Chase Briscoe wins Southern 500 in NASCAR playoffs opener - ESPN

DARLINGTON, S.C. — Chase Briscoe held off Tyler Reddick at Darlington Raceway on Sunday night to win the Southern 500 for the second straight year and advance to the second round of the NACAR Cup Series playoffs.

Briscoe, in his first season with Joe Gibbs Racing, 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.

«It's so cool to win two Southern 500s in a row,» the 30-year-old Indiana driver said. «This is my favorite race of the year.»

A year ago, when the race was the last of the regular season, Briscoe used a late, four-wide pass to move in front and win his way into the playoffs. This time, he had the baddest machine on the block throughout.

Briscoe moved in front early and cruised through most of the event on NASCAR's oldest superspeedway. After Reddick swept past him on the restart for the final segment, Briscoe got back in front a lap later and easily moved into the lead after each of his final three pit stops.

Reddick went low and got to Briscoe's door on the final lap but could not finish the pass. Briscoe held on to win for the second time this season and fourth time in his career.

«That was way harder than it needed to be,» said Briscoe, also the winner at Pocono in June.

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.

It was a not a great night for most of the playoff field, as several contenders struggled. Only four playoff racers were in the top 10.

Josh Berry, who already was below the 12-man cutoff