"The hardest race to win": Dale Earnhardt Jr. deems Darlington race winners as "talented drivers" over the Brickyard 400

Dale Earnhardt Jr. has opined that the Cook Out Southern 500 at the Darlington Raceway is the "hardest race to win" on NASCAR's schedule. According to the 26-time Cup Series race winner, the drivers who ace the 'Too Tough To Tame' oval are privileged with the "talented driver" tag.

Darlington Raceway is different from other tracks on NASCAR's roster. Its infamous egg-shaped oval with differently configured ends makes it challenging for the crew to produce a dominant car setup that could steer clear through all four turns.

The reason for its unique configuration dates back to 1948, when Harold Brasington bought 70 acres of land from a farmer named Sherman Ramsey. However, Brasington assured Ramsey that the constructed track wouldn't disturb his minnow pond. As a result, one corner of the 1.366-mile oval is steep, narrow, and tighter than others.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. has opined that the Southern 500 hosted by Darlington is tougher to win than the Brickyard 400 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. During the Dirty Mo Media podcast, the legendary driver gave his take, saying (via X).

"It's the Everest of NASCAR, right? It is the hardest race to win...If you polled all of the NASCAR drivers, 'You get to win one, you want to win Darlington, the Southern 500 or do you want to win at Indianapolis, in the Brickyard 400?'"

"I think the majority are going to tell you Darlington and the reason is because they know that if you win there, it's like bona fide factual evidence that you are a race car driver a talented driver, not just holding the steering wheel," Junior added.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. continued:

"If you go to Indy and win, the car factors in a ton, yes you got to be a good driver but there's no hiding at Darlington and there's no lucking into a win there. There's no sort of average driver that gets an incredible car and wins there. Even in that scenario, you're going to get beat."

Dale Earnhardt Jr. made 25 Cup Series appearances at Darlington. His best finish came in 2014 when he placed his #88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet in second place.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. reacts to Chase Briscoe's Darlington win

The Cook Out Southern 500 took a chaotic turn during the final stage, throwing several contenders out of the debacle. Chase Briscoe had a strong run from the beginning. He started third and finished third and second in both stages. Moreover, the #14 Ford driver survived the late-race chaos and the Lap 344 pileup to hold his domination.

Ross Chastain led the second-to-last overtime restart, with Kyle Larson and Ty Gibbs running second and third, respectively. Briscoe ran in fourth. On Lap 342, the Stewart-Haas Racing driver lunged from the inside line for a triple overtake against the frontrunners. From there, he dominated the track, fended Kyle Busch's hard challenge for 17 laps, and punched his playoff ticket.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. commented on Briscoe's "great move" and said.

"He (Chase Briscoe) ran really good all night long, never really got an opportunity to sort of go toe to toe with (Kyle) Larson throughout most of the night but it seemed like as the race got later and the track changed. Something changed and Larson's competitiveness sort of faded and Briscoe took advantage of it. Great move down the back straightway on a late restart," Junior said via Dirty Mo Media on YouTube (5:55).

Chase Briscoe will move to Joe Gibbs Racing next year and replace Martin Truex Jr. in the #19 Toyota.