Chase Briscoe kicked off the Cup Series playoffs in the best way possible – by clinching a second consecutive Southern 500 win last night.
The no. 19 driver from Mitchell, Indiana led over 300 laps and was ecstatic to advance to the round of 12 so early, marking the win as “way harder than it needed to be.”
The Southern 500: NASCAR’s most gruelling challenge. Opening the 2025 Cup Series Playoffs was Darlington Raceway – an egg-shaped, one-mile oval, featuring progressive banking where drivers make the most speed up against the wall.
Regular brushes with the fence rewards drivers with the famed ‘Darlington Stripe’ on the right-side of their cars. Known as ‘the track too tough to tame,’ the margins are tight and mistakes can cost dearly.
Denny Hamlin, who won here in spring, started on the Busch Light Pole with Joe Gibbs Racing team-mate Briscoe to his inside.
The first lap of the Playoffs provided drama already: an accident for Josh Berry spinning from the inside of the second row when his no. 21 Wood Brothers Ford got loose over the bumps in turns one and two.
He doored Tyler Reddick in the process, but the no. 45 escaped with light damage. The no. 21 however required a trip to the garage for repairs in a nightmare start to Berry’s Playoffs.
Briscoe controlled the lead at the restart, immediately clearing Hamlin. Bubba Wallace fired off well, taking Kyle Larson, 23XI team-mate Reddick and team owner Hamlin in the early laps to reach second place.
The first pit cycle of the day was led by Briscoe on lap 35, taking fuel and tyres, followed swiftly by the rest of the field.
A second wave of green-flag stops arrived from lap 76, but Briscoe remained firmly at the front. Costly mistakes from the no. 6 RFK crew and no. 48 Hendrick crew compromised their pit stops.
While leaving his pit stall, Bubba Wallace had a near-miss with Front Row Motorsports’ Zane Smith attempting to pull into his stall. It was certainly a close call between Wallace and the no. 38’s crew, and the delay put him behind Hamlin, Reddick and Ross Chastain.
Chase Briscoe led 85 laps when took the stage one win. However, the battle for 25th stole the spotlight as Shane van Gisbergen, Todd Gilliland and Riley Herbst fought tooth and nail for the ‘lucky dog.’ SVG came out on top, showcasing the speed and skills expected of a playoff driver.
Hamlin made a great start to stage two on the inside of Briscoe. They remained side-by-side for a full lap, making light contact with each other as Hamlin brushed past with a dive into turns one and two.
Briscoe was not finished, however, and working the bottom he managed to retake the lead from the no. 11 over the next dozen laps.
Carson Hocevar had an eventful restart in the Chili’s Chevrolet, making contact with Chase Elliott, John-Hunter Nemechek and Chris Buescher. Just a few laps later, Hocevar spun down the front stretch battling his loose racecar, calling it “the worst-driving racecar I’ve ever driven.”
Issues for Hamlin on pit road killed his race – the jack dropped too early on the right side, prompting the crew to run back around, putting him down the order with a potentially damaged car from the earlier brush with Briscoe.
Hocevar certainly did not catch a break during the caution: he ended up facing backwards in his pit box when he was pitched into a spin by Christopher Bell leaving his.
Briscoe built a four-second lead to Erik Jones after stage two resumed under the setting sun.
On lap 203, Ryan Preece hit the rear of Cody Ware exiting turn two – putting Ware hard into the wall. He spun down the backstretch and a caution quickly followed.
With 22 laps left in stage two, Briscoe held the lead on the outside of Reddick. Erik Jones provisionally made it three-wide for the lead, but drama unfolded further back when Kyle Busch almost spun exiting turn four and caught out Ryan Blaney, who checked up but got shoved into a spin.
Blaney avoided damage as he brushed the inside wall with the lightest of contact. He did however need a fresh set of Goodyears after locking it down and flattening the right-front.
Briscoe led the restart with 16 to go and took it all the way to the end of stage two, followed by Reddick, Jones, Larson and AJ Allmendinger.
Briscoe could not stop winning – as he led the race off pit road to start stage three beside Reddick.
Stage three was a quiet affair, including a drama-free green flag pit stop cycle – until Derek Kraus’ no. 44 Chevy burst into flames and pulled to a stop with 55 laps to go.
With 48 to go, Briscoe once again led the field to green and once again kept Reddick behind. As the laps ticked down, Reddick began to reel in the no. 19, getting within half a second as the Legacy Motor Club boys of Jones and Nemechek followed.
Reddick dived for the bottom several times in an attempt to pressure Briscoe into a mistake, but the 30-year old could not be shaken. He crossed the line to take a second-straight Southern 500 victory, after leading 309 of 367 laps, and lock himself into the round of 12.
Just as his did last year, he soaked up the pressure and executed a brilliant race. However, it was not so brilliant for the likes of Berry, Bowman, Bell, and van Gisbergen, who all finished 29th or lower.
This meant Briscoe led the Playoff standings with his win, while reigning champion Joey Logano, Austin Dillon, Bowman and Berry sat below the cutoff line with two races left in the round of 16: World Wide Technology Raceway and Bristol Motor Speedway.
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