Briscoe wins Southern 500 to advance to 2nd round of NASCAR playoffs

Chase Briscoe shared some history with his second straight Southern 500 victory at Darlington Raceway on Sunday. He hopes to make a bit more this season as he goes after his first NASCAR Cup Series title.

Briscoe held off Tyler Reddick on the final lap to become just the eighth driver in stock racing history with consecutive wins at the track “Too Tough To Tame.” The list includes Hall of Famers and greats like Dale Earnhardt, Cale Yarborough, Jeff Gordon and Bobby Allison.

Briscoe took the lead early, won both stages and led 309 of 367 laps. Not only did he advance into the round of 12, he became the first driver with consecutive wins in NASCAR’s crown jewel race since Greg Biffle in 2005 and 2006.

Two-time Southern 500 winner Erik Jones was third, followed by John Hunter Nemechek and AJ Allmendinger. Playoff racers Bubba Wallace and Denny Hamlin, Briscoe’s JGR teammate, were next.

Only four playoff racers were in the top 10.

The playoffs continue next Sunday at World Wide Technology Raceway outside of St. Louis in second of three first-round races — the round concludes at Bristol on Sept. 13 — before the field is cut from 16 to 12.


(AP Photo Matt Kelley)