Sunday (9/1) at Darlington Raceway, Chase Briscoe became the second NASCAR driver in two weeks to score a “Win to Get In” the 2024 NASCAR Playoffs.
Harrison Burton scored the win at Daytona in the Coke Zero Sugar 400 the previous week to be included in the 16-driver field for the playoffs. There were many drivers at Darlington that knew they would have to do the same to have a chance to race for the championship.
On lap three of the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Martin Truex Jr. found calamity as he spun taking himself and Ryan Blaney out of the race. Ryan was locked in the playoffs already due to his two wins this season. However, Martin Truex Jr. was above the cut line heading to this race, but not locked in. Despite not completing the race, Martin did advance to the playoffs.
The race went accident free the rest of the first stage and through the second stage as well. It looked as though Kyle Larson was going to win his second Cook Out 500 in a row at Darlington as he was dominating the race. He won the first and second stages. He also led 263 laps in the 367-lap race. Bubba Wallace was second in laps led at just 37.
The final 53 laps is when the excitement really began. There were four caution periods during those laps. That brought pit strategy into play for the chance to win. Chase Briscoe found himself out front with the final re-start with just 17 laps to go.
Kyle Busch has three lap new tires than Chase and began racing forward in the field. He got up to second place in just two laps and began closing in to challenge for the win. A few times Kyle could get close to Chase, but he could never get next to him to try to pass.
Chase Briscoe held on to win his first race of the 2024 NASCAR Season and second career win in the Cup Series. That win puts him in the playoffs. Kyle Busch finished in second place and missed making the post-season. See the complete race results for the Cook Out Southern 500 here.
Tyler Reddick was able to hold on to his lead in the point standings and win the NASCAR Cup Series Regular Season Championship by a single point over Kyle Larson.
However, Kyle Larson will start the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs as the #1 seed. This is due to his series leading four wins and 40 Playoff Points amassed during the regular season. See the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Standings here.
The 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs begin with the Round of 16. Atlanta Motor Speedway is the location of the first race in this round. Sunday, September 8th the 16 Playoff Drivers will have the chance to win the Quaker State 400 to earn an automatic advance to the next round in the playoffs.
By: Buck Stevens
