Chase Briscoe Delivers on Son’s Promise, Breaking History With 51-YO Southern 500 Record

“Last year, nobody expected us (to win)…we weren’t coming into Darlington and being like, This is our weekend.” When Chase Briscoe won the 2024 Southern 500, it was in the most unexpected situation. Stewart-Haas Racing was crumbling, and Briscoe’s win was a last tribute to the team. In 2025, however, pressure came from a lot of sides for the NASCAR race. From the winning trends in Joe Gibbs Racing to his son Brooks’ demands, there were a lot of expectations. And Briscoe fulfilled them recently.

Chase Briscoe seals his first playoff trophy

Before the 2025 Cook Out Southern 500 kicked off, Denny Hamlin dominated the headlines. The five-time Darlington winner won the pole for the NASCAR race, and with his April victory, Hamlin looked poised to win in August as well. However, Chase Briscoe shoved him off the lead just 7 laps into the race. Thence began a long battle between the two, with Briscoe winning Stage 1, and Hamlin briefly snatching the lead on lap 124. However, the JGR veteran’s chances fizzled out with a disastrous pit stop. From then onwards, it was mostly Briscoe’s game.

Chase Briscoe led for 309 of 367 laps, navigating voltage issues and holding off Tyler Reddick and Erik Jones to win the race. He defended his Southern 500 victory in style, as he broke a 51-year-old historical record. Stephen Stumpf highlighted that on X: “This is the first time since 1973-74 (Cale Yarborough, Richard Howard & Junior Johnson) that a driver has won the #Southern500 back-to-back with two different car owners.” What is more, Briscoe also became only the second driver since 1990 to lead for 200+ laps and win. Seven drivers were in this list, of which only Kevin Harvick had won previously in 2014.

BACK-TO-BACK BRISCOE!@chasebriscoe does it again in the #Southern500! pic.twitter.com/fwpyTihhCB

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) September 1, 2025

After climbing out of the No. 19 JGR Toyota, Chase Briscoe beamed with joy. His son Brooks flashed the victory sign to a roaring crowd of fans. He told FOX, “Man, there at the end, that was way harder than it needed to be…Just an incredible Bass Pro Shops Toyota. As a fan, I have watched Martin dominate a lot of the races, but it was fun to finally be behind the wheel of it…So cool to win two Southern 500s in a row. This is my favorite race of the year, just because of the race fans. Every time we come here, the place is sold out. Just the atmosphere here is unlike anywhere else. Yeah, just a great way to start our playoffs. And man, I had a lot of fun.” 

With two crown jewels under his belt, Chase Briscoe is already a big asset to JGR. We cannot wait to see what he does next in the playoffs. Stay tuned for more updates!

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