Chase Briscoe ended a long winless stretch of 93 races by winning the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway on September 1, securing his spot in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver became emotional during his post-race interview.
Set to take over Martin Truex Jr.'s #19 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing starting in 2025, after Stewart-Haas Racing wraps up operations at the end of the 2024 season, Briscoe had shown potential with four top-10 finishes and two top-5s earlier in the season. However, it wasn't until the race at Darlington that he finally outpaced the competition. His previous and only other Cup victory was at the Ruoff Mortgage 500 at Phoenix Raceway in 2022.
Overwhelmed with his win on Sunday, Briscoe's voice cracked over the radio as he announced the win.
"We just won the Southern 500," Chase Briscoe said.
During his post-race interview, while holding his son, Chase Briscoe said:
"Last week was the most embarrassing race in my life. [...] Everybody knows I'm a die-hard Tony Stewart fan.
"To get this #14 car back in victory lane. and for 320-something employees to be able to race for a championship in their final year - 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.'"
On the final restart, Busch restarted on the inside of the fourth row at Lap 351, the first car on fresh tires. He quickly passed everyone in front of him, except Briscoe. Despite his car getting loose and nicking the wall a few times in the final laps, Briscoe successfully fended Busch off to secure his second NASCAR Cup race victory.
Chase Briscoe dashes Bubba Wallace, Kyle Larson, and Kyle Busch's playoffs hopes with Darlington victory
Kyle Busch faced his final shot at a playoff berth but fell short, finishing just 0.36 seconds behind Chase Briscoe, a result that left him disappointed. Kyle Larson, who dominated most of the race by leading 263 laps and securing victories in both Stages 1 and 2, ended up in fourth place right behind Christopher Bell, who finished third.
Ty Gibbs, on the other hand, managed to secure his first playoff position by finishing 20th. Bubba Wallace, who was positioned 13th in the playoff standings ahead of Darlington, dropped to 18th after a 16th-place finish in the Cook Out Southern 500.
Despite a crash on the third lap that ended his race prematurely, Martin Truex Jr. still managed to secure the final playoff spot. After only completing two laps due to the incident, playoff points and standings allowed Truex to sneak into the playoffs, securing the 16th and last spot.