Chase Briscoe came close to winning a third straight Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway on Sunday night. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver led 30 laps and stayed near the front for most of the race. But a late restart dropped him to sixth in the opening race of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series Chase.
Briscoe entered the Southern 500 as the two-time defending winner and had a chance to make NASCAR history with a third straight victory at the 1.366-mile track. Instead, the final restart changed the result.
Briscoe said he believed he had done what he needed to do, but the NASCAR Cup Series race ended with him outside the top five and without the third Southern 500 win he had been chasing.
NASCAR Cup Series Restart Costs Chase Briscoe
Briscoe had to recover after a fuel issue at the end of Stage 2 dropped him back in the field. He regained track position and returned to the fight near the front late in the Southern 500.
On the final restart, Briscoe chose the bottom lane after discussing the decision with his team.
“My gut told me to take the bottom,” Briscoe said. “And as a group, we agreed that if we got the bottom was going to be the best and just execute.”
The NASCAR restart did not produce the result Briscoe wanted. He said several drivers who had been behind him moved ahead after Turn 2.
“But I just know I came off Turn 2, and three or four of the guys that were behind me were all of a sudden ahead of me,” Briscoe said. “And we were all so evenly matched. It was hard to really do anything.”
Southern 500 Strategy Leaves Briscoe Sixth
Briscoe also discussed the final caution and the drivers who stayed on older tires instead of taking fresh tires. He said the strategy was understandable because a fast car could still perform well on older tires.
“Not really,” Briscoe said. “Earlier in the race, I had hit like four or five laps earlier than Reddick and Bubba, and, you know, I stayed with them the whole run. So if your car was good, you know, it was okay.”
Kyle Larson led late in the Southern 500 before Christopher Bell passed him with 12 laps remaining. Bell held off Ty Gibbs to win the NASCAR Cup Series race. Tyler Reddick finished third, Ryan Blaney was fourth and Larson finished fifth. Briscoe finished sixth.
The sixth-place result ended Briscoe’s attempt to become a three-time consecutive Southern 500 winner. However, he still gained ground in the NASCAR Cup Series Chase standings.
Chase Briscoe Gains Ground in NASCAR Chase
Briscoe entered Darlington 45 points behind the NASCAR Chase lead. He leaves the Southern 500 37 points behind, cutting the deficit by eight points heading into the second race.
“Yeah, I mean, we talked about it going into this week,” Briscoe said. “We needed to outscore by five points, and, you know, we started 45 back of the lead, and now we’re 37 back of the lead.”
Briscoe said the result met part of the team’s goal but also cost them points.
“So in that picture, I guess we did what we needed to do,” he said. “But we certainly felt like we gave away a lot of extra points there as we would have wanted.”
The NASCAR Cup Series Chase now moves to World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway. Briscoe enters the next race 37 points behind the lead after finishing sixth at Darlington.
NASCAR Cup Series Driver’s Late Restart Decision Ruins Shot at Southern 500 history