Briscoe leads a record-breaking night for Toyota
DARLINGTON, S.C. (August 31, 2025) – Chase Briscoe led 309 of 367 laps and scored a dominating victory in the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway on Sunday evening. It is Briscoe’s second win of the season, second straight in this race and 199th NASCAR Cup Series victory for Toyota.
It was a dominating race for Team Toyota as Toyota drivers finished in six of the top seven positions for the first time in our history – Briscoe, Tyler Reddick (second), Erik Jones (third), John Hunter Nemechek (fourth), Bubba Wallace (sixth) and Denny Hamlin (seventh). The fourth-place finish was also a career-best result for Nemechek.
With Joe Gibbs Racing’s Briscoe, 23XI Racing’s Reddick and LEGACY MOTOR CLUB’s Jones sweeping the podium finishers, it is the first time in Toyota’s history that they have placed three different organizations in the top three finishing positions. With Nemechek in fourth, it is the third top-four sweep in Toyota’s Cup Series history (2017 Watkins Glen, 2017 Bristol 2).
Toyota GAZOO Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Darlington Raceway
Race 27 of 36 – 501.32 miles, 367 laps
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, CHASE BRISCOE
2nd, TYLER REDDICK
3rd, ERIK JONES
4th, JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK
5th, AJ Allmendinger*
6th, BUBBA WALLACE
7th, DENNY HAMLIN
22nd, TY GIBBS
28th, RILEY HERBST
29th, CHRISTOPHER BELL
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
CHASE BRISCOE, No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 1st
How about that domination?
“There at the end, that was way harder than it needed to be. Man, just what an incredible Bass Pro Shops Toyota. As a fan, I have watched Martin (Truex Jr.) dominate a lot of races, and it was fun to finally be behind the wheel of it. It is so cool to win two Southern 500s in a row. This is my favorite race of the year because of the race fans. You come here and it is sold out. The atmosphere is unlike anything else. Great way to start our Playoffs and man, that was a lot of fun.”
TYLER REDDICK, No. 45 Pinnacle Toyota Camry XSE, 23XI Racing
Finishing Position: 2nd
What more did you need?
“The one time we got ahead of him there, we were just a little too tight. He was able to get back by us. I think for our Pinnacle Financial Partners Camry, we were better than he was on long runs. He could fire off a whole lot better. I think that was the difference tonight. I could get close. Yeah, I know we had a long run there, but it just unfortunately seemed like the last run the balance wasn’t quite as good as it has been the rest of the night on the long run. All-in-all, a really solid night for points in the Playoffs. Really want to win here. It’s frustrating to finish second, going for it, like I did last spring, doing the wrong thing, ending our day and finishing 36th. I wish I could have been just a little bit closer. When I dove off in there, I was already sideways. I learned from last spring that that doesn’t work. Yeah, a good solid day, but hopefully one day we’ll win here at Darlington.”
ERIK JONES, No. 43 Dollar Tree Toyota Camry XSE, LEGACY MOTOR CLUB
Finishing Position: 3rd
What more did you need at the end there?
“Probably to come off in the lead leaving pit road. We were all kind of going the same speed. I felt like we were probably a little bit better than both of them. I couldn’t get the run. I thought I had the 45 (Tyler Reddick) there with maybe four or five to go. There was a little hole on the top. He squeezed up and filled it. Racing for the win. Yeah, it’s hard to be that close. Would have liked to have had another one. We were right there all day, good speed with the Dollar Tree Camry. We just need more of that. Hopefully we keep these cars rolling and get one soon.”
JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK, No. 42 Pye Barker Fire & Safety Toyota Camry XSE, LEGACY MOTOR CLUB
Finishing Position: 4th
Are you happy with that finish?
“I wish we more laps. The more that I ran, the better that I was. I hated to see that caution there at the end, because I felt like we were in a really good spot, long run speed wise with the green flag cycle coming and everything else. Just not a lot of short run speed but we made the most of it. Proud of the effort from everyone at LEGACY MOTOR CLUB. We continue to get better. It is pretty cool to have 42 and 43 (Erik Jones) to finish in third and fourth at the Southern 500. I know I’m proud of the drive for myself. I’m proud of the effort. I’m proud of Travis (Mack, crew chief), and everyone that has been putting a lot into our Pye Barker Toyotas and making them faster. It feels good to come home fourth. I think that is my career-best finish in the Cup Series. Hats off to Pye Barker, everyone that has supported me through my career. Thank you to Jimmie (co-owner, LEGACY MOTOR CLUB) and Toyota for taking a chance on me to kind of revamp my career and getting me back to the Cup Series.”
BUBBA WALLACE, No. 23 U.S. Air Force Toyota Camry XSE, 23XI Racing
Finishing Position: 6th
What was the finish like?
“I was doing my best to not over drive the corners the last couple of laps. I could see the 45 (Tyler Reddick) really challenging the 19 (Chase Briscoe), so all-in-all good day for our team. Great Playoff start. Just solid execution. We had a couple of mistakes on pit road. We had a couple mistakes overall, but we were able to rebound really well. Our U.S. Air Force Toyota Camry was solid. Hats off to Toyota – I let AJ (Allmendinger), old man, get in front of me – otherwise we would have had the top six.”
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 Sport Clips Haircuts Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 7th
What kind of factored in to you getting this result?
“It was just a bad pit stop. We went from being in the top-two or three there, to being the last car on the lead lap. At that point, not to be debby downer but I knew that our Southern 500 was over. Just way too difficult to pass here at Darlington, so at that point, shifted goals to try to figure out how to get back into the top-10 before the end of the day, and we accomplished that. Just having some poise. Being good on the long run, getting some good restarts and doing our job.”
About Toyota
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