Chase Briscoe wins Darlington's Southern 500 for the second consecutive time

Chase Briscoe won his second consecutive Southern 500 this Sunday at Darlington Raceway, controlling the race from start to finish. Briscoe led 309 of the 367 laps run and withstood late pressure from Tyler Reddick to secure his automatic pass to the second round of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.

The victory gives Briscoe the peace of mind of not relying on the results at Gateway and Bristol, the two remaining races of the first elimination round. With this second win of the season, Briscoe becomes the first driver to win consecutive Southern 500s since Greg Biffle in 2005 and 2006.

Toyota places six drivers in the top seven

Sunday represented a show of strength for Toyota, which placed six drivers in the top seven positions. Erik Jones finished third, followed by John Hunter Nemechek in fourth. AJ Allmendinger was the only Chevrolet driver in the top five, while Bubba Wallace and Denny Hamlin closed out Toyota's dominance in sixth and seventh respectively.

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The performance of the #19 team was practically perfect during the 367 laps. Briscoe swept the first two stages and maintained control even when Tyler Reddick increased the pressure in the final 20 laps of competition.

Reddick applies late pressure but fails to pass

Tyler Reddick, who started from fourth place, kept his #45 car in fighting position throughout the race despite suffering minor damage from contact with Josh Berry on the first lap. Reddick closed in significantly on Briscoe in the last 10 laps, even attempting a pass on the low line in turn 3, but was unable to complete the maneuver.

"We were better than him on long runs," explained Reddick. "He could restart much better. I think that was the difference tonight. I could get close, but unfortunately it seemed like on the last run, the balance wasn't as good as it had been the rest of the night."

The second-place finish keeps Reddick in a comfortable position in the playoffs, sitting 35 points above the elimination line after the first postseason race.

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Early problems define the fate of several contenders

The traditional difficulty of Darlington was evident from the first lap, when Josh Berry lost control of his Ford #21 in turn 2 after making contact with Reddick. The Wood Brothers Racing car hit the outside wall, suffering severe damage to the left rear and chassis that forced it to complete only two laps before retiring to the garage.

Berry returned to the track 119 laps later, but finished last in the overall classification and fell to 16th place in the playoffs, sitting 19 points below the elimination line.

"The car bottomed out five or six times and just crashed," Berry recounted. "It was definitely unexpected. I saw a replay while sitting in the car while it was being repaired, and you could see it bottomed out four or five times, and you can't save them when they're like that."

Hendrick Motorsports suffers a difficult day

All four Hendrick Motorsports drivers finished outside the top 15, with Chase Elliott as the highest placed in 17th position. The 2020 champion is now just nine points above the elimination line heading into Gateway.

Kyle Larson, who started the postseason as the highest seeded driver, finished 19th and maintains third place in the playoff standings. His teammate William Byron finished 21st and occupies fifth position in the standings.

Alex Bowman faced one of the toughest nights after suffering mechanical problems with the air supply to the front tire changer's gun. The #48 driver spent 40 seconds on pit road during his second green-flag stop and fell two laps down, a position he was unable to recover from, finishing 31st.

Joe Gibbs Racing celebrates team performance

Joe Gibbs, owner of the winning team, highlighted the speed with which Briscoe and crew chief James Small developed their working chemistry. "I think it's definitely paying off at a point where I don't think we thought it would be possible," Gibbs commented on his new driver's performance.

Small, who directed the winning strategy, revealed they faced alternator problems during the race, which forced Briscoe to run without air conditioning for extended periods. "He had to tough it out. It was hot. We gave him water every stop to pour over himself," explained the crew chief.

The victory at Darlington is Briscoe's second win in 2025 and his fourth victory in the NASCAR Cup Series. Briscoe can now focus on accumulating additional points at Gateway and Bristol without the pressure of fighting to advance to the second round.

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Results - Cook Out Southern 500

Darlington Raceway - August 31, 2025