“This sucks”: Fans react as Chase Briscoe’s Darlington win sees a significant drop in viewership

Chase Briscoe dominated the Southern 500 at the Darlington Raceway, topping 309 of the 367 laps to win his second in a row at this marquee NASCAR race. Though it was the first race of the playoff season, the viewership numbers have sent NASCAR fans into a frenzy.

Briscoe not only won both races overall but also survived a late challenge by Tyler Reddick, in a margin of only 0.408 seconds. He not only won his second race of the season, but was also the first driver to qualify for the second round of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.

Briscoe is one of the eight drivers who have won the Southern in consecutive years, along with Dale Earnhardt and Jeff Gordon. More importantly, Briscoe was the first driver since the 1970s, after Cale Yarborough, to win the Southern 500 two times with two distinct teams. Despite the historic result, Jeff Gluck reported the steep decline in the viewership numbers:

"The Southern 500 on USA Network drew 1.88 million viewers. Last year: 2.4 million on USA."

Jeff Gluck

@jeff_gluck

The Southern 500 on USA Network drew 1.88 million viewers. Last year: 2.4 million on USA.

To which one of the fans said:

"This sucks. But also, last year was the regular season finale. Still, this sucks."

Another reacted:

"But I thought the playoffs add excitement & viewership??? What happened ?"

Meanwhile, one penned:

Hmm so the Playoffs clearly arent a big draw for the TV audience

Another penned:

"Yeah. Heads are gonna roll…"

The intense atmosphere of the Darlington track, often called "Too Tough to Tame," added to the significance of his win, especially since many playoff competitors struggled on this challenging circuit.

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Chase Briscoe explains why his team’s true potential isn’t reflected in numbers

Chase Briscoe believes that his Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 team's true potential in the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series is not fully reflected in their current statistics. Despite having two wins, 11 top-five finishes, six pole positions, and leading 628 laps, the team’s overall performance appears inconsistent due to fluctuating finishes outside the top five, ranging between 15th and 25th place.

Briscoe highlighted that the team has not always displayed the caliber they are capable of, though he feels the strong performance at recent races shows what they are realistically capable of achieving. He said on the Teardown podcast:

"If you look at our season as a whole, like statistically, no, we don't look like one of those teams. I mean, we've had just as many top fives, I think, as anybody, but outside of the top fives, it's like we would run top five or 15th to 25th, and the team that we were those first 10 weeks, like that is a team that I can't even remember," Chase Briscoe said.

Briscoe emphasized that the team sees itself as "championship caliber," and he personally feels that the sky's the limit for them. He pointed out their recent improvements, noting that they have avoided finishes worse than 23rd in the last nine races.