
“Obviously, that was on me. I hate it for my guys, (sponsor) Bass Pro Shops, Toyota, everybody. We had a phenomenal race car, and I know this is like the longest race of the year — just a dumb mistake on my part.”
The early exit put Truex’s playoff hopes in temporary jeopardy, but by the end of Stage 2, he had clinched a playoff spot on points.
Playoff driver Christopher Bell finished third, followed by Larson and Chastain. Buescher, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, Corey LaJoie and Reddick completed the top 10.
Note: Post-race inspection was completed in the NASCAR Cup Series garage without issue, confirming Briscoe as the race winner. The Nos. 51 and 71 will return to the NASCAR R&D Center in Concord, North Carolina, for inspection.
NASCAR Cup Series Race Number 26
Race Results for the Cook Out Southern 500 - Sunday, September 1, 2024
Darlington Raceway - Darlington, SC - 1.366 - Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 367 Laps - 501.322 Miles
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Sunday, 9/1/2024 @ 10:13 PM Eastern
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Stage 1 Pos Stage 2 Pos Pts Status Tms Laps Playoff Pts
1 3 14 Chase Briscoe HighPoint.com Ford 367 3 2 57 Running 4 29 5
2 17 8 Kyle Busch Morgan & Morgan Chevrolet 367 35 Running
3 9 20 Christopher Bell Rheem Toyota 367 5 5 46 Running 1 1
4 4 5 Kyle Larson HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 367 1 1 53 Running 8 263 2
5 22 1 Ross Chastain Busch Retro Chevrolet 367 32 Running 1 3
6 10 17 Chris Buescher BuildSubmarines.com Ford 367 10 32 Running
7 14 11 Denny Hamlin Sport Clips Haircuts Toyota 367 6 3 43 Running 4 21
8 23 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 367 29 Running
9 19 7 Corey LaJoie Chili's Catch-a-Rita Chevrolet 367 28 Running
10 6 45 Tyler Reddick Upper Deck Toyota 367 4 8 37 Running 1 1
11 20 9 Chase Elliott NAPA Gold Filters Chevrolet 367 26 Running
12 30 41 Ryan Preece HaasTooling.com Ford 367 25 Running
13 11 2 Austin Cindric Discount Tire Ford 367 24 Running
14 12 6 Brad Keselowski Solomon Plumbing Ford 367 10 24 Running
15 16 3 Austin Dillon Toys for Tots Chevrolet 367 22 Running
16 1 23 Bubba Wallace U.S. Air Force Toyota 367 2 9 32 Running 3 37
17 33 38 Todd Gilliland Long John Silver's Ford 367 20 Running
18 32 99 Daniel Suarez Freeway Insurance Chevrolet 366 19 Running
19 27 48 Alex Bowman Ally Chevrolet 366 18 Running
20 13 54 Ty Gibbs Monster Energy Toyota 366 7 6 26 Running 1 1
21 24 21 Harrison Burton Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford 365 16 Running
22 36 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Kroger/Drumstick Chevrolet 365 15 Running
23 26 71 Zane Smith # Focused Health Chevrolet 364 14 Running
24 28 43 Erik Jones Dollar Tree Toyota 364 13 Running
25 18 42 John Hunter Nemechek Mobil 1 Toyota 364 12 Running
26 34 16 Shane Van Gisbergen(i) Acceptance Insurance Chevrolet 364 0 Running 1 4
27 21 51 Justin Haley NC Fraternal Order of Police Ford 363 10 Running
28 31 34 Michael McDowell Colortech Ford 363 9 Running
29 25 31 Daniel Hemric Cirkul Chevrolet 362 8 Running
30 8 24 William Byron Liberty University Chevrolet 344 8 4 17 Accident 1 2
31 15 4 Josh Berry # Overstock.com Ford 343 9 7 12 Accident 2 5
32 29 10 Noah Gragson Bass Pro Shops/Winchester Ford 343 5 Accident
33 2 77 Carson Hocevar # Bon Secours/Swamp Rabbits Chevrolet 335 4 Accident
34 35 15 Kaz Grala # MEAT N' BONE Ford 332 3 Running
35 37 66 * Timmy Hill(i) W Ford 278 0 Steering
36 5 19 Martin Truex Jr. Bass Pro Shops Toyota 2 1 Accident
37 7 12 Ryan Blaney Menards/Richmond Water Heaters Ford 2 1 Accident
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 55 Mins, 14 Secs. Average Speed: 127.87 MPH Margin of Victory: .361 Seconds
Stage 1 Top 10: 5, 23, 14, 45, 20, 11, 54, 24, 4, 17
Stage 2 Top 10: 5, 14, 11, 24, 20, 54, 4, 45, 23, 6
Caution Flags: 7 for 39 laps; Laps: 4-9 (#19, 12, 24 incident turn 2 [None]); 117-122 (Stage 1 Conclusion [99]); 232-237 (Stage 2 Conclusion [77]); 315-319 (#43, 77 incident turn 4 [3]); 323-327 (#38, 17 incident backstretch [9]); 337-341 (#77 incident turn 4 [2]); 345-350 (#23, 24, 10, 4, 99, 3, 54 incident turn 2 [48]).
Lead Changes: 26 among 11 drivers; B. Wallace 1-34; T. Reddick 35; W. Byron 36-37; D. Hamlin 38-41; S. Van Gisbergen(i) 42-45; K. Larson 46-70; T. Gibbs 71; D. Hamlin 72-77; K. Larson 78-117; B. Wallace 118; K. Larson 119-152; J. Berry # 153-156; K. Larson 157-185; C. Bell 186; D. Hamlin 187-191; J. Berry # 192; K. Larson 193-232; C. Briscoe 233; K. Larson 234-272; D. Hamlin 273-278; B. Wallace 279-280; K. Larson 281-315; C. Briscoe 316; K. Larson 317-337; C. Briscoe 338; R. Chastain 339-341; C. Briscoe 342-367.
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
Next Race: September 8, 2024 - Atlanta Motor Speedway
NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications @ P.O. Box 2875, Daytona Beach, FL 32120-2875
DRIVER STANDINGS HEADING INTO PLAYOFFS
Darlington Raceway
Cook Out Southern 500
UNOFFICIAL Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Sunday, 9/1/2024 @ 11:53 PM Eastern UNOFFICIAL
Rank Driver Car Starts GL Points Ldr Nxt Race Wins Stage Wins Playoff Pts
1. Kyle Larson 5 25 -1 2040 0 0 4 10 40
2. Christopher Bell 20 26 -4 2032 -8 1172 3 10 32
3. Tyler Reddick 45 26 2 2028 -12 1169 2 3 28
4. William Byron 24 26 -1 2022 -18 1191 3 1 22
5. Ryan Blaney 12 26 1 2018 -22 1235 2 3 18
6. Denny Hamlin 11 26 -2 2015 -25 1255 3 6 15
7. Chase Elliott 9 26 4 2014 -26 1258 1 1 14
8. Brad Keselowski 6 26 1 2008 -32 1253 1 0 8
9. Joey Logano 22 26 -6 2007 -33 1265 1 2 7
10. Austin Cindric 2 26 -9 2007 -33 1305 1 2 7
11. Daniel Suarez 99 26 -6 2006 -34 1310 1 1 6
12. Alex Bowman 48 26 0 2005 -35 1315 1 0 5
13. Chase Briscoe 14 26 -5 2005 -35 1336 1 0 5
14. Harrison Burton 21 26 -20 2005 -35 1339 1 0 5
15. Martin Truex Jr. 19 26 10 2004 -36 1341 0 3 0
16. Ty Gibbs 54 26 4 2004 -36 1389 0 2 4
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