DARLINGTON, S.C. — Contrary to the reactions of most drivers who drive out of the Darlington Raceway garage area to run a first lap on the old track, Chase Briscoe remembers being almost delighted.
“Honestly, I loved this place from the first laps I ran around it,” Briscoe said Saturday on the eve of the Goodyear 400 (Sun., 3 p.m. ET, FS1, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). “I don’t know, just something clicked right away. I still had a lot to learn my first time coming here, but the style of racing here reminded me so much of sprint car racing, where you’re constantly changing what you’re doing.
“You’re always searching and trying to find that little bit more grip. You go to some of these race tracks and you’re pretty repetitive. Like you just do the same thing time in, time out. Here, you don’t ever run two laps the same. Every lap your car is just changing so much, so you’re always adapting, and that’s what I kind of loved about this place from the get-go, and then you just add the fact that you’re sliding all over the place.”
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Darlington loved Briscoe back. He finished a solid sixth in 2019 in his first O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at the track. In his first Cup race, in 2021, he was 11th. He learned quickly, and he enters Sunday’s marathon as the winner of two of the past three Cup races at the track. In winning the Southern 500 last year, Briscoe led 309 laps, the most laps led in a Darlington race since Dale Earnhardt ran a dominant race in 1986, leading 335 laps on the way to a win.
Darlington is Briscoe’s top track in the category of laps led. He has been out front over the speedway’s 1.366 miles a total of 338 laps. Second on his laps-led list is Martinsville Speedway at 142.
“Really, from the first time I came here, I was like, man, this is one of my favorite places, and then as the success came in, it obviously got closer and closer to the top,” Briscoe said. “So yeah, I’ve always loved Darlington. It’s been a very influential place in my career and really my life in general.”
Briscoe is expected to be among the favorites in Sunday’s race, although the Darlington debut of this year’s new high-horsepower package has added a level of uncertainty to what might transpire across 400 hard miles. Will those who have figured out Darlington be in better shape, or could the new landscape lift up those who previously have struggled?
“I think there’s a probability that good guys miss it and some of the guys that are more mid-pack nail it and find the way forward,” said Tyler Reddick, three times a winner this year but 0-for-13 at Darlington. “But I think it will be the players you expect. I don’t think it’s going to be someone that’s bad here, figuring it out.”
And what makes the good guys good?
“It’s their feel,” Reddick said. “Their kind of driver understanding and their senses. This is a place that wears the tire out, and you just have to make adjustments constantly. You feel like the drivers that can really keep up with that are really good. But you’re not going to be able to lean too much on past experiences. It’s kind of like starting over.”
Briscoe is among those who enter Sunday with some wonder about conditions and results.
“I think that it’s such an unknown right now with what this thing is going to drive like that nobody really knows,” he said. “I would think certainly the guys that are good on the long runs and are good when the car is slipping and sliding around, those would be the guys I would think would be good just because I think that’s how the cars are going to drive. So, it will be interesting to see.”
Briscoe needs a boost. Through five races, he has three finishes of 36th or worse and is mired in 26th position in points, one of six 2025 playoff drivers who are outside the Chase qualification window.