Chase Briscoe wins second straight Southern 500 in dominating fashion: 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.[Read More]
#19-Chase Briscoe won the Cook Out Southern 500 NASCAR Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway. The win is his second win of the year, second at Darlington and fourth career win.
#45-Tyler Reddick finished 2nd followed by #43-Erik Jones, #4-John Hunter Nemechek, #16-A.J. Allmendinger, #23-Bubba Wallace, pole sitter #11-Denny Hamlin, #8-Kyle Busch, #77-Carson Hocevar, and #17-Chris Buescher.
Briscoe dominated the race, leading 309 of the 367 laps, but had to hold off a late charge from Reddick to get the win. He is now locked into the Round of 12.
The fastest lap bonus a earned by #21-Josh Berry.
Stages 1 & 2 were both won by #19-Chase Briscoe.
There were 23 lead changes among 10 drivers and 7 cautions for 37 yellow flag laps.
The average speed of the race was: 130.148mph.
See race details at: Race Results, Driver Points Standings, Owner Points Standings, Cumulative Report, Penalty Report.
Where the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series playoff drivers finished:
#19-Chase Briscoe, 1st
#45-Tyler Reddick, 2nd
#23-Bubba Wallace, 6th
#11-Denny Hamlin, 7th
#1-Ross Chastain, 11th
#2-Austin Cindric, 12th
#9-Chase Elliott, 17th
#12-Ryan Blaney, 18th
#5-Kyle Larson, 19th
#22-Joey Logano, 20th
#24-William Byron, 21st
#3-Austin Dillon, 23rrd
#20-Christopher Bell, 29th
#48-Alex Bowman, 31st
#88-Shane Van Gisbergen, 32nd
#21-Josh Berry 38th
Race Fast Facts – Darlington:
Chase Briscoe (P) won the Cook Out Southern 500, his fourth victory in 171 Cup Series races.
This is his second victory and 13th top-10 finish in 2025.
This is his second victory and third top-10 finish in ten races at Darlington Raceway.
* Tyler Reddick (P) (second) posted his seventh top-10 finish in 13 races at Darlington Raceway. It is his 10th top-10 finish in 2025.
Erik Jones (third) posted his ninth top-10 finish in 16 races at Darlington Raceway.
Riley Herbst (28th) was the highest finishing rookie.
Chase Briscoe (P) leads the point standings by 3 points over Denny Hamlin (P).
(NASCAR)
Cup Series Playoff Standings after Darlington:
Race 27 of 36 in the regular season
Race 1 of 3 in the round of 16
1) #19-Chase Briscoe [Win in Round of 16] [17 playoff points], 2070
2) #11-Denny Hamlin [29 playoff points], 2067, +43
3) #5-Kyle Larson, [32 playoff points], 2062, +38
4) #45-Tyler Reddick [6 playoff points], 2059, +35
5) #24-William Byron [32 playoff points], 2049, +25
6) #23-Bubba Wallace [8 playoff points], 2049, +25
7) #12-Ryan Blaney [26 playoff points], 2046, +22
8) #1-Ross Chastain [7 playoff points], 2045, +21
9) #2-Austin Cindric [8 playoff points], 2036, +12
10) #20-Christopher Bell [23 playoff points], 2035, +11
11) #9-Chase Elliott [13 playoff points], 2033, +9
12) #88-Shane Van Gisbergen [22 playoff points], 2027, +3
Outside the top 12
13) #22-Joey Logano [7 playoff points], 2024, -3
14) #3-Austin Dillon [5 playoff points], 2019, -8
15) #21-Josh Berry [6 playoff points], 2008, -19
16) #48-Alex Bowman [2 playoff points], 2008, -19
See the Driver Points Standings and Owner Points Standings.
Race updates:
Checkered flag for Chase Briscoe. He dominates for the win. Reddick is second, then Jones, Nemechek, Allmendinger, Wallace, Hamlin, Busch, Hocevar, and Buescher.
White flag for Briscoe. His lead is .33 second over Reddick.
Lap 366 – Two to go. Briscoe by .26 second.
Lap 364 – It’s Briscoe by .4 second over Reddick and .65 over Jones. Four to go.
Lap 362 – The lead is down to .3 second with 6 laps to go.
Lap 358 – Ten laps to go, Briscoe still out front, .5 second ahead of Reddick.
Lap 353 – 15 laps remaining. Briscoe has increased his lead over Reddick to .67 second, with Jones back to .95 second back.
Lap 348 – 20 to go. Briscoe’s lead is still .4 second. Jones is now .7 second back.
Lap 345 – 23 laps remaining and Reddick is gaining on Briscoe. He’s now just .4 second back. Jones, in third is 1 second back. Nemechek 1.5 second back.
Lap 338 – Thirty laps remaining. Briscoe’s lead is 1.15 second over Reddick. Third place Jones is 1.7 second back.
Lap 335 – Bell pits. He’s now 33rd, two laps down.
Lap 334 – Chastain’s team tells him he might be two laps short of fuel. He’s currently 7th.
Lap 331 – Allmendinger takes 5th from Wallace.
Lap 328 – Down to 40 laps remaining. Everything pretty much unchanged up front: Briscoe, Reddick, Jones, Nemechek, Wallace.
Lap 320 – Green flag with 48 laps remaining. Briscoe has led 261 laps and is still the leader. No one needs to pit again but will if there’s another caution.
Lap 316 – Pit road is open. Leaders are in. Briscoe off pit road first, then Reddick, Nemechek Jones, Wallace, Chastain, Allmendinger, Preece and Hamlin.
Lap 313 – CAUTION is out. Kraus in turn 2. There’s fire under the car. Elliott will be the free pass.
Lap 308 – Sixty laps remaining. Briscoe ahead of Reddick by 1.3 second. Playoff drivers that have fallen off the lead lap: Elliott (25th), Bell (27th), Bowman (28th), SVG (33rd) and Berry (38th).
Lap 301 – Briscoe’s lead is remaining relatively steady. He’s 1.5 second ahead of Reddick. Third place Nemechek is 3.2 seconds back. Jones is 4th, 4.2 seconds back.
Lap 288 – With 80 laps remaining, Briscoe has lead 230 laps and is 2 seconds ahead of Reddick. In points as they currently run, Briscoe is tied with Larson for the points lead.
Lap 282 – Briscoe is back in the lead, ahead of Reddick by 1.6 second.
Lap 280 – Hamlin pits and SVG becomes the leader.
Lap 278 – Chastain pits and Hamlin takes the lead.
Lap 274 – Pit stops beginning. Nearly a dozen drivers on track. Chastain now the leader.
Lap 268 – 100 laps remaining. Briscoe leads Reddick by 1.6 second. They are followed by Chastain, Nemechek, Jones, Wallace, Allmendinger, Preece, Larson, and Busch.
Lap 248 – Briscoe leads Reddick by 1.9 second. Wallace is 2.7 seconds back. 34 drivers are on the lead lap.
Lap 240 – Restart is clear. Briscoe takes the lead back.
Lap 239 – Reddick gets the lead on the restart and holds it.
Lap 238 – Back to green for the start of the final stage. 130 laps to go. Restart is under review.
Lap 233 – Pit road is open. Leaders all come in. Off pit road: Briscoe, Reddick, Allmendinger, Wallace, Larson, Chastain, Jones.
Lap 231 – CAUTION for the end of stage 2. Briscoe wins it, followed by Reddick, Jones, Larson, Allmendinger, Chastain, Wallace, Nemechek, Preece, and Byron, Bowman is the free pass.
Lap 229 – Two laps left in stage 2. Briscoe leads Reddick by 1.2 second.
Lap 225 – Playoff drivers in the back of the pack: ADillon is 25th, SVG 27th, Bell 28th, Blaney 30th, and Berry 38th.
Lap 219 – ADillon got into the turn 3 wall, but continues.
Lap 215 – Back to green. Briscoe, Reddick, Larson, Jones, Allmendinger the top 5.
Lap 210 – CAUTION is out for a spin by Blaney on the frontstretch. He makes only slight contact with the wall, but has a tire down.
Lap 209 – Back to green flag. Briscoe still reporting voltage issues, but still no big issue. Bell restarts 31st.
Lap 205 – Pit road is open. Leaders are in. Briscoe off pit road first. Then Reddick, Jones, Larson, Allmendinger, Chastain, Buescher, Nemechek, Wallace, and Gibbs. Bell’s team makes some repairs.
Lap 203 – CAUTION for a spin by Ware on the backstretch. He got contact from Preece.
Lap 201 – With 200 laps complete, Briscoe leads Reddick by 2.3 seconds.
Lap 197 – Now Briscoe, Reddick, Jones, Larson, Chastain with just over 30 laps left in stage 2.
Lap 196 – Elliott pits. Briscoe back to the lead.
Lap 195 – Elliott still leads. Briscoe back to second. Haley in third, but has not pitted.
Lap 189 – Briscoe pits. Elliott takes the lead.
Lap 188 – Lots of pit stops this time.
Lap 187 – Blaney pits. Briscoe reports a possible alternator issue.
Lap 184 – The race is halfway complete (and official). Elapsed time: 1 hour, 53 minutes, 55 seconds.
Lap 181 – Hamlin runs 25th. He is currently the next to the last driver on the lead lap.
Lap 172 – Briscoe leads Jones by 4 seconds. Chastain back to 4th. Bell has fallen to 14th after pit road contact.
Lap 158 – Back to green.
Lap 156 – On the restart it will be Briscoe, Chastain, Reddick, Larson, Jones, Bell, Gibbs, Allmendinger, Elliott, and Buescher. Wallace is 14th, Hamlin is 23rd.
Lap 155 – Pit road is open. Leaders are back in. Bad stop for Hamlin. They have trouble with the right rear tire. Bell made contact with Hocevar on pit road. Wallace also had a slow stop. Byron had a loose wheel and had to make a second stop.
Lap 152 – CAUTION is out for a spin by Hocevar in turn 4. He gets going again.
Lap 145 – Chastain has moved to second. He’s 1.6 second behind Briscoe. Reddick is third with Hamlin fourth and Wallace still fifth, nearly 3 seconds back.
Lap 138 – Hamlin also reporting a slight shifting issue.
Lap 134 – Bowman pits. Reddick reports that he has some smoke in the cockpit.
Lap 133 – Briscoe takes the lead back. Hamlin to second, then Chastain, Reddick, and Wallace. Hamlin concerned he could have some toe damage.
Lap 132 – Hamlin and Briscoe continue to battle for the lead.
Lap 125 – Hamlin takes the lead. Some contact between Hocevar and Elliott but they continue.
Lap 123 – Green flag for the start of the second stage. McDowell and Bowman took the wave-around to get on the lead lap and will hope for a quick caution. Berry also returns to the race, 119 laps down.
Lap 118 – Pit road is open and lead lap cars are in. Off pit road: Briscoe, Hamlin, Chastain, Reddick, Wallace, Larson, bell, Cindric, Nemechek.
Lap 116 – CAUTION for the end of stage 1. Briscoe wins it over Reddick, Hamlin, Chastain, Wallace, Larson, Bell, Cindric, Nemechek, and Blaney. SVG will get the free pass.
Lap 113 – Reddick takes second from Hamlin.
Lap 111 – Five laps remaining in stage 1. Briscoe still in control, ahead of Hamlin by 1.8 second.
Lap 101 – Briscoe leads Hamlin by 1 second. There are 25 drivers on the lead lap. Playoff drivers not on the lead lap: SVG (28th), Bowman (33rd), Berry (38th and still behind the wall)
Lap 96 – Twenty laps remaining in stage 1. Briscoe leads Hamlin, Reddick, Chastain, Wallace, Larson.
Lap 85 – Briscoe now back to the lead, then Nemechek, Hamlin, Reddick, Chastain, and Wallace.
Lap 83 – Nemechek back in the lead. Briscoe second.
Lap 81 – SVG now the leader as stops continue to cycle through.
Lap 79 – Larson pits, Bell to the lead.
Lap 77 – Wallace pits. Larson the leader. Wallace had to stop while pulling out as Smith was pulling in.
Lap 76 – Briscoe pits again and green flag stops are underway again.
Lap 71 – Wallace has closed to 3 seconds behind Briscoe.
Lap 68 – Bowman pits again. It’s a slow stop because of the pit gun. It’s a stop of nearly 40 seconds.
Lap 66 – Briscoe’s lead over Wallace is 4.7 seconds. Then Hamlin, Larson, and Chastain.
Lap 60 – Nemechek finally pits. Briscoe leads with Wallace back up to second.
Lap 57 – Briscoe takes the lead from Nemechek, who still has not pitted. Behind them are Chastain, Wallace, Hamlin, Larson, Cindric, ADIllon, Byron, and Reddick.
Lap 50 – Briscoe has moved around McDowell for second, but it still 7 seconds out of the lead.
Lap 47 – Keselowski was penalized for service outside the box. His pit crew did not get the left front tight so he pulled into Logano’s pit and they tightened it.
Lap 46 – Nemechek and McDowell our front. They have not pitted yet. Briscoe is third.
Lap 44 – Wallace pits from the lead. Nemechek now the leader.
Lap 43 – Hamlin pits from second.
Lap 42 – Pit stops continuing. Wallace still leads.
Lap 37 – Pit road is busy now. At least a dozen drivers in.
Lap 36 – Briscoe peels off to pit and Wallace takes the lead.
Lap 35 – Green flag pit stops are likely to begin soon. Briscoe now leads Wallace by .5 second. Hamlin back to third. Bowman pits.
Lap 30 – Reddick has fallen to 6th and is 4.8 seconds off the lead. Briscoe is about to start lapping cars.
Lap 25 – Playoff drivers are the top 11 on track. Berry is behind the wall, Bowman is 31st.
Lap 16 – Briscoe, Hamlin, Chastain, Wallace, Reddick, Bell, Larson, Cindric, ADillon, Blaney are the top 10.
Lap 7 – Back to green. Briscoe, Hamlin, Reddick, Chastain, Larson the top 5.
Lap 5 – Berry has to take the car back to the garage for repairs.
Lap 4 – Berry made it to pit road and the crew is working on the car. He’s a lap down. Buescher, Bowman, and Suarez pit as well as a few others.
Lap 1 – CAUTION on the first lap for Josh Berry into the wall in turn 2. Busch also spun. Berry made contact with Reddick. He also make some contact with the wall. Briscoe was the leader at the time of caution.
• 6:05pm/et – Green flag a Darlington. Hamlin and Briscoe on the front row.
• Dropping to the rear this evening: #34-Gilliland (unapproved adjustments), #51-Ware (unapproved adjustments)
• 5:55pm/et – Engines fired
• 5:47pm/et – Pre-race ceremonies are underway.
• 5:30pm/et – USA Network is on the air with race coverage
• There were no drivers reported to be falling to the rear for the start of the race as of the closing of the garage on Saturday.
• No weather issues tonight. The National Weather Service forecast:
Today – Mostly sunny, with a high near 82. Northeast wind 6 to 11 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
Tonight – Mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming clear, with a low around 59. Northeast wind around 6 mph.
Race details:
Broadcast: USA, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 367 laps / 501.32 miles
Stages: 115 / 230 / 367
Average time of race: 4:04:37
Pit road speed: 45 mph
Caution car speed: 50 mph
Fuel Window: 73 laps
Timing (all times local & subject to change)
- Drivers report to the Drivers Meeting tent in the NCS Garage by 4:50 p.m.
- Driver Introductions will begin promptly at 5:15 p.m.
Invocation: 5:47:20 p.m.
National Anthem: 5:48:00 p.m.
Command: 5:55:00 p.m.
Green Flag: 6:05:00 p.m.
Paint Schemes
Cars to the rear: #34-Gilliland (unapproved adjustments), #51-Ware (unapproved adjustments)
Pit Stall Selections: The selections of pit stalls for the Cook Out Southern 500 NASCAR Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway have been made.
Pole winner #11-Denny Hamlin chose pit stall 1.
Outside pole sitter #19-Chase Briscoe took the 8th stall, with an opening in front of it.
See all pit choices on the Darlington Pit Stall page.
#11-Denny Hamlin won the Busch pole for the Cook Out Southern 500 NASCAR Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway with a speed of 171.381mph for his second pole of the year, second at Darlington and 45th of his career.
#19-Chase Briscoe will start second followed by #21-Josh Berry, #45-Tyler Reddick, #5-Kyle Larson, #1-Ross Chastain, #20-Christopher Bell, #23-Bubba Wallace, #3-Austin Dillon, and #2-Austin Cindric.
Playoff drivers have the top 12 starting positions.
See the complete qualifying results and the Cook Out Southern 500 Starting Lineup.
Where the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series playoff drivers start:
#11-Denny Hamlin, 1st
#19-Chase Briscoe, 2nd
#21-Josh Berry, 3rd
#45-Tyler Reddick, 4th
#5-Kyle Larson, 5th
#1-Ross Chastain, 6th
#20-Christopher Bell, 7th
#23-Bubba Wallace, 8th
#3-Austin Dillon, 9th
#2-Austin Cindric, 10th
#24-William Byron, 11th
#12-Ryan Blaney, 12th
#22-Joey Logano, 14th
#88-Shane Van Gisbergen, 20th
#9-Chase Elliott, 21st
#48-Alex Bowman, 29th
Darlington – Qualifying Fast Facts:
Denny Hamlin (P) won the Pole Award for the Cook Out Southern 500 with a lap of 28.694 seconds, 171.381 mph.
This is his 46th pole in 712 NASCAR Cup Series races.
This is his second pole and 12th top-10 start in 2025.
This is his second pole in 27 races at Darlington Raceway.
Chase Briscoe (P) (second) posted his 16th top-10 start of 2025 and his third in ten races at Darlington Raceway.
Josh Berry (P) (third) posted his first top-10 start at Darlington Raceway. It is his ninth in 27 races this season.
Shane Van Gisbergen (P) (20th) was the fastest qualifying rookie.
(NASCAR)
Qualifying Order
Practice for the Cook Out Southern 500 NASCAR Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway is over. The results:
#71-Michael McDowell 169.531
#7-Justin Haley 168.856
#54-Ty Gibbs 168.850
#77-Carson Hocevar 168.394
#4-Noah Gragson 168.135
Slowest: #66-Timmy Hill, 155.243mph
Most laps run: 46 laps, #9-Chase Elliott and #77-Carson Hocevar.
Best 10 consecutive lap avg (of 37 drivers): #7-Justin Haley, 164.844mph
Notes: The top 5 drivers were all in Group 1. #60-Ryan Preece got a Darlington stripe in Group 1. #38-Zane Smith spun coming on to pit road but didn’t hit anything.
See the fastest speeds, best 10 consecutive lap average, laps run on the Cook Out Southern 500 Practice speeds page.
NASCAR Cup Series pre-race inspection is complete at Darlington Raceway.
The No. 66 Failed inspections twice.
The car chief Reece Kilgore was ejected from the event.
Loss of pit selection.
Crew Rosters
The entry list for the Cook Out Southern 500 NASCAR Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway is posted, 38 teams/drivers [for 40 spots] are listed.
Open teams entered: #4-Noah Gragson, #23-Bubba Wallace, #34-Todd Gilliland, #35-Riley Herbst, #38-Zane Smith, #44-Derek Kraus, #45-Tyler Reddick, #66-Timmy Hill.
See the full entry list on the Cook Out Southern 500 Entry List page.
Goodyear Fast Facts — Darlington: The right side tire is unchanged compared to the one used in April’s Goodyear 400 and the left side tire is very similar, but has a new tire code due to a minor tread compound update. Goodyear does not anticipate any performance changes around the 1.366-mile oval compared to the previous recommendation. This left side tire has been raced at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Michigan International Speedway and Indianapolis Motor Speedway, while the right side tire has been raced six times this year.
Statistical Advance: Analyzing the Cook Out Southern 500: A look at some of the top statistical performers at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina going into the Cook Out Southern 500.
NASCAR Cup Series News & Notes – Darlington Raceway:
- This weekend marks the 129th running of a NASCAR Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway, and the 76th running of the Southern 500.
- This is the sixth time Darlington hosted a Playoff race, and the fifth-time it has hosted the opening race (2020-2023, 2025).
- Darlington Raceway is one of five different tracks to open the postseason for the NASCAR Cup Series alongside New Hampshire (2004-2010), Chicagoland (2011-2017), Las Vegas (2018-2019) and Atlanta (2024).
- Five times the winner of the opening race of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs has gone on to win the championship – 2004 (Kurt Busch), 2011 (Tony Stewart), 2012 (Brad Keselowski), 2017 (Martin Truex Jr.) and 2024 (Joey Logano).
- The last seven Darlington Cup races were won by seven different drivers.
- See much more
Race rules and information:
