Lame duck driver Chase Briscoe won a race for an idol and an organization Sunday night.
He also gave himself a chance to claim a NASCAR Cup Series championship in the process.
The Stewart-Haas Racing driver beat Kyle Busch in a two-car breakaway Sunday night, taking the Cook Out Southern 500 and joining the championship field in the final regular-season race in Darlington, S.C.
Leaving SHR as it closes down following this season and joining Joe Gibbs Racing in Martin Truex Jr.’s No. 19 next season, Briscoe scored his second career Cup victory in his No. 14 Ford by beating Busch by 0.361 seconds to enter the postseason.
The win marked the second consecutive week a driver has won to make the playoffs after Harrison Burton did it at Daytona last Saturday night.
“Everybody knows I’m a diehard Tony Stewart fan,” Briscoe, whose other win was at Phoenix on March 13, 2022, said of his current employer. “To get this 14 car back in Victory Lane (for him) and all 320 employees in their final year (at SHR) is unbelievable.”
On fresher tires, Busch scored his second consecutive runner-up finish but had his 11-year streak of qualifying for the playoffs snapped.
“When I made it through a few of those guys on the start I thought I had a shot to get there,” said Busch. “Once I got within his air, I really didn’t have enough to power through that and get closer.”
Christopher Bell finished third. Kyle Larson dominated the event (263 laps led) and was fourth, followed by Ross Chastain.
In addition to the 14 eligible winners, the 16-car championship group includes 2017 Cup champion Truex and Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Ty Gibbs, each of whom pointed their way into the 10-race title hunt.
Chris Buescher and polesitter Bubba Wallace were the first two drivers on the outside looking in at the playoffs.
Team 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick, who battled vomiting and nausea all race, won the regular-season championship by one point over Larson.
Just over two laps into the scheduled 367-lap event, Truex, who started 14th in points and only 58 points on the cut line’s good side, made a mistake at the east end of the track, tagging William Byron’s No. 24 and losing control of his No. 19 Toyota into Ryan Blaney’s No. 12 Ford.
The day’s first caution flew with the JGR driver retiring from the legendary race in 36th place, nearly wasting Truex’ points advantage but not dashing his hopes of competing for a second championship.
After claiming his first pole of 2024, Wallace led the opening 35 laps of 115-lap Stage 1, but Larson’s Hendrick Motorsports Chevy came to life and won the segment. Wallace accomplished his goal by finishing second and climbing into the playoff spot for the time being.
In an incident-free Stage 2, Larson did just as he did when he won at Las Vegas on March 3 — claiming the first two segments of the race. That performance in the desert earned the No. 5 Chevrolet driver his first win of 2024, and he set himself up to duplicate the feat at historic Darlington.
With 24 to go, Wallace was involved in a multi-car wreck following a three-wide move in front of him that ended his chance for the postseason.
–Field Level Media
