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Dale Earnhardt Jr. puts NASCAR playoff field on watch after Chase Briscoe Southern 500 win

FaceProfileby: Thomas Goldkamp09/03/25
Chase Briscoe
Mike Dinovo-USA TODAY Sports

Coming off a win in the Southern 500 on Sunday, Chase Briscoe is through to the Round of 12 in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. But at least one insider in the sport believes he could be a threat well beyond that.

Briscoe’s win at Darlington was no accident. He’s got things clicking right now.

“Dude, he is dangerous,” Dale Earnhardt Jr. said on the Dale Jr. Download. “I’d be a little concerned if I was the competition. I’d be looking at him going, ‘He’s got to be one of the guys I need to worry about.'”

Chase Briscoe is out first in the points standings, boasting a narrow lead over Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson. But with the win he’s already locked up a spot in the Round of 12.

Earnhardt and his crew on the podcast discussed the current state of affairs for Chase Briscoe last week. And it was clear then he was feeling confident heading into Darlington.

“We were sitting here talking to Briscoe last week, and I’m like, ‘Man, things started clicking at Charlotte, qualifying good, racing good, win at Pocono, starting to run up front, starting to be competitive,'” Earnhardt said. “And Briscoe’s a little different in the playoffs. He said, ‘Man, I love pressure.’ So we talked about pressure, we talked about why he loves pressure. And he just won his second Southern 500 in a row. One of the hardest races to win in the year.”

With that added confidence, Chase Briscoe should be running free on the track in the upcoming weeks. The pressure is off the next two weeks.

Still, the driver of the No. 19 car will be looking to keep stacking positive results. He knows he needs to stay in form if he’s going to compete for the title.

“I don’t know if he can win it all,” Earnhardt said. “I’m not ready to say he’s got a chance to go win the championship, but he’s going to ruin, and I think I said this, he’s going to ruin another sure contender. I mean if there’s a final four that you feel like are four locks, he’s going to boot somebody out. I see it, too.”