The Lady in Black hosted the opening race of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, and Chase Briscoe made a statement. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver dominated the Southern 500, winning both stages and holding off a late charge from Tyler Reddick and Erik Jones to score his second victory of the season. The win not only guaranteed Briscoe’s spot in the Round of 12, but also marked his second consecutive Southern 500 triumph.
Playoff drivers set the tone in qualifying, sweeping the first 12 spots. Denny Hamlin earned the pole, with Briscoe starting alongside.
Soak it all in, @chasebriscoe. pic.twitter.com/Cr9ov1qkOm
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) September 1, 2025
Briscoe wasted no time, snatching the lead from Hamlin on the opening lap, but trouble struck immediately as Josh Berry spun in Turn 2, collecting Tyler Reddick. Berry’s car was heavily damaged and sent to the garage, effectively ending his night, while Reddick managed to continue with only minor repairs. Berry later returned to the racetrack and finished 128 laps down, in last, but secured the extra point for the fastest lap of the race. Kyle Busch also spun during the incident, and Alex Bowman sustained damage, though both continued.
Later in the stage, Bowman’s pit crew had a strange 40-second stop, a costly mistake for Hendrick Motorsports.
Toyota was strong from the beginning; Briscoe pulled away to secure the stage win and valuable playoff points, with Reddick rebounding to second after his early setbacks with the crash and a slow pit stop.
Hamlin retook the lead on the restart, but Briscoe surged back to the front by Lap 16 of the stage. Early on, Carson Hocevar and Chase Elliott tangled, raising tempers but avoiding major damage.
A spin by Hocevar triggered a caution followed by chaos on pit road. Hamlin, Wallace, and Cindric had slow stops, William Byron had a loose wheel requiring an extra stop, and contact between Bell and Hocevar left Bell with damage and Blaney trapped behind them.
Briscoe maintained control despite briefly reporting an electrical issue. Another caution for Cody Ware’s spin bunched the field again, and pit road once more shuffled positions. The pit road victim this time around was Chase Elliott, who had to come back around a second time down pit road to tighten the wheel. On the restart, Kyle Busch slid but saved his car, while Blaney was spun by Austin Dillon in the chain reaction.
Through it all, Briscoe remained dominant, winning Stage 2 ahead of Tyler Reddick and Erik Jones.
An accordion effect on the restart briefly cost Briscoe the lead, but he quickly regained control by passing Tyler Reddick, who had a close call with the wall. The race appeared to be his until Derek Kraus’ car caught fire with 54 laps remaining, bringing out the final caution of the day.
The restart was clean, and in the closing laps, both Reddick and Jones closed the gap, setting up an exciting finish. Reddick made a desperate dive into the final corner but couldn’t complete the move, as Briscoe held him on and drove off to his second win of the season—and back-to-back Southern 500 victories, clinching his spot into the Round of 12.
1st. Chase Briscoe (Advanced)
2nd. Denny Hamlin +43
3rd. Kyle Larson +38
4th. Tyler Reddick +35
5th. Bubba Wallace +25
6th. William Byron +25
7th. Ryan Blaney +22
8th. Ross Chastain +21
9th. Austin Cindric +12
10th. Christopher Bell +11
11th. Chase Elliott +9
12th. Shane van Gisbergen +3
—— Cutline ——
13th. Joey Logano -3
14th. Austin Dillon -8
15th. Alex Bowman -19
16th. Josh Berry -19
What did you think of this race? Let us know! Join the discussion on Discord or X, and remember to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube for more updates.
Be sure to tune back in here next weekend at DailyDownforce.com for our coverage of the race weekend at Gateway!
