DARLINGTON, S.C. — Darlington Raceway lived up to its reputation Saturday night to a sold-out crowd as the track “Too Tough to Tame” delivered all the twists and turns we’ve come to expect.
The Southern 500 was the final race of the NASCAR Cup Series regular season and emotions ran high in anticipation of the upcoming series Playoffs. When the checkered flag waved, Chase Briscoe crossed the finish line first in his No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford to win the Southern 500, secure his spot in the Playoffs and emerge as the regular season champion. It was Briscoe’s second career win in the series.
But it wasn’t easy one as he held off a hard-charging Kyle Busch in the final closing laps. Busch was also fighting for a spot in the Playoffs but came up short finishing 0.361 seconds behind Briscoe.
“I was sideways, countersteering. I felt like I was in a Sprint Car,” Briscoe said. “Yeah, this night just literally went perfect. The pit crew did an incredible job and I was crying after the checkered because I just won the Southern 500.
“This is a crown jewel and what makes this race so special is all you race fans. Every time we come here it’s sold out. It’s awesome and we love you guys. The last time I won here was during COVID, so I didn’t get the experience with the fans, so I’m grateful you guys are here and I can’t wait to celebrate.”
After the race, a disappointed Busch described the final laps as he raced Briscoe for the win.
“I’m proud of everyone on the No. 8 Morgan & Morgan Chevrolet team today for finishing second. We didn’t have much speed throughout the majority of the race. We were just mired in traffic, and we weren’t able to get up through the field. Once we did get up there, I felt like we were going to have a shot at running in the top five during those last three or four restarts. But then we had a shot for the win and just couldn’t make it up there.
“We needed Chase Briscoe to have about three more laps on his tires, maybe. If his tires would have been just a little bit more used up, I could have gotten there. I got within his wake, and as soon as I got within his wake I felt my car come out of the racetrack and I didn’t have enough to overpower that. I really hate it for everybody at RCR because we’ve put a lot of effort and work into our Chevrolets.
“We didn’t have much speed there through a majority of the race,” Busch said. “We were just mired in traffic, and we weren’t able to get up through there. “But once we got up there, I felt like those last three or four restarts, we were going to have a shot running in the top-5. But then we had a shot for the win and just couldn’t make it up there.”
It will be the first time Busch has missed the Playoffs since 2012,
Christopher Bell finished third, followed by Kyle Larson, Ross Chastain, Chris Buescher, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, Corey LaJoie and Tyler Reddick to complete the top 10.
Kyle Larson led 263 laps and won the first two stages but his fourth-place finish left him one point short of claiming the NASCAR Cup Series regular-season title which went to 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick. Larson will, however, start the Playoffs as the No. 1 seed with 40 Playoff points.
Buescher’s sixth-place finish, unfortunately, was not enough to advance him to the Playoffs as Martin Truex Jr. and Ty Gibbs advanced based on points earned throughout the season even though both were involved in wrecks.
Playoff Standings:
- Kyle Larson (2,040 points)
- Christopher Bell (2,032 points, -8)
- Tyler Reddick (2,028 points, -12)
- William Byron (2,022 points, -18)
- Ryan Blaney (2,018 points, -22)
- Denny Hamlin (2,015 points, -25)
- Chase Elliott (2,014 points, -26)
- Brad Keselowski (2,008 points, -32)
- Joey Logano (2,007 points, -33)
- Austin Cindric (2,007 points, -33)
- Daniel Suárez (2,006 points, -34)
- Alex Bowman (2,005 points, -35)
- Chase Briscoe (2,005 points, -35)
- Harrison Burton (2,005 points, -35)
- Ty Gibbs (2,004 points, -36)
- Martin Truex Jr. (2,004 points, -36)
