DARLINGTON, S.C. — Chase Briscoe went three-wide to pass Kyle Larson and Ross Chastain for the lead, then outran two-time series champion Kyle Busch to win the Southern 500 on Sunday night and make the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.
Briscoe pulled away on a final restart with 17 laps in the regular-season finale at Darlington Raceway and held off Busch, who, like Briscoe, needed a victory to reach the postseason. «We just won the Southern 500,» an emotional Briscoe said on his radio.
Briscoe's Stewart-Haas Team announced its closure earlier this season. Briscoe gave the proud program something to fight for over the final 10 weeks of the season.
Joe Gibbs Racing drivers Ty Gibbs and Martin Truex Jr. got the final two postseason spots on points, while Bubba Wallace and Chastain, both within 27 points of the cutoff line when the race began, came up short.