Chase Briscoe ended the losing streak of 73 races by winning the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway on September 1, getting his spot in the NASCAR Cup Series end-of-the-season games. During his post-race interview, the driver for Stewart-Haas Racing became very emotional and could not hold back his tears. After Stewart-Haas Racing which will close its operations at the end of the 2024 season, Briscoe will take over Martin Truex Jr.'s number 19 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing. Earlier in the season, Briscoe had four top-10 finishes and two top-5 finishes. However, he did not outpace the competition until the Darlington race. His past and just other Cup triumph was at the Ruoff Mortgage 500 at Phoenix Raceway in 2022.
Overwhelmed with his win on Sunday, Briscoe was really overwhelmed after his win as his voice cracked over the radio when he announced the win. He said, “We just won the Southern 500”.
Briscoe after his win
"Last week was the most embarrassing race in my life. [...] Everybody knows I'm a die-hard Tony Stewart fan," Chase Briscoe said in the post-match interview while holding his son in his arms. The racer burst into tears while talking and was emotional talking about all the employees who would be racing for the championship in their final year.
“To get this #14 car back in victory lane. and for 320-something employees to be able to race for a championship in their final year - this group, the day that we found out that the team wasn’t going to exist anymore, we went over to the shop floor, we all looked at each other and said, ‘We’re in this till the end. We’re not going to give this up',” he added.
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At Lap 351, Busch initiated the final restart inside the fourth row, becoming the first vehicle to use new tires. Except for Briscoe, he quickly passed everyone in front of him. Briscoe won his second NASCAR Cup race, despite Busch's car getting loose and nicking the wall several times in the final laps. He was able to successfully defend himself against Busch.
Kyle Busch missed out on his last playoff chance, finishing just 0.36 seconds behind Chase Briscoe, which disappointed him. Kyle Larson, who overwhelmed a large portion of the race by driving 263 laps and getting triumphs in the two Phases 1 and 2, wound up in fourth spot right behind Christopher Chime, who completed third.
Ty Gibbs, then again, figured out how to get his most memorable season finisher position by completing twentieth. After finishing 16th in the Cook Out Southern 500, Bubba Wallace, who finished ahead of Darlington in the playoff standings in 13th place, fell to 18th place. Martin Truex Jr. was able to secure the final playoff spot despite his race being prematurely terminated by a crash on the third lap. After just finishing two laps because of the occurrence, season finisher focuses and standings permitted Truex to slip into the end of the season games, getting the sixteenth and last spot.
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