Chase Briscoe wins Darlington Southern 500, advances to Round of 12

DARLINGTON, S.C. — Chase Briscoe dominated the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway on Sunday night, leading 309 of 367 laps, sweeping the first two stages and holding off a late charge from Tyler Reddick to win for the second consecutive year at the storied Labor Day event. The victory in the playoff opener advances Briscoe and his No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota into the Round of 12 and vaulted him to the top of the postseason standings.

Briscoe took the lead early and controlled much of the race after pit cycles put him in clean air. He crossed the finish 0.408 seconds ahead of Reddick, with Erik Jones third, followed by John Hunter Nemechek and AJ Allmendinger. Bubba Wallace and Briscoe’s teammate Denny Hamlin rounded out the top seven. After climbing from his car, Briscoe said the win had been harder than it looked and called the Southern 500 his favorite race of the year.

The margin of Briscoe’s dominance drew praise around the garage and from past champions. Hall of Famer Rusty Wallace called it “a hell of a performance,” and veteran Kyle Petty argued the back-to-back wins are particularly noteworthy because Briscoe achieved them with different teams and...