Chase Briscoe won Sunday’s (Aug. 31) Southern 500, leading 309 laps and holding off Tyler Reddick on the final lap.
Briscoe’s victory ensures him a berth in the Round of 12. The win was Briscoe’s second of 2025 and his first win in a playoff race.
Reddick, Erik Jones, John Hunter Nemechek, AJ Allmendinger, Bubba Wallace, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Carson Hocevar and Chris Buescher completed the top 10.
“Man, what an incredible Bass Pro Shops Toyota,” Briscoe told USA Network. “This is my favorite race of the year. Every time we come here it’s sold-out. Great way to start our playoffs.”
“The one time we got ahead of him (Briscoe) there, we just got too tight,” Reddick said. “The last run, the balance wasn’t quite as good (as it was) the rest of the night. Really frustrating.”
“I felt that we were probably a bit better than (Reddick),” Jones said. “Just couldn’t get by him. Good speed in the Dollar Tree Camry.”
Wallace earned a strong sixth-place finish that sets him up nicely going into Gateway.
“Great playoff run,” Wallace said. “Solid execution. Had a couple mistakes on pit road, a couple mistake on the track. We were able to rebound.”
Playoff drivers Ross Chastain, Austin Cindric, Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney, Kyle Larson, Joey Logano, William Byron and Austin Dillon finished 11th, 12th, 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th, 21st and 23rd, respectively.
A lap 1 crash took out playoff driver Josh Berry, who finished 38th. Meanwhile, playoff drivers Alex Bowman, Christopher Bell and Shane van Gisbergen finished 29th, 30th and 32nd, respectively, after pit road issues marred their nights.
Both Cody Ware (36th) and Derek Kraus (37th) suffered mechanical issues and were forced out of the race.
Southern 500 Results
The second race of the Cup Series playoffs will take place at World Wide Technology Raceway on Sept. 7, with coverage commencing at 3 p.m. ET on USA Network.
A member of the National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA), Samuel also covers NASCAR for Yardbarker, Field Level Media, and Heavy Sports. He will attend the University of Arkansas in the fall of 2025.