In a span of 367 grueling laps of the 2024 Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, Chris Buescher and Bubba Wallace went from competing against one another for the 16th and final berth to this year’s Playoffs to both being knocked out of contention amid a new race winner capitalizing on the Playoff’s “Win and You’re In” format.
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.
The two-time Xfinity Series champion from Corning, California, fought through an illness to claim his first regular-season title in NASCAR's premier series by a single point.
With one race to go in the regular season, everything is on the line for the NASCAR Cup Series drivers at Darlington Raceway’s Southern 500 on Sunday evening.
This weekend NASCAR travels to Darlington Raceway. The Cook Out Southern 500 is the final race of the NASCAR Cup Series regular season for the first time since the Playoffs began in 2004.
The 2018 Daytona 500 champion from Welcome, North Carolina, officially faces a "must-win" scenario entering the 2024 Cup Series regular-season finale at Darlington Raceway to race his way back into Playoff contention after being denied a final overturn attempt of his Richmond penalties from the Final Appeal Officer.
Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.
1. Christopher Bell: Bell finished third in the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona.
"Ty Gibbs' No. 54 car...
With their respective top-10 runs at Daytona, Chris Buescher and Ty Gibbs are currently scored above the top-16 cutline to make the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs while Bubba Wallace is scored below the cutline ahead of next weekend's regular-season finale at Darlington.