"That was my one opportunity to get the lead": Chase Briscoe dives deeper into his race-winning move at Darlington

After a winless streak of 93 races, Chase Briscoe won his second Cup Series race at the Cook Out Southern 500, the final race of the regular season, on Sunday, September 1. Overwhelmed with emotion, the Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) driver reflected on his strategic approach and shared his thoughts during the final laps while reviewing the race footage.

Briscoe's previous win dates back to 2022. With the news that SHR will cease operations after the 2024 season, the 29-year-old is set to take over Martin Truex Jr.'s #19 car in next year’s Cup Series. The backdrop has made his recent win even more special, a sentiment he echoed in his post-race interviews.

Discussing the final moments of the race at Darlington Raceway, Briscoe said (via NASCAR on X):

"Ross was on old tires. I knew that he was gonna kind of stack the top lane up. And somehow the #54 had a huge run and it just so happened I could get up behind him and get a big run because they were going to be two wide. [...] they ran two wide and I had a huge draft and just turned off super late and kind of just went in there, and through a slide job."

"Kyle was all right there, but I knew I could kind of set a pick on him to the #1 car, just because the #1 was going to be slower with the eight-lap tires. Yeah, I watched Kyle lead like 200-something laps and I knew that I was pretty evenly matched with him and if I could ever just get the lead, I was going to be okay and that was my one opportunity to get the lead," Chase Briscoe added.

On the final restart at lap 351, Kyle Busch took off from the inside of the fourth row, equipped with fresh tires — the first to do so. He overtook the field except for Chase Briscoe. Even as his car wavered and grazed the wall several times in the concluding laps, Briscoe managed to hold off Busch to win his second NASCAR Cup Series race.

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Chase Briscoe recounts "deja vu" moment while contending with Kyle Busch

Despite delivering some standout performances in the last four races of the regular season, Kyle Busch failed to secure a spot in the playoffs. Chase Briscoe, on the other hand, managed to secure his place in the top 16 by narrowly outpacing Busch, who trailed by just 0.3 seconds in the end. In his post-race interview, Chase Briscoe shared that it felt like "deja vu."

Briscoe recalled the tense final moments, noting how his car was severely loose, similar to his experience in the Xfinity race. Meanwhile, Busch pursued him till the end, mirroring the dynamics of their previous encounter, with Briscoe hitting the wall several times as the race neared its end.

"After I watched Kyle Busch pit behind me, here he is in second, I was like, 'You've got to be kidding me!' I've worked 300 some laps to get to the lead and now Kyle is going to come and steal it from us. It was definitely Deja Vu, because that Xfinity race I was sideways loose at the end. I hit the wall like Xfinity race," he said (via Cup Scene YouTube channel). [5:53]