Chase Briscoe came through in the clutch when it mattered most.
After seven months of NASCAR action, the Cup Series came down to one last race before the playoffs begin. The only way for Briscoe to earn a spot the playoffs was to win his first race of the season at the Cook Out Southern 500, and he came through. A couple of other drivers also made their final pushes into playoff positions.
Entering the regular season finale, 13 of the 16 playoff spots were set. Martin Truex Jr. clinched a spot – even after crashing out of the race in the second lap – thanks to his large points lead coming into the day. Ty Gibbs avoided trouble of his own throughout the race to stay above the cut line and take the final playoff spot by points.
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But Briscoe's hard-earned win and resulting playoff berth was the real headline of the day, as Darlington lived up to its reputation as one of the most demanding tracks of the year. Just like last weekend in Daytona, another new playoff driver emerged in the final moments before the Round of 16.
See how it all happened at Darlington Raceway:
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Reddick's efforts in the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota despite his illness were just enough to win the regular season championship. Larson, driving the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, finishes the regular season one point behind Reddick.
Briscoe will make the playoffs with his first race win of the season. Busch couldn't quite come out on top – he finished less than half of a second behind Briscoe – and will miss out on the postseason push for the NASCAR Cup Drivers' Championship. The win officially knocks both Buescher and Wallace out of the playoffs, and Ty Gibbs – driving the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota – gets the final spot on points.
With fewer than 10 laps to go, this race is likely coming down to one of Chase Briscoe – in the No. 14 Stewart-Haas – and Kyle Busch – in the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. Busch trails Briscoe by 0.25 seconds. The winner will clinch a playoff spot. The other is out of the playoff race.
Wallace and Gibbs, both fighting for playoff spots, were two drivers involved in a big crash that took out about half a dozen cars.
Wallace's playoff push is likely over after the crash after Buescher made it away unscathed. Meanwhile, Gibbs is still in a good position. He'd need to finish 26 spots behind Buescher to not make the playoffs, according to FOX Sports' Bob Pockrass.
There will be fewer than 20 laps remaining in the Southern 500 when the race resumes after the caution.
Coming out of the sixth caution of the race, Briscoe makes a push for the lead on the inside in the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford. He passes Larson, who is driving the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet and led for a large majority of the race.
Hocevar's No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet had some debris come off of it, causing a third caution in the last 25 minutes. Every car in the lead lap besides Chastain pits during the caution.
There will be 26 laps remaining to determine a couple of things. First and foremost, there are several cars in position to be the race winner. If it's a first-time race winner this season, they'll clinch a playoff spot. Finally, there's the race for the final playoff spot between Wallace in the No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota and Buescher in the No. 17 RFK Racing Ford. Wallace needs to finish 12 spots ahead of Buescher for the spot.
Todd Gilliland, driving in the No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford, and Buescher, in the No. 17 RFK Racing Ford, made contact, causing a caution. It allows several cars to pit with just over 40 laps to go.
Buescher said his car seemed alright, but it's a caution with some playoff implications. Bubba Wallace, who's driving in the No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota, trails Buescher by three points for the last spot in the playoffs.
Hocevar, who started the race in P2 driving the No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet, spins at the bottom of turn three with just over 50 laps remaining. He receives a caution for the spin, and Ross Chastain – in the No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet – was in the pit road. The latter lost a lap and would take the wave-around.
Larson still holds a large lead in the Southern 500 after 293 laps. Chase Briscoe is over four seconds behind him in his current spot as the runner-up.
The driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet continues to dominate Sunday's race. He wins the second stage of the Southern 500 over Chase Briscoe and is up to 10 points gained on Reddick for the regular-season championship.
Chris Buescher couldn't get any more points driving the No. 17 RFK Racing Ford in Stage 2, which gives Truex enough of an edge to clinch a spot in the playoffs despite crashing out of Sunday's race early. Buescher can't catch the veteran even if he earns the maximum number of points on the table. If Buescher wins the race, Truex would still qualify on points.
The 32-year-old is in a good position for a fifth race win of the season – and potentially a regular-season title. After a couple of pit stops in Stage 2, he's still over one second ahead of Chase Briscoe's No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford.
Larson, the driver currently atop the playoff picture, won the first stage in Darlington in the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. It's his ninth stage win of the season, and with it, he'll have a chance to challenge for the regular season title. He gained three points on Tyler Reddick, who currently leads the regular-season standings, with the stage win.
Reddick, for his part, is driving through some kind of illness. He has been on the radio requesting crackers, bread and TUMS antacid from his pit team. Reddick also told his team he is throwing up and defecating in his car.
The driver of the No. 2 Team Penske Ford received a pass-through penalty when his pit crew allowed a tire to roll away during a stop.
Truex took responsibility for the second-lap collision that forced him out of the race when he spoke with NBC Sports.
Blaney had received medical attention after his collision with Truex for an apparent arm injury. He said he was alright in a later update on USA's broadcast and explained he was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time when Truex overcorrected.
Truex Jr., racing in the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, almost made contact with William Byron in the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet and overcorrected himself right into Blaney's No. 12 Team Penske Ford. Both cars are out of race after the crash around Turn 1 on lap two, and Blaney is receiving medical attention.
"I'm an idiot," Truex said on his radio after the crash.
The collision has massive implications for Truex, who just needed a clean performance in today's race to remain inside the playoff picture. Now, he'll have to wait and see if his points lead entering the day is enough to stay in the top 16.
Bubba Wallace, driving out of the No. 23 for 23X1 Racing, will be situated in the pole position to kick off the race at Darlington.
Lineup, start time and more information on the NASCAR Cook Out Southern 50 can be found here.
Darlington Raceway was NASCAR's first superspeedway when it debuted on the calendar in 1950. It also hosted the first 500-mile race in Cup Series history, the Southern 500, on Labor Day in 1950.
The playoff field is nearly set. Thirteen drivers have secured a spot in the playoffs via at least one race win.
Martin Truex Jr., Ty Gibbs, and Chris Buescher are currently ninth, 10th, and 11th in the Cup Series standings, respectively, with no regular season wins. The gap from Truex Jr. to Buescher is 37 points. If there is a new race winner from outside of that group on Sunday, one of the three will not make the playoffs.
The following drivers have already clinched a playoff spot:
The playoffs start next Sunday, Sept. 8, with the Quaker State 400 presented by Walmart at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia.
Round of 16
Round of 12
Round of 8
Championship 4
Brad Keselowski broke a 110-race win drought with his win at Darlington in May at the Goodyear 400. The 2012 Cup Series champion was battling with Tyler Reddick and Chris Buescher when contact forced both to pit road and left Keselowski in front for the closing laps.
Kyle Larson won the 2023 Cook Out Southern 500 in what was the opening round of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs last season.
Jeff Gordon has the most career wins in the event with six (1995-1998, 2002, 2007).
NASCAR Hall of Fame driver David Pearson has the most career wins at the track with 10.
Fourteen drivers have won regular season NASCAR Cup races in 2024, including:
*= Dillon won the race but had playoff eligibility removed for it.
Logano and Ty Gibbs won the NASCAR All-Star Race and NASCAR All-Star Open, respectively, but neither race counts towards the championship.
The Cook Out Southern 500 in Darlington Sunday is 367 laps. Stage 1 and 2 are 115 laps each and Stage 3 is 137 laps.
The 2024 Cook Out Southern 500 will be broadcast on USA Network starting at 6 p.m. ET. The channel will also have a pre-race show starting at 5:30 p.m. ET.
You can live stream the Cook Out Southern 500 on the NBCSports website and the NBC Sports app. The race is also available to stream on Fubo.
The latest weather forecast from AccuWeather predicts 72 degrees Sunday night during the Cook Out Southern 500.
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