Briscoe looking for Darlington history with a third straight Southern 500 to start NASCAR playoffs

DARLINGTON, S.C. (AP) — Chase Briscoe liked Darlington Raceway from the moment he first drove here seven years ago. He'll like it a lot more if he can make history with his third straight win at the Southern 500 on Sunday.

Only NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon would have more, with four straight victories from 1995-98 at the track dubbed “Too Tough to Tame.”

Briscoe recalled his opening practice in an O'Reilly Auto Parts Series car back in 2019. “After the first five laps, I thought, 'Man, this place is awesome.'”

His affinity for Darlington has only grown since then. He won the Triple-A tier series race here in 2021, then took the past two Southern 500s to match a feat that only seven other drivers, including Bobby Allison, Cale Yarborough, David Pearson and Dale Earnhardt — all Hall of Famers — had ever achieved.

Winning three in a row? “That's definitely on the radar,” Briscoe said with a grin. “To do that three times in a row would be something really, really special.”

It also would be a strong start for the Joe Gibbs Racing driver's latest attempt at a NASCAR Cup championship, a chase that begins Sunday.

Briscoe finished fifth in the standings, 45 points behind regular-season champion and JGR teammate Denny Hamlin. The margin is manageable, especially with the format change, where none of the 16 competitors in The Chase will be eliminated during the next 10 races.

Briscoe brings with him an understanding of how to make his car better during his time on Darlington's oddball layout. While others complain about the egg-shaped oval's tight corners and tire-chewing surface, Briscoe has pushed all the right buttons to get to victory lane the past two years.

He used a drama-filled, three-wide pass late in the race to win in 2024 to qualify for that year's playoff grid. A season later, Briscoe had a dominant machine as he led 309 of 367 laps for his second Southern 500 in a row.

“When you're able to win two years in a row, that confidence just builds more and more every single time," Briscoe said. “So this is always one I've got circled on the calendar and one where the circle gets bigger.”

Denny Hamlin enters NASCAR's playoff Chase as the favorite and with experience in the reset format, in which none of the 16 competitors will be knocked out. But what if the 45-year-old future Hall of Famer doesn't win the championship this year or before he chooses to leave the sport?

“It would mean a lot personally,” Hamlin said this week while previewing the playoffs . “But also if I quit today, I'm still really happy with the stats we were able to put on the stat sheet and the wins we've been able to get. It certainly would be very gratifying, but what matters to me is my dad saw me when I was at my absolute best, and that was at Phoenix last year.”

Hamlin's father, Dennis, was his son's biggest supporter, and Hamlin said that his dad's sacrifices helped him achieve all he has in racing. Dennis died last December at 75, a few weeks after his son competed for the title at Phoenix.

Denny Hamlin holds the record with 19 playoff appearances and 14 playoff race wins. He has made the Championship 4 at the final race four times, including last year. But he has not broken through for a title.

He sits ninth all-time with 64 NASCAR victories, including four this season to take the 2026 regular-season title. He hopes to add a few more on the way to celebrating in Homestead in a couple of months. “I'm a little bit ahead and I've got enough races to prove that we're the best,” he said.

Ryan Preece, who won his way into the playoffs with a victory at Daytona last week, plans to stay aggressive and focused in the postseason. It's the only strategy that make sense to him.

“We have nothing to lose,” said Preece, seeded 16th in the 16-driver grid. "When I look at where we're at, if we're aggressive and it doesn't work out we’re still at the bottom.”

Hamlin and Tyler Reddick are the co-favorites to win the Southern 500 on Sunday, tied at plus-500. Briscoe, looking for his third straight win at Darlington's crown jewel event, is next at plus-600. Following Briscoe is Kyle Larson (plus-850), Christopher Bell (plus-1000) and Ryan Blaney (plus-1100).

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