DARLINGTON, S.C. – Chase Briscoe held Tyler Reddick in the rearview on Sunday to tame Darlington Raceway for the second time in a row, leading 309 of 367 laps at the Lady in Black.
Briscoe, a native of Mitchell, Indiana, is the first back-to-back winner since Greg Biffle, the driver who started second to teammate Denny Hamlin and swept the stages, lost control of the race on two separate restarts, but regained the lead each time by managing each situation.
“This is my favorite race of the year,” Briscoe said. “The atmosphere here is like nowhere else.”
Briscoe joins 85-time Cup Series winner Bobby Allison as drivers to lead over 300 laps in the Southern 500. Briscoe’s second win with Joe Gibbs Racing locked him into the next round.
“There at the end, that was way harder than it needed to be," Briscoe said of Reddick’s charge.
Briscoe’s lead shrank in the final 30 laps, and Reddick dove inside on the final lap in turn 3.
“I wasn’t really expecting a dive bomb,” Briscoe said regarding Reddick’s move. “Just because I knew that it probably was not going to work.”
Now, the pressure is off for the next two races, and the No. 19 team can focus on the round of 12. “Tonight is definitely what we’re capable of week in and week out,” Briscoe said.
The race length was just under four hours, featuring seven cautions for incidents. The first of which involved playoff driver Josh Berry and nearly ended Reddick’s run on the opening lap.
Berry started third but snapped loose running over the bumps exiting turn two and spun in front of the field. Reddick got sent sideways and somehow managed to save his Toyota from damage.
“This race pretty much could have been disastrous,” Reddick said. “But we scored a lot of stage points and almost one Southern 500 so we'll turn these second place finishes into a victory.”
Reddick believed his car was stronger on the longer runs compared to his competitors. “[Briscoe] could just fire off a whole lot better,” Reddick said post-race. “That was the difference tonight.”
Second was Reddick’s best finish since the Daytona 500, and it vaulted him from 14th to fourth. Reddick enters the final two round of 16 races with a 35-point cushion over Shane Van Gisbergen.
Hamlin thwarted Briscoe’s bid at a record four-straight crown jewel poles by 0.002 seconds on Saturday. Hamlin ran inside the top five for the first 150 laps but fell behind after a slow pit stop.
“It was a monumental task to come from 23rd in [stage 2],” Hamlin said after leading 12 laps. That extended a 12-race consecutive lead streak at Darlington, the fifth-longest in history.
Two-time Southern 500 winner Erik Jones came home third with teammate John Hunter Nemechek fourth. AJ Allmendinger led Kaulig Racing to its first top-five finish since Charlotte.
Hamlin, Kyle Larson, Reddick and William Byron leave Darlington as the top five in points. Bubba Wallace, Ryan Blaney and Ross Chastain each have 20 points to the playoff cutoff.
Alex Bowman is last on the grid, 19 points back after his No. 48 pit crew suffered a 40-second pitstop. Bowman never moved forward despite getting back onto the lead lap, finishing 31st.
Race two on the path to Phoenix takes place at World Wide Technology Raceway on Sunday, Sept. 7. Tune into the USA network or MRN radio for pre-race ceremonies at 3 p.m. ET.