By Adam Carabine
While it looked like it might be a Kyle Larson-led parade to the finish line, the ending of the Southern 500 delivered anything but.
Chase Briscoe was in “kill mode,” as his crew chief Richard Boswell said, and he pulled out a victory at Darlington Raceway, earning himself a Crown Jewel win, and more importantly a spot in the NASCAR Playoffs.
Coming into the night, Briscoe was 20th in the regular season standings, sitting 144 points out of a playoff spot. There was no possible way for him to point his way into the post-season. A win was his only option, and he pulled it off in dramatic fashion.
The first stage played out as a battle between pole sitter Bubba Wallace and Kyle Larson – each with their own reasons to fight for a win. Wallace was 21 points out of the playoffs, needing a solid run over Chris Buescher who, at the time, held onto the 16th and final spot.
Larson was in a close battle with Tyler Reddick for the Regular Season Championship, which comes with an extremely valuable 15 playoff point prize.
Chase Briscoe was running a solid race behind those two, but even a P2 finish wouldn’t be enough for his playoff hopes. While Larson swept both stages, en route to a whopping 263 laps led on the day, Briscoe bided his time, waiting for his moment.
Despite a fast car, Tyler Reddick was having a rough day. Reddick spoke over the radio to his team complaining of a stomach bug, saying he was worried about throwing up (and more) inside the car. The team did their best to give him some medication during pit stops, but it was a grueling race for the driver of the 45 Toyota.
“I held on for dear life all night,” he said, adding that it was the worst he’s ever felt in a race.
Aside from a wreck on lap two involving Martin Truex Jr. and Ryan Blaney, the race stayed caution free (aside from stage breaks) until the final 50 laps.
As the race got closer to the end, the aggression rose – and so did the cautions. For the most part the playoff contenders managed to steer clear of the carnage, but it was Ross Chastain who rained on Larson’s parade.
After a caution on lap 337, Chastain (who came into this race with his own point deficit to the playoff line) was the lone car that opted to stay out on old tires. With Darlington known for chewing up tires, this was clearly a hail mary call.
Not only did Chastain get eaten up by everyone else on newer tires behind him, this allowed Chase Briscoe to make a gutsy three-wide pass for the lead. Right after that move, he was told over the radio: “Way to be badass, brother, finish it off.”
There was one final caution, which led to an 8-lap shootout to the finish, and Briscoe stayed up front until the checkered flag.
“I definitely run better under heavy pressure for whatever reason. I love that stuff, I love the Game 7 heavy pressure moment. I feel like I do a lot better under those situations,” Briscoe said after the race.
With the win, Briscoe locked himself into the playoffs, and he knocked out Chris Buescher, Bubba Wallace and Ross Chastain. Joe Gibbs Racing drivers Martin Truex Jr. and Ty Gibbs got the final two playoff spots on points alone.
With Kyle Larson getting shuffled back to finish 4th, he missed his chance at the Regular Season title, losing it by a single point to the ailing Tyler Reddick.
The NASCAR Playoffs kick off with the Round of 16 next week at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
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