Darlington Raceway is also known as the “Lady in Black.” She’s like many women you’ve probably known—temperamental, unpredictable, and always ready to remind you who’s really in charge. One minute, she’s all smiles, letting you glide through her curves as if you’re her favorite dance partner. But don’t get too comfortable. Blink, and she’ll turn on you, morphing from a gracious queen to your worst nightmare faster than you can say “pit stop.”
After 500 miles on her sandpaper-like surface under the relentless South Carolina sun—where “fall” is more of a myth than a season—you’ll be lucky if she doesn’t spit you out and leave you curled up in the fetal position, drenched in sweat, questioning your life choices. But—and it’s a big but—if you play your cards right, if you treat her with just the right mix of respect and finesse, she might just let you walk away with a smile.
And Chase Briscoe was certainly smiling Sunday night. But he was also in tears.
In 2020, Briscoe stood on the finish line at Darlington Raceway, the grandstands eerily empty due to the pandemic. He broke down, overwhelmed, sinking to the ground. Just hours before, he had learned that his wife had suffered a miscarriage. Yet, he went out and held off Kyle Busch in a NASCAR Xfinity race, winning by a mere .086 of a second.
Sunday night, he faced Kyle Busch, and won, again. This time, the gap was .361 of a second. But this win was much, much bigger. After nipping at the heels of Kyle Larson all race long, Briscoe made a dramatic three-wide move with 25 laps to go, took the lead, and held on to win the NASCAR Cup Series Southern 500. This time, the grandstands were full, his wife—pregnant with twins—and his young son, born after his last Darlington win, ran out to meet him.
It was his first win of 2024, punching his ticket into NASCAR’s Playoffs in what will be the final year for Stewart-Haas Racing, set to close at season’s end.
“For all 320 employees, everybody, to be able to race for a championship in their final year, man, unbelievable,” Briscoe said. “God is just so good. It’s like déjà vu there at the end with Kyle, with the Xfinity race here in 2020. Obviously, I didn’t know if I was going to be able to do it.”
For 263 of the 367 laps, and both Stages Kyle Larson was the Lady in Black’s dance partner. But in the end, just like in 2018 when he led 284 laps only to be denied victory, Larson finished fourth.
“Yeah, I think where it all kind of got crazy was when Ross (Chastain) stayed out,” Larson said. “I had to choose the bottom on the front row. He got a good launch. I just got behind the No. 14 (Chase Briscoe) and kind of lost control of the race from then on. And then I just did a bad job on that last restart. Really, I just had the points on my mind there and really wanted to get the driver’s regular season championship there to get those bonus points. I was being extra cautious, which I don’t know if the end result was any different. But I was definitely as aggressive as I could have been with just being safe.
“But hats-off to Chase Briscoe; that’s amazing. He did such a great job all day long, all weekend long. This is a super, super tough race to win. To do it with the pressure that they had on their team was pretty amazing.”
As if to rub salt in the wound, after leading the regular-season standings most of the night, Larson lost that crown to Tyler Reddick, who battled illness all race long and still managed to finish 10th. Reddick clinched the regular-season championship by a single point.
“Just things fell our way there at the end,” Reddick. “Yeah, I started the day off feeling really, really good just kind of trying to take my time to get around Bubba (Wallace). Him and the 5 (Kyle Larson) kind of jumped us on the first cycle. I thought we had a long race and plenty of time and just man, by the end of stage one I couldn’t even really focus on what to tell the guys to do on the Upper Deck Toyota Camry. It was frustrating, man. We had that buffer over the 5 and just watched it disappear all day long. I tried everything I can to drive this car as fast as I can, it was just a real struggle honestly. I don’t have anything left.”
To be fair Busch nearly pulled off an upset. He gambled on fresh tires and hoped to end his winless season. But Briscoe wouldn’t be denied, and Busch will miss the Playoffs for the first time since the Elimination format started in 2014, and for just the second time since he started racing in the NASCAR Cup Series. Now, his only goal will be to continue his streak of winning at least one race per season—a streak currently at 19 years.
“I wanted it last week. I wanted it this week,” Busch said. “I wanted it in Atlanta. I wanted it in Vegas. There’s been a lot of opportunities. Daytona 500 we were up front all day. I can count ’em at least on a hand. Maybe I need two hands to count opportunities that have slipped away.”
Christopher Bell managed to slip past Larson in the final laps to finish third. Behind Larson, Ross Chastain, who gambled on older tires hoping for a miracle of his own to lead on a late restart, rounded out the top five.
Martin Truex Jr. went from a contender looking to race his way into his final shot at NASCAR’s Playoffs to a mere spectator, while Ryan Blaney went from a regular-season champion hopeful to a patient in the infield care center on lap 2. Truex, running in the top 10, dove under William Byron in Turn 2, got loose, started to spin, and then overcorrected, sending himself up into the wall and across the front of Blaney’s car. Both were done for the day. Truex later took responsibility for the crash, but his fate was no longer in his hands, as he prayed a new winner wouldn’t steal the final Playoff spot.
Blaney said his arm got twisted in the crash but said he’d be okay.
For Truex, it became academic by the end of Stage 2 when, despite not even being on the track and only running 3 laps, he clinched a Playoff spot. He joins Ty Gibbs as the two drivers in the Playoffs on points, and with another first-time winner on the season, Chris Buescher and Bubba Wallace were denied a shot at the final points spot.
Next season, Daytona will once again be the race that determines the field for NASCAR’s Playoffs. But history will show that the Lady in Black had her say, delivering results that left some questioning their life choices and Chase Briscoe grinning ear-to-ear after racing harder than he ever had in his life.
“I was sideways, counter steering,” Briscoe said. “Like I was in a sprint car. Yeah, this night just literally went perfect. The pit crew did an incredible job. I was crying. After the checkered, I just won the Southern 500, this is a crown jewel. What makes this race so special is all these race fans. Every time we come here, it’s sold out. It’s awesome. We love you guys. Last time I won here was during COVID, I didn’t experience it with the fans. Glad that you are here and can’t wait to celebrate.”
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.