NASCAR News: Briscoe holds off Busch in Southern 500

Chase Briscoe held off Kyle Busch on newer tires to win the Cook Out Southern 500 NASCAR Cup race at Darlington Raceway by 0.361s.

With the win, Briscoe locked himself into the playoffs.

Christopher Bell was third in his JGR Toyota, 5.210s behind Briscoe.

Kyle Larson was 4th in his Hendrick Chevy, 6.092s behind Briscoe while Ross Chastain rounded out the top-5, 6.694s behind Briscoe.

Chris Buescher, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, Corey LaJoie and Tyler Reddick completed the top 10.

A crash on Lap 344 collected two playoff hopefuls. Ty Gibbs was pinched in the Turn 1 wall atop a three-wide situation with Josh Berry and Denny Hamlin, spinning Berry and collecting William Byron, Austin Dillon, Daniel Suárez, Bubba Wallace and Noah Gragson. Gibbs and Wallace entered Sunday’s contest vying to make the 16-driver postseason grid via points eligibility; Gibbs was able to continue and raced his way, claiming the final position on points while Wallace was ousted.

Martin Truex Jr. nearly had his playoff hopes upended after a Lap 3 error sent him into the Turn 1 wall with Ryan Blaney, ending the day of two former champions early. Truex attempted a pass on William Byron and misjudged, bouncing off Byron’s left rear and sending Truex into a skid. His overcorrection led him into the SAFER barrier with Blaney, eliminating both from the race and resulting in a 36th-place finish for Truex and 37th — last — for Blaney. Truex was nonetheless able to clinch his spot in the postseason at the conclusion of Stage 2.

Reddick battled illness all afternoon but ultimately won the Regular Season Championship by a single point over Kyle Larson, the first such title for the 23XI Racing driver.

CHASE BRISCOE HOLDS OFF KYLE BUSCH AND RACES HIS WAY INTO THE PLAYOFFS! pic.twitter.com/AVst4Z4EFa

— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) September 2, 2024

Cook Out Southern 500

Pos	No.	Driver	Make	Behind	Laps
1	14	Chase Briscoe		0.000	367
2	8	Kyle Busch		0.361	367
3	20	Christopher Bell		5.210	367
4	5	Kyle Larson		6.092	367
5	1	Ross Chastain		6.694	367
6	17	Chris Buescher		7.150	367
7	11	Denny Hamlin		9.665	367
8	22	Joey Logano		9.877	367
9	7	Corey LaJoie		9.958	367
10	45	Tyler Reddick		10.461	367
11	9	Chase Elliott		11.060	367
12	41	Ryan Preece		11.533	367
13	2	Austin Cindric		11.901	367
14	6	Brad Keselowski		14.127	367
15	3	Austin Dillon		15.517	367
16	23	Bubba Wallace		26.211	367
17	38	Todd Gilliland		27.687	367
18	99	Daniel Suarez		-1	366
19	48	Alex Bowman		-1	366
20	54	Ty Gibbs		-1	366
21	21	Harrison Burton		-2	365
22	47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.		-2	365
23	71	Zane Smith #		-3	364
24	43	Erik Jones		-3	364
25	42	John Hunter Nemechek		-3	364
26	16	Shane Van Gisbergen(i)		-3	364
27	51	Justin Haley		-4	363
28	34	Michael McDowell		-4	363
29	31	Daniel Hemric		-5	362
30	24	William Byron		-23	344
31	4	Josh Berry #		-24	343
32	10	Noah Gragson		-24	343
33	77	Carson Hocevar #		-32	335
34	15	Kaz Grala #		-35	332
35	66	* Timmy Hill(i)		-89	278
36	19	Martin Truex Jr.		-365	2
37	12	Ryan Blaney		-365	2

# DENOTES ROOKIE
(i) NOT ELIGIBLE FOR POINTS
(*) REQUIRED TO QUALIFY ON TIME