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Chase Briscoe takes commanding Southern 500 win at Darlington, advances in NASCAR Playoffs

JHby: Jonathan Howard09/01/25Jondean25
Chase Briscoe NASCAR Southern 500
Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

Chase Briscoe led 309 tonight in Darlington to win the Southern 500 in overwhelming fashion and advance in the NASCAR Playoffs. A late-race run from Tyler Reddick and Erik Jones came up just short of knocking the 19 car off its game.

On the last lap, Tyler Reddick made a massive move in Turns 3 and 4 to pass Chase Briscoe for the lead. It wasn’t meant to be.

This makes Briscoe a two-time, back-to-back Southern 500 winner. He has done that with two different teams as well. Last year with Stewart-Haas and this season with Joe Gibbs Racing. A year after the biggest win of his career? He one-ups it at the same race.

Chase Briscoe swept the stages. He wasn’t able to land the fastest lap. That, instead, went to Josh Berry. The 21 car wrecked on the first lap and was more than 100 laps down when he ripped a qualifying lap on the track and took the bonus point for himself.

That was enough to tie him in points with Alex Bowman. They are both -19 points to the cutline and are going to have to fight and claw their way the next two races to make up that deficit. This race has set the stage for the next two, and who will be looking to win their way to the Round of 12.

As it always does, Darlington Raceway completely changed from day to night. We had comers and goers. While Stage 3 was a bit stale, the caution from Derek Kraus that led us to a 50-lap dash to the finish made it interesting.

It was incredibly difficult to pass, but Chase Briscoe had a rocket. Until Berry took his fastest lap bonus, Briscoe had it with roughly a two-tenths advantage on the next-best.

Chase Briscoe has best performance of NASCAR career

When you look at the dominance that Chase Briscoe had in the race today, it is by far his best race as a Cup Series driver. He has won at Phoenix, Pocono, and now, twice at Darlington. How about that?

Briscoe has really come into his own with the No. 19 team. James Small has recreated Briscoe in his own image. The Hoosier from Mitchell, Indiana is in better shape than he ever has been as a driver, he is in better equipment than he ever has been, and he’s ready to start winning races.

Tyler Reddick was right there. Erik Jones was close to playing spoiler and winning his third Southern 500. Elsewhere in the NASCAR Playoffs, Denny Hamlin is way above the cutline, Kyle Larson, Tyler Reddick, and William Byron make up the top-five. Joey Logano, Austin Dillon, Josh Berry, and Alex Bowman are all below the cutline.

A huge night for Chase Briscoe. He advances to the Round of 12 with the win tonight. He also etches another year onto that Southern 500 trophy. Is this the start of a championship run for Briscoe? Or will he run into trouble later in the NASCAR Playoffs?