Posted on by Cameron Richardson

DARLINGTON, S.C. — Chase Briscoe may be a Hoosier by birth, but if the last two years in Darlington’s crown-jewel race have taught us anything, he’s become a full-fledged Southern boy.

After a night where he led 309 of 367 laps and won both stages en route to his second consecutive victory in Sunday’s Cook Out Southern 500, Briscoe asserted himself quickly as a top contender to win the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Championship.

In a year where no one has been dominant enough to secure the moniker as title frontrunner, the driver of the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing delivered a masterclass at the South Carolina superspeedway that crew chief James Small envisioned earlier that day.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

“I woke up this morning and sent the guys a message, and I just had this feeling it was like we just need to go and lay a old school beat down to them, and that’s exactly what we did tonight,” Small said in Sunday’s post-race press conference. “Chase did a remarkable job lap after lap. The pit crew — on song tonight, they did an incredible job. They’ve been getting better and better all year, and really hit their stride in the last eight weeks or so. Just really proud of everyone.”

The improvements have been noticeable across the No. 19 team since the start of the season.

With a new driver and new crew members all looking to mesh together quickly, 2025 didn’t get off to the best of starts for Briscoe and co. They had just one top 10 through the first five races and struggled in practice and qualifying early in the year, with just three starts inside the top 10 through the first 12 events.

Small attributed it to everyone trying to jell and said that it took one race in early May for the switch to flip.

“I think it was like Kansas — final stage of Kansas — that was like the light switch when things started coming together and him really understanding it from that point on,” Small said. “There’s been a few hiccups along the way, and there’s been some issues on pit road along the way as well, but qualifying speed came in really well. We’ve been working really hard on that. When you qualify up front, it sets yourself up for a really successful Sunday in terms of getting as many points as you can. I think you’ve seen it not only our average finish, but our stage-point accumulation in that period is ridiculous compared to what we had in the first 10 races.”

What’s starting to blossom for Briscoe in his five-year Cup career so far is a knack for delivering in the brightest of lights. Becoming the first driver to ever win pole awards in the Daytona 500, Coca-Cola 600 and Brickyard 400 during the same year is already a ludicrous stat, but when you think back through the Hoosier’s young career so far, he’s been excelling in pressure-filled moments time and time again.

While driving for the now-defunct Stewart-Haas Racing, Briscoe pointed his way to the Round of 8 in 2022 and nearly clinched the unlikeliest of Championship 4 berths at Martinsville before being passed by now-teammate Christopher Bell with just five laps to go. Briscoe then won his first Southern 500 last year in what was the regular-season finale to secure SHR a playoff berth before closing its doors and rode a top-10 result at Bristol two weeks later into the Round of 12.

From the time he hopped in a stock car, Briscoe has been made for intense moments. For him, it’s been the definition of his racing career.

“I’ve always just loved high-pressure situations,” Briscoe said. “I feel like I just perform better for whatever reason. I feel like my whole career has always been a high-pressure situation, right? Like, there was no backup plan. You might only get one race you had to go perform and show your worth. I’ve always felt like I mean every week, I feel like I’m still auditioning to prove that I belong here. Certainly, the higher the pressure, the better I feel like I do.”

briscoe with playoff bracket
Alejandro Alvarez | NASCAR Digital Media

Amid a crop of Hendrick Motorsports, Team Penske and JGR competitors in the playoffs, Briscoe may be the least-discussed name when it comes to winning a championship. While it’s never been a concern for the 30-year-old driver, he now knows that the expectation in his first year with a Gibbs car is to make it deep into the playoffs, rather than having it come as a surprise.

“It seems like at JGR, it’s really the final four, but certainly if you don’t make it at least to the Round of 8, it is a huge failure,” Briscoe said. “When you look at the sport in general, there’s eight to 10 really good cars. If you aren’t one of those top eight, that normally means you didn’t have the most successful season. I mean, for us, I think starting the playoffs, as a team, we feel like we’re definitely capable of being Championship-4 caliber and, truthfully, even a champion. It’s just a matter of putting 10 weeks together, and obviously, we started week one the way we need to.”

Having worked with a past series champion in Martin Truex Jr., Small knows what will be asked of Briscoe and the No. 19 camp for the next nine weeks, and while a victory to start the postseason automatically moves them into the Round of 12, Small is not pumping the brakes heading to Gateway and Bristol.

“We can start focusing a little bit on the next round, but I feel like to win this championship as well, you need to be all in 36 races every time, just come try to beat everybody down,” Small said. “I guess the engineers can go to sleep a little earlier this week and not have to worry as much. But I think all the people on our team … we’re not going to change the level of effort we put into these next two. It’s just, you don’t have to worry, or if there’s a situation that might be opportunistic for not scoring stage points or whatever, but it’s going to set you up to win the race, you get the ability to do that.”

MORE: Playoff standings after Darlington | Gateway schedule

Minus the chaos the Charlotte Roval can bring to end the Round of 12 or the wild card at Talladega, which will be even more pivotal as it moves to the Round of 8, there are very few weak points for Briscoe during the remainder of the postseason.

Both Small and Briscoe dropped the phrase ‘Championship-4 caliber’ after Sunday’s win, but the No. 19’s stats have spoken for themselves this year.

If Briscoe continues to start races out front and be mistake-free, he’ll have more dominant performances over the next two months like he did in Darlington and be the true frontrunner for the Cup Series title.

“I feel like the playoffs really round out well for me statistically, and even at JGR, it’s all really great race tracks,” Briscoe said. “I mean, the Round of 8 is obviously the hard one just because you do have Talladega in there. But I definitely think that, if we can get there, I feel confident going to Phoenix, too.”

Posted on by Alex Cadavid

The opening race of the Round of 16 delivered plenty of action from Lap 1 to the very end. Ten of the 16 playoff drivers found some sort of trouble at Darlington, leaving loads to unpack before the Cup Series treks to World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway next Sunday (3 p.m. ET, USA Network, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).

WINNER.

Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Talk about message sent. Briscoe not only successfully defended his crown-jewel win, but he flat-out dominated the evening by leading 309 laps and becoming the second driver since Martin Truex Jr. to sweep stages and win at Darlington Raceway. He now becomes the first driver locked into the Round of 12 and even looks like the title favorite after Sunday.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

WHO’S HOT?

Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet. From the get-go Chastain established himself as a frontrunner in his 250th career Cup Series start. He spent nearly the entire 500-miler as a top-10 car with an average running position of 5.5. He gambled with fuel mileage at the end, getting told he was two laps short, dropping him to 11th at the checkered flag. Despite that, Chastain jumps to eighth in the playoff picture and has a 21-point cushion to the good.

Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. The polesitter was dancing up front at the “Lady in Black” early in the race, finishing third in Stage 1. However, pit road missteps faltered Hamlin’s race, dropping him from fourth to 23rd early in the middle frame. But in the final stage, the veteran’s experience showed as the No. 11 soared back into the top 10 to finish seventh and move to second in the standings, 43 points above the cutline.

WHO’S NOT?

Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford. It goes to show how much can change in a week in the Cup Series. Last week’s race winner was running as high as second in the major event, but turmoil slowly crept in. On Lap 154, Blaney fell from ninth to 20th after a major block from Carson Hocevar. As salt added to the wound, Blaney spun while running 13th in the closing moments of Stage 2, stalling his progress and ultimately finishing 18th.

Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Entering the playoffs as the No. 5 seed, Bell found himself in contention during the first half of Sunday’s prestigious race. However, he suffered splitter damage after contact with Carson Hocevar on pit road, forcing repairs and costing momentum as he finished 29th, two laps down. Gateway is a chance to right the ship, as Bell contended for the win last year and owns an average finish of ninth in three starts.

MORE: Josh Berry involved in Lap 1 crash | Alex Bowman suffers 40-second pit stop

BUBBLE WATCH

RankDriver+/-
7Ryan Blaney+22
8Ross Chastain+21
9Austin Cindric+12
10Christopher Bell+11
11Chase Elliott+9
12Shane van Gisbergen+3
CUTLINE
13Joey Logano-3
14Austin Dillon-8
15Alex Bowman-19
16Josh Berry-19

NASCAR INSIGHTS

The almighty Hendrick Motorsports found that none of its four cars were truly in the running for the win, as shown by its fastest car — the No. 5 driven by Kyle Larson, which ranked eighth in speed and fifth in passing but finished 19th. The other three drivers — Chase Elliott, William Byron, and Alex Bowman — ranked 17th or worse in speed and 13th or worse in passing, according to NASCAR Insights, resulting in none of the four finishing inside the top 15 of Sunday’s playoff opener.

QUOTABLE

“I think this is definitely what we’re capable of doing. We haven’t been able to go out and dominate a race like that. The potential has been there from day one. ” — 2025 Cook Out Southern 500 winner, Chase Briscoe.

NEXT RACE

The stakes keep rising with Gateway looming in the playoffs for the first time, creating little margin for error as the cutline tightens. The flat 1.25-mile egg-shaped oval rewards precision, as demonstrated by Team Penske, which has won two of the first three races at the Midwest track. But conversely, Hendrick has only scored a total of three top 10s in 12 combined starts.

Posted on by Zach Sturniolo

DARLINGTON, S.C. — On the final lap, Tyler Reddick pulled all the way to Chase Briscoe’s door in a fight for Southern 500 glory in the final set of corners.

That’s as close as Reddick got to tasting that glory.

A slide through Turn 4 forced Reddick to settle for a hard-fought second-place finish in Sunday’s Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, crossing the line 0.408 seconds behind Briscoe, who won the crown jewel for the second year in a row.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

Briscoe dominated the event with 309 laps led, the most led in the Southern 500 since 1971, and advances to the Round of 12 in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs with a statement of an opening salvo. But Reddick found himself on Briscoe’s back bumper multiple times — never closer than in the final set of corners. For him, Darlington continues to live up to its nickname: “Too Tough to Tame.”

“Makes me sick,” a dejected Reddick said. “I feel like late in this race, especially this one, the Southern 500, I always find myself second or third in the last green flag run, trying to pass the leader and just don’t get it done.”

There were plenty of bright sides to Reddick’s result: His 53 points scored were second only to Briscoe’s 60, and he leaves the track fourth in the standings, 35 points above the provisional cutoff line. That was of very little consolation to Reddick after working lap after lap to chase down Briscoe.

“I think Monday morning, I’ll wake up and be thinking playoffs. Right now, I’m just thinking about this race, Darlington,” Reddick said. “Yes, those things are great for us, but, man, I’ve done everything but win at this place, and it’s really starting to drive me nuts.”

His last-gasp effort was reminiscent of his attempt in the 400-mile spring race in 2024. That day, a desperate move into Turns 3 and 4 put both him and Chris Buescher into the outside wall and handed the win to Brad Keselowski. That experience wasn’t lost on Reddick this time around.

“Last year, in the spring, I gave it my best effort, and it didn’t stick,” Reddick said. “And that time (Sunday), it didn’t stick either. It’s just a pretty similar story last spring with Buescher. This time, I remembered what happened in the spring, and I was able to get ahead of it just a little sooner and not wipe out Chase.”

Despite the dive, Briscoe had confidence he could fend off any of Reddick’s advances.

“I just knew that I could not let him (Reddick) get to the inside of my bumper,” Briscoe said. “So in (Turns) 1 and 2, he almost got there twice and I would just have to force my car down there, even though it was not the proper lane that it wanted to be in.

“I just had to take his air away because that’s a huge thing, obviously, in these cars, and it would give me a big enough gap to where I could back up my Turn 3 and just try to run the fence.”

WATCH: Reddick makes incredible save after contact with Berry

And while he was distraught over his missed opportunity Sunday night, Reddick nearly had his night come to an end on Lap 1. Josh Berry started alongside Reddick in Row 2 but bottomed out through Turn 2, sending the No. 21 Ford into Reddick’s door and nearly into the wall as Berry crashed behind him.

After the race, 23XI Racing co-owner Michael Jordan greeted Reddick and immediately brought that perspective into Reddick’s focus.

“He just reminded me, Lap 1, it looked like we were going to be wrecked,” Reddick said. “And we fought back from it, got the damage where it needed to be on that first pit stop. Lost some time but drove back up there.

“This day could have went really, really bad on Lap 1 and we didn’t let it. I think I can hang onto cars pretty good, but I think I got pretty fortunate on that one.”

Posted on by Reid Spencer

DARLINGTON, S.C. — Chase Briscoe was perfection in a world of mistakes, a no-funny-business driver in a comedy of errors.

And at the end of the final green-flag run on Sunday night at Darlington Raceway — after a 20-lap stint of unrelenting tension — Briscoe was a back-to-back winner of the Cook Out Southern 500 and a guaranteed participant in the Round of 12 in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

Briscoe led 309 of 367 laps and swept the first two stages, but he had to hold off a determined charge by Tyler Reddick after the race restarted on Lap 319. Reddick got close in the final 10 laps, driving beneath Briscoe entering Turn 3 coming to the checkered flag, but didn’t have the impetus necessary to complete a winning pass.

Briscoe crossed the start/finish line 0.408 seconds ahead of Reddick and 0.537 seconds ahead of non-playoff driver Erik Jones in third to secure his second victory of the season, his second at the “Lady in Black” and the fourth of his career.

“Yeah, I think this is definitely what we’re capable of doing,” said Briscoe, who led Toyota drivers to their third 1-2-3-4 finish in Cup Series history, the last coming at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2017. “We haven’t been able to go out and dominate a race like that. The potential has been there from day one.

“So cool to win two Southern 500s in a row … A great way to start our playoffs. That was a lot of fun.”

Briscoe is the first driver to win consecutive Southern 500s since Greg Biffle accomplished the feat in 2005 and 2006.

SHOP: Chase Briscoe winner gear

John Hunter Nemechek was fourth in his No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Camry. Chevrolet driver AJ Allmendinger ran fifth, followed by Toyota drivers Bubba Wallace and Denny Hamlin, as Toyota placed six drivers in the top seven positions in a Cup race for the first time.

Driving from the outset with a tire mark on the driver’s side of his car — the result of a Lap 1 collision with Josh Berry — Reddick kept the pressure on Briscoe for the final 20 laps, but Briscoe didn’t buckle.

“We were better than he was on long runs,” Reddick said. “He could fire off a whole lot better. I think that was the difference tonight. I could get close. Yeah, I know we had a long run there, but it just unfortunately seemed like the last run, the balance wasn’t quite as good as it had been the rest of the night on the long run.

“All in all, a really solid night for points in the playoffs. Really want to win here. It’s frustrating to finish second …”

With Briscoe already qualified for the Round of 12 with the victory, Reddick improved his position to 35 points above the cutline.

If Briscoe had a night to remember, most of the other 15 playoff drivers spent the evening recovering from mistakes — or failing to do so.

WATCH: Briscoe on high-pressure situations | James Small on No. 19 team’s pre-race message

Wallace had a solid day in finishing sixth in the playoff opener, ending the evening 25 points above the current cutline with two races left in the Round of 16.

Hamlin, a four-time winner in the regular season, overcame a slow pit stop on Lap 154 and spent the rest of the race clawing his way back to seventh at the finish.

Playoff drivers Ross Chastain and Austin Cindric came home 11th and 12th, respectively. Chastain’s No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Camaro was the highest-finishing playoff Chevrolet; all four Hendrick Motorsports drivers scored outside the top 15.

Chase Elliott, the 2020 series champion, was the best of the Hendrick lot in 17th and heads for next Sunday’s race at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway (3 p.m. ET, USA Network, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App) just nine points above the cutline.

Top-seeded Kyle Larson and teammate William Byron ran 19th and 21st, respectively, to hold third and fifth in the playoff standings, but others weren’t as fortunate.

On the first lap of the race, the “Lady in Black” struck quickly, and Berry’s championship hopes took a nosedive.

Moments after taking the green flag in the third starting spot, Berry’s No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford broke loose beneath Reddick’s No. 45 Toyota in Turn 2.

After contact with Reddick’s Toyota, Berry’s Mustang slammed into the outside wall, severely damaging the left rear and the undercarriage. After completing two laps, Berry drove his car to the garage for extensive repairs.

Berry returned to the track 119 laps down but finished last (38th) and fell to 16th in the playoff standings, 19 points below the cutline.

“The car bottomed out five or six times and just wrecked,” Berry said. “It was definitely unexpected. We didn’t really fight that too bad in practice. I saw a replay of it when I was sitting in the car while they were fixing it, and you could tell that it bottomed out four or five times, and you can’t save them when they’re like that.”

Alex Bowman was the next of the playoff drivers to suffer brutal misfortune. Thanks to a malfunctioning air supply to the front tire changer’s pit gun, Bowman spent 40 seconds on pit road during his second green flag stop and was down a lap when pit stops cycled out.

On Lap 93 of the first stage, Briscoe passed Bowman to put the No. 48 Chevrolet two laps in arrears. After three wave-arounds, Bowman finally returned to the lead lap as the beneficiary under caution at the end of Stage 2 (Lap 230).

The No. 48 Chevrolet pilot couldn’t hold his position in the final stage and finished the race two laps down in 31st, tied with Berry in the standings.

MORE: Cup Series standings | Cup Series schedule

Christopher Bell’s Toyota collided on pit road with the Chevrolet of non-playoff driver Carson Hocevar on Lap 154. With the handling of his car destroyed, Bell finished 29th, two laps down, and fell to 10th in the Playoff standings, 11 points above the cut line.

Road course titan Shane van Gisbergen was burned by an inopportune caution after running long before pitting in the final stage and finished 32nd, spending most of the 22 playoff points he earned with four wins during the regular season.

Van Gisbergen is 12th in the standings, just three points ahead of 20th-place finisher Joey Logano, the first driver below the cutline. Richmond winner Austin Dillon came home 23rd and is 14th on the playoff grid, eight points behind van Gisbergen.

NOTE: Post-race inspection in the Cup Series garage concluded without issue, confirming Briscoe as the Darlington winner. No cars will return to the NASCAR R&D Center in Concord, North Carolina.

Posted on by Staff Report

Wood Brothers Racing’s Josh Berry was involved in an opening-lap crash during Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs opener at Darlington Raceway.

Exiting Turn 2 on the initial start, Berry, who qualified third for the Cook Out Southern 500, got loose and tagged postseason pilot Tyler Reddick before slamming into the outside wall. The wreck happened in front of several other playoff drivers, including Ross Chastain, Kyle Larson and Joey Logano, but they all made it through the crash unscathed.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

Berry limped his No. 21 Ford to pit road and went to the garage for repairs. He returned to the race on Lap 121, finishing 128 laps off the pace in 38th place.

“It’s kind of hard to even really know, but the car bottomed out five or six times and just wrecked,” Berry said after Sunday’s race, which was won by Chase Briscoe for the second consecutive season. “It was definitely unexpected. We didn’t really fight that too bad in practice. I saw a replay of it when I was sitting in the car while they were fixing it, and you could tell that it bottomed out four or five times, and you can’t save them when they’re like that.”

Reddick, driver of the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota, stayed on track with minor damage and eventually battled back, finishing the race runner-up to Briscoe. Kyle Busch, Chris Buescher and Daniel Suárez all suffered damage and continued.

Both Berry and Reddick are fighting for their first Cup Series title. Berry won his way into the playoffs earlier in the year at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March, while Reddick secured one of two spots available on points last weekend at Daytona International Speedway.

MORE: Read about Reddick’s runner-up

Entering next Sunday’s race at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway (3 p.m. ET, USA Network, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App), Berry sits 15th on the playoff grid, 19 points below the cutline. He finished 36th in the St. Louis-area race last year and will look to turn his misfortunes around with the first elimination race looming in two weeks at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Despite just two top 10s in the last 15 races, Berry remains optimistic ahead of his second trip to Gateway.

“It looked like a lot of people had a bad night, which we know how this goes,” Berry said. “We just need to avoid a bad night. I obviously haven’t seen it yet, but I feel like we’re still within striking distance, that if we just go have two good weeks, we’ll at least be in the mix once we get to Bristol.”

Posted on by PJ Walsh

Darlington Raceway is one of my favorite tracks on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule.

It’s an old-school track that puts performance back on the drivers due to the importance of managing equipment, saving tires and staying out of the wall while running the higher line late in runs.

As a bettor, I enjoy races with high tire wear as well because finding speed, especially on long runs, is a driver skill we can identify.

Live NASCAR odds at FanDuel list Kyle Larson (+470) as today’s favorite, followed by Denny Hamlin (+500), Ryan Blaney (+600), William Byron (+650) and Tyler Reddick (+750).

Piggybacking on this idea, I’ve pinpointed a NASCAR pick I’m pouncing on right now for Sunday’s Cook Out Southern 500 (6 p.m. ET, USA Network, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App) at Darlington.

MORE: Full Southern 500 Fantasy Live preview | Starting lineup in photos

NASCAR Odds, Pick for Darlington

*Odds as of Sunday morning

William Byron has been the best driver at Darlington in the Next Gen era, which dates back to the 2022 season.

Yes, I love Denny Hamlin here, and since he won the pole, I understand Hamlin being the race favorite.

However, Byron has put up the best numbers over the past seven races at Darlington and is a very bettable value at +750.

Since 2022, Byron has posted the best driver rating, has led the second-most laps and has run the most fast laps at Darlington, yet there are three drivers with better NASCAR odds to win today’s Southern 500.

At +750 (ESPN BET), I’ll gladly grab Byron to win today’s race and still have plenty of bankroll left over to complement the Hendrick Motorsports driver on my betting card.

NASCAR Pick: William Byron (+750) to Win — ESPN BET

Posted on by Zach Sturniolo

The NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs are upon us, which means it’s time for 16 drivers to start building their respective paths to the 2025 championship beginning at Darlington Raceway.

The track “Too Tough to Tame” creates a grueling environment for the Cook Out Southern 500, with the latest iteration set for its traditional slot on Labor Day Weekend this Sunday (6 p.m. ET, USA Network, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).

MORE: Darlington schedule | Playoff standings

It should come as no surprise that playoff drivers dominate the early projections from Racing Insights. Denny Hamlin is a three-time winner of NASCAR’s oldest crown-jewel race, triumphing in 2010, 2017 and 2021. Hamlin also won at the “Lady in Black” in April, leaving him with two wins, four top fives and five top 10s in his last eight Darlington starts. The numbers initially said Hamlin was due for another Southern 500 trophy Sunday night in South Carolina, but a Hendrick Motorsports trio might have something to say about that after qualifying.

William Byron, Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson are all projected to place within the top five Sunday night, and for good reason, with Byron moving past Hamlin to claim the top spot. No. 24 led an astounding 243 laps from pole earlier this year but ultimately finished as runner-up to Hamlin in overtime. The current driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet has never won the Southern 500, but the Regular Season Champion did go to Victory Lane in the 2023 spring race and knows his way to Victory Lane there. Larson was victorious in the 2023 Southern 500 and led 263 laps in last year’s running ahead of a fourth-place finish, entering Sunday night with an impressive seven top fives and nine top 10s in 15 Darlington starts. Elliott, the 2020 series champion, is still looking for his first Darlington win, but his steadiness at the 1.366-mile oval could factor him into a challenge for the win on Sunday.

Entering the weekend, RFK Racing’s Chris Buescher is poised to produce the best finish for a driver outside the playoffs in 10th. Despite the heartbreak of missing the postseason, RFK Racing owner Brad Keselowski — projected 12th — did win the Darlington spring race in 2024 — a race Buescher nearly won before late contact with Tyler Reddick — and Buescher played spoiler in last year’s Round of 16 by winning at Watkins Glen International. Will anyone prevent a playoff driver from locking into the Round of 12 at Darlington?

FANTASY: Set your lineup | Make a 36 for 36 pick

OTHER DRIVERS TO WATCH

CHASE BRISCOE: Don’t sleep on the defending winner of the Southern 500. Racing Insights’ projections list Briscoe as a top-10 finisher, but his charge to the 2024 victory over Kyle Busch remains his most impressive performance at the Cup level yet. Driving the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota this time around, Briscoe may be in position to pounce again with that win and two top fives in his last three Darlington appearances.

TY GIBBS: The driver of the No. 54 Toyota has been sneaky good at Darlington, netting a runner-up finish in the 2024 spring race and a top 10 in April. His Southern 500 numbers haven’t matched yet with a best finish of 15th in 2022 — his inaugural try — but perhaps a Daytona top 10 can help provide the 22-year-old with some momentum into the final stretch of the season.

ROSS CHASTAIN: Another driver who always runs well at Darlington is the watermelon farmer himself. Chastain has finished 11th or better in five of his last eight Darlington starts, including each of the last four. The Trackhouse Racing driver has finished fifth in each of the last two Southern 500s and placed third in 2021 while driving for Chip Ganassi Racing. A win Sunday would save him immense stress through the Round of 16 as he opens the postseason just one point above the provisional cutline, tied with Joey Logano.

BUBBA WALLACE: Wallace put the No. 23 Toyota on pole for 23XI Racing in the 2024 Southern 500 and led 37 laps before finishing 16th. The result isn’t much in the way of impressing, but Wallace did earn four straight top 10s at Darlington from the fall of 2022 through the spring of 2024 and has qualified outside the top 10 just once in his last six starts. Wallace enters the playoffs ranked ninth, tied with Austin Cindric, just two points above the cutline.

RACING INSIGHTS’ PROJECTIONS FOR THE COOK OUT SOUTHERN 500

Racing Insights’ advanced statistical formula incorporates current track, track type, recent performance, team data and pit-crew data to predict a projected winner and provide full race results. Updated on race day with practice and qualifying factored in.

FINISHCAR NUMBERDRIVER
124William Byron*
211Denny Hamlin*
345Tyler Reddick*
45Kyle Larson*
59Chase Elliott*
620Christopher Bell*
712Ryan Blaney*
823Bubba Wallace*
919Chase Briscoe*
1017Chris Buescher
1154Ty Gibbs
126Brad Keselowski
1322Joey Logano*
141Ross Chastain*
158Kyle Busch
162Austin Cindric*
1748Alex Bowman*
1843Erik Jones
1921Josh Berry*
2016AJ Allmendinger
217Justin Haley
223Austin Dillon*
2360Ryan Preece
2499Daniel Suárez
2588Shane van Gisbergen*
2634Todd Gilliland
2741Cole Custer
2838Zane Smith
294Noah Gragson
3071Michael McDowell
3177Carson Hocevar
3247Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
3310Ty Dillon
3442John H Nemechek
3535Riley Herbst
3651Cody Ware
3744Derek Kraus
3866Timmy Hill

*Denotes playoff driver

Posted on by Holly Cain

A dramatic overtime pass for the win punctuated a nearly perfect afternoon for JR Motorsports driver Connor Zilisch at Portland International Raceway, where the 19-year-old claimed his series-best eighth NASCAR Xfinity Series win of the season – the best series victory total ever for a rookie driver.

Only weeks removed from breaking his collarbone celebrating another win at Watkins Glen International, Zilisch claimed pole position, won both stages, set fastest lap and celebrated it all in Victory Lane of the famed 1.967-mile road course in the scenic Pacific Northwest.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

Zilisch led 70 of the race’s 78 laps, his No. 88 JRM Chevrolet crossing the finish line 1.572 seconds ahead of three fellow rookies, Joe Gibbs Racing driver William Sawalich, Big Machine Racing’s Nick Sanchez and Kaulig Racing’s Christian Eckes.

Veteran Austin Hill finished fifth, but the Richard Childress Racing driver was the only other competitor to lead laps (eight) on the day, running on Zilisch’s bumper throughout the bulk of the race before taking the lead on a restart with seven laps remaining in regulation.

Another late race caution shortly thereafter set up the opportunity for Zilisch to get back by Hill, which he did on the ensuing restart in OT even after having to quickly navigate a track run-off area in an intense four-wide scramble for the lead heading into Turn 1.

“To come back two weeks after collarbone surgery, it hurt, but it hurt so good,” said a grinning Zilisch, who now has 13 consecutive top-five finishes. “So proud of this 88 team. It’s been such a fun year. Let’s go get ourselves a championship.”

Asked about reclaiming the lead even after the evasive action in Turn 1 on that restart, Zilisch said, “It’s kind of funny, I ran it in practice and I was like, ‘it’s not even that slow.’

“As soon as I hit the brakes, I wheel-hopped, but kind of committed to it as soon as I realized I wasn’t going to make the corner. And it worked out. I wasn’t really planning on it, but last resort, you’ve gotta do what you gotta do.”

SHOP: Connor Zilisch gear

For most of the race, Zilisch set a blistering pace. He won the first stage by nearly 15 seconds and the second stage (his eighth stage win of the season) by more than eight seconds. All the while, Hill and Zilisch’s JRM teammate Justin Allgaier kept him honest seconds behind.

On the restart where Hill claimed the lead, the reigning series champion, Allgaier, was collected in a frantic four-wide restart and spun out. He pitted before the overtime restart and was able to finish 15th, but it cost him dearly in the championship standings.

Allgaier took the green flag at Portland with a three-point lead on Zilisch and took the checkered flag, now trailing his young teammate by 20 points as the series heads for the regular season finale next week.

Rookie Carson Kvapil finished sixth after a solid presence up front all afternoon. Jeb Burton was seventh – an important showing for the Jordan Anderson driver who is just below the 12-driver playoff cutoff line, 31 points behind his cousin Harrison Burton, who rallied to an impressive 12th place finish after starting at the rear of the field Saturday.

MORE: Hear from Zilisch after the win

Austin Green turned in another notable road course effort with an eighth-place showing, followed by Blaine Perkins and Jesse Love.

One more race remains to formalize the 12-driver field for the 2025 playoffs. There have been eight different race winners locked in, and Kvapil clinched his spot on points Saturday at Portland, leaving three spots up for grabs next weekend.

The series moves to Illinois’ World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway next Saturday night (7:30 p.m. ET, The CW, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). It will mark the series’ first race at the 1.250-mile oval since 2010 — a victory by that season’s eventual champion, Brad Keselowski.

NOTE: Post-race inspection was completed in the Xfinity Series garage without issue, confirming Zilisch as the Portland winner.

Posted on by Brandon White

OSWEGO, N.Y. – Despite now being a part-time competitor on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, Ron Silk now has more victories than any other driver on the 2025 season.

The two-time champion earned his third checkered flag of the year at Oswego Speedway on Saturday evening after cycling to the front after a sequence of late pit stops. The triumph was Silk’s third at Oswego and 29th overall with the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, moving him into sole possession of eighth on the all-time win list.

RELATED: Complete results from the Toyota Mod Classic 150

With Matt Hirschman dominating the opening 100 laps of the Toyota Mod Classic 150, Silk knew the inevitable pit stops would prove pivotal. Silk successfully capitalized when he opted to make two pit stops to for a total of three tires, a decision that allowed him to add a third Oswego win to his stellar resume.

“We were a little bit tight that whole first run,” Silk said. “Our car was good, but I figured there probably wasn’t going to be another yellow, so we needed to take as many tires as we could. My guys had a great stop and got us out first of all the guys that took three [tires].”

Ever since returning to the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour schedule in 2016, Oswego has been one of Silk’s best tracks.

In seven prior Oswego starts, Silk’s only finish outside the top 10 came in 2022. Silk secured his first Oswego victory in 2021 after a dominant performance that saw him lead 111 laps in Kevin Stuart’s No. 85 Modified. Two years later, Silk was back in Oswego’s Victory Lane, this time with his current team, Haydt-Yannone Racing.

Unlike his first two Oswego wins, Silk needed to exercise patience around the Steel Palace on Saturday evening. Passing proved to be at a premium throughout the event, which initially forced Silk to follow in Hirschman’s tire tracks as he waited for the right opportunity to get his Modified in clean air.

Tommy Catalano’s spin with less than 50 laps remaining brought the field down to pit lane for what would be the only round of pit stops. After his Haydt-Yannone pit crew got him the track position he needed, it only took Silk a few laps for him to overtake Austin Beers and pull away from the field with no resistance behind him.

The closest challenger to Silk in the Toyota Mod Classic’s final moments was Craig Lutz, who built off the momentum from his Richmond Raceway victory to finish second. Although he did not have enough time to chase down Silk, Lutz was thrilled to see his team’s hard work pay off with another solid result.

“We had a really solid car,” Lutz said. “The guys had an awesome pit stop, so it put us in contention. We fired off a little tighter than we needed to for that first run. The last two races have really turned the momentum around, so I can’t thank everyone enough who gets the car here. All in all, an awesome effort by us, but we just came up a little bit short.”

The time Silk has spent away from the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour has not disrupted four years of chemistry he has carefully curated with Haydt-Yannone. That cohesion is what gave Silk confidence in his pit crew to execute a perfect pit stop and give him the opening he needed to finish the job on track.

“Everyone on my team did a fantastic job all day,” Silk said. “The pit crew won us the race and got us the track position. It’s pretty tough to pass [at Oswego], so I want to thank all the guys who volunteer their time to come do this.”

Emerling followed Silk and Lutz home in the third position, with Beers and Hirschman rounding out the top five.

Jake Lutz, Stephen Kopcik, Kyle Bonsignore, Trevor Catalano and Justin Bonsignore were the rest of the top 10 finishers.

The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will be back in action next weekend with the series’ second and last visit of the season to Riverhead Raceway. The green flag for the Eddie Partridge 256 will wave at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday evening, with FloRacing providing live coverage of all the on-track action.

Posted on by Staff Report

Toyota Mod Classic 150

Oswego Speedway

  • Race results
Pos. No. Name Sponsor Laps Diff.
1 16 Ron Silk Blue Mountain Machine/Future Homes 150  —
2 46 Craig Lutz Riverhead Building Supply 150 0.817
3 1 Patrick Emerling Middlesex Interiors/Fleetworks Inc. 150 1.852
4 64 Austin Beers G&G Eletric Supply/Dell Electric/Fastrack Electric/Lumiere Electrical/Andrew James Int/AP Marquadt & 150 2.079
5 60 Matt Hirschman PeeDee Motorsports 150 2.358
6 14 Jake Lutz* Advantage Trucks/Washtronics/Anastasi Trucking 150 2.668
7 21 Stephen Kopcik* Newtown Pools/Wanick Construction 150 6.815
8 22 Kyle Bonsignore MTT/ChaLew Performance/Munns Auto 150 8.155
9 56 Trevor Catalano USNE Power 150 10.192
10 51 Justin Bonsignore Phoenix Communications Inc 150 10.938
11 3 Tyler Rypkema USNE Power/SYP/Northeast Drilling 149 1 Lap
12 77 Michael Christopher Jr* Curb Records/Mohawk Northeast 149 1 Lap
13 8 Andy Lewis Jr* USNE Midwest Operations/Eighty-Two Services 149 1 Lap
14 18 Ken Heagy Hunter Mechanical 140 10 Laps
15 12 Brian Sones* DW Machine & Fabricating Co./Bergen Industries 113 37 Laps
16 54 Tommy Catalano FX Caprara 110 40 Laps
17 84 Tyler Catalano Catalano Motorsports 42 108 Laps