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Thinkin’ Out Loud at Darlington: The Southern 500 is NASCAR’s Best Crown Jewel

What Happened?

All talks of the bubble battle ended when Chase Briscoe rocketed to the front and held off a hard-charging Kyle Busch to win the Cook Out Southern 500 Sunday night (Sept. 1). Briscoe’s victory locked him into the NASCAR Playoffs and eliminated both Chris Buescher and Bubba Wallace from contention.

Christopher Bell crossed the stripe in third while Kyle Larson, after dominating another Southern 500, wound up fourth after a number of late-race shakeups. Ross Chastain finished fifth after backing into a must-win situation during the race.

See also
Kyle Busch 1 Spot Short of Win, Playoff Berth For 2nd Straight Week

What Really Happened?

Sure, the Daytona 500 has the biggest trophy and the biggest purse. The Coca-Cola 600 caps off the greatest day in racing. But time and time again, the Southern 500 puts on the best display of driver versus driver and driver versus track, with a test of skill and endurance that sets NASCAR apart from every other motorsport.

When we talk about the crown jewels of NASCAR, the races at Daytona International Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway immediately come to mind. After all, the Daytona 500 is comparatively known as NASCAR’s Super Bowl, and the World 600 has the unique distance, the patriotic flare and serves as a home race for nearly all of the teams. 

However, the Daytona 500 currently feels slightly overshadowed by the actual Super Bowl, which now takes place the week before. Speedweeks has been shortened to a half a speed week, and the Clash is its own separate entity. Plus, superspeedway races are extremely entertaining, but the randomness and carnage take away from the talent of the teams and drivers.

The 600 miles at Charlotte no longer holds the endurance aspect that it used to. Splitting the race into four 100-lap segments keeps the field from getting too spread out, but it also hinders any strategy variation in the final stage. On top of that, the Indianapolis 500 is arguably the biggest race on Memorial Day as well.

NASCAR at Darlington stands alone on Labor Day weekend as a pivotal moment in the season. In recent years, it kicked off the NASCAR playoffs, and this year it provided an entertaining cutoff race.

The endurance aspect still holds true. Before things went haywire following Carson Hocevar’s spin, the green flag racing still had some interesting strategies playing out. 

The fascinating strategy constantly employed by Chris Gabehart and Denny Hamlin at tracks with high tire wear create a great showcase of how NASCAR doesn’t need multiple tire compounds, only a tire that wears.

While Hamlin would stay out longer and lose extra track time when he eventually pitted, the payoff almost always brought the No. 11 even closer to the front as the slightly fresher tires allowed Hamlin to drive past his competitors, rather than getting stuck in traffic.

The element of racing the track and the competitors never gets old for hardcore race fans, and it makes Darlington such a special venue.

It also takes an element of the randomness out of it, instead pushing drivers and teams to bring their top performances to stay relevant as the sun sets and the laps tick. No matter the car, the best, toughest drivers are able to display their talent without relying as much on a stroke of luck.

That’s why we’ve seen some of the sport’s best mix with a few underdogs to win the Southern 500. 

On Sunday, Briscoe ran well all night and put himself into a position to capitalize. Just like Larson did in 2023. Just like Erik Jones did in 2022. Just like Hamlin did in 2021, and on and on and on.

It takes a total team effort, and it takes a heroic driver effort. That’s why a Southern 500 win means so much to the drivers. That’s why its position on the schedule, either as a cutoff race or as a playoff opener, should never change. 

Maybe the Southern 500 doesn’t have the flashy facilities or the patriotic paint schemes, but it has something better: It’s a real racer’s race. That’s why the Southern 500 might be the most hidden, yet the most valuable, gem of the crown jewels of NASCAR.

Who Stood Out?

Yeah, he crossed the line first, but Briscoe stood out all night. He legitimately ran inside the top five for most of the event, and he was the only guy that had a shot at truly challenging Larson for the lead. (Yes, Hamlin likely would have made it a battle if the race stayed green.)

Stewart-Haas Racing has shown a few solid efforts, going after a storybook win as the four-car team will shut down in just a few months. There was no better way to do it than with Briscoe bringing home the trophy in one of the biggest races of the year.

Much of the race focused on the bubble battle and on Tyler Reddick, but not because of the chase for the regular season championship. Reddick felt sick, and he let his team know just how bad he was feeling multiple times throughout the race. 

While Larson dominated and looked nearly unbeatable for the regular season championship, the driver and team of the No. 45 car made a heroic effort to take tires, and Reddick drove up to secure the regular season championship by one point. The 15 bonus points might not have affected Larson too much, but they will be a massive asset for Reddick in the playoffs.

One driver who flew under the radar was Corey LaJoie. Obviously, LaJoie has had a nightmarish season and lost his ride for 2025. However, the LaJoie of old returned as he endured, stayed out of the limelight and recorded a ninth-place finish.

Who Fell Flat?

A very uncharacteristic mistake nearly cost Martin Truex Jr. a shot at the playoffs. On just the third lap, Truex made an overaggressive move on William Byron and spun, collecting Ryan Blaney. While he still made the cut, Truex enters as the final seed, and he’s been struggling at tracks where you would typically expect Truex to exceed.

It’s been a rough season for that Jones Boy, but he showed a glimmer of hope in practice Saturday. That did not transfer over to the race, and the two-time Southern 500 winner finished 24th.

See also
Kyle Larson Comes Up Short in Southern 500, Quest for Regular Season Title

Better Than Last Time?

After the first two stages, this race did feel a bit like a snoozefest. The third stage did bring some interesting strategies, but the 2024 season has not been kind to long green flag runs in the final stage.

For whatever reason, the late-race chaos and crashes felt less messy and more natural than the last few weeks. They also opened up a few more strategy options, which led to Chastain leading on a restart and Briscoe making the fantastic move for the lead.

Utlimately, another slight tire difference also allowed the Briscoe versus Busch battle to play out, providing a captivating finish without the need for overtime. That said, it definitely ranks higher than last year’s Southern 500, even though that was a good race as well.

Paint Scheme of the Race

A few schemes get a nod towards a paint scheme podium from Darlington. For starters, Hamlin’s tribute to Roy Hendrick didn’t change up the scheme too much, but it incorporated the iconic Flying 11, which earns a top-three paint scheme finish.

The 23XI scheme for Reddick placed the iconic images of Tiger Woods, Wayne Gretzky and team owner Michael Jordan on the car with the Upper Deck sponsorship. If that wasn’t cool enough, Reddick having his own version of the Flu Game to take the regular season trophy was a baller move.

But the best-looking scheme of the week goes to Chastain and the No. 1 team. Yes, yes, this isn’t throwback weekend, but Trackhouse brought a Busch Retro scheme, not a throwback scheme, and it looked amazing.

What’s Next?

The NASCAR Playoffs kick off with a superspeedway event at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday, Sept. 8. The Quaker State 400 starts at 3:00 p.m. on the USA Network.

Caleb began sports writing in 2023 with The Liberty Champion, where he officially covered his first NASCAR race at Richmond in the spring. While there, Caleb met some of the guys from Frontstretch, and he joined the video editing team after graduating from Liberty University with degrees in Strategic Communications and Sports Journalism. Caleb currently work full-time as a Multi-Media Journalist with LEX 18 News in Lexington, Kentucky and contributes to Frontstretch with writing and video editing. He's also behind-the-scenes or on camera for the Happy Hour Podcast, live every Tuesday night at 7:30!

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11 Comments
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SB

Still love seeing the red and white on the SAFER barrier!

DoninAjax

The sole purpose of the 77, 15 and 51 is to bring out cautions. It doesn’t matter who the drivers are, the result is still the same. How many did the 77 bring out last night? I counted three.How many have the others two brought out? All the control tower has to do is THINK a car has scraped the wall and a caution flies.

Last edited 5 months ago by DoninAjax
Carl D.

With about 40 laps to go, a big storm came through and the power went out here at Terrapin Station. When it came back on, Brisco was celebrating his win. Interestingly, I live about a hour and a half from the speedway. I thought there was some good racing throughout the field, even though the race was at times a little uneventful.

That British guy in the booth has got to go.

Last edited 5 months ago by Carl D.
Carman 21222

Yeah. I don’t know where NBC found that guy, they should send him back. I have to mute the sound. He ruins Indy, too.

DoninAjax

I believe he is Australian!

Carl D.

Then “That Australian guy in the booth has got to go, mate.”

Last edited 5 months ago by Carl D.
DoninAjax

Since when did the networks televising NA$CAR events ever listen to the fans? How long did DW and Mikey stay around?

MikeinAZ

That British guy in the booth has got to go

Yes, he does and the sooner the better.

MikeinAZ

That sure was a great race at Martinsville yesterday, LOL. NBC needs to bring back Rick Allen, ASAP.

Bill B

I was just happy there wasn’t any GWC finish for a change. I’m about through with those.

DoninAjax

Were you expecting it too? That says a lot about the telecast format. It’s like “C’mon! You’re running out of laps!”