Chase Briscoe's dominance opens competitive NASCAR postseason

Shane Connuck, The Charlotte Observer on Sep 1, 2025

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DARLINGTON, S.C. — Chase Briscoe kept the rest of the NASCAR Cup Series playoff field guessing about who really holds the advantage in one of the sport’s tightest championship chases.

Briscoe’s dominance Sunday at Darlington — leading 309 of 367 laps and returning to Victory Lane at the Southern 500 for the second consecutive year — provided proof that on the right night, the fastest car still runs the show.

This playoff run feels as wide-open as any as the calendar turns to September.

It was Toyota that had the day to remember in the postseason opener, with Tyler Reddick’s second-place finish and back-to-back third and fourth place performances for Erik Jones and John Hunter Nemechek of Legacy Motor Club, respectively, behind Briscoe.

The Cup Series heads to Gateway and Bristol before the Round of 12, and it’ll be imperative for drivers to get out in front early. The variety in race tracks on the schedule gives various competitors chances, and Briscoe is confident after maintaining his Labor Day weekend success.

“I never once even thought about the playoffs throughout the weekend,” Briscoe said. “It’s definitely nice to be able to lock our way into the Round of 12. But I’m way more excited about the seven playoff points for the next couple of rounds. That’s something where we were at a pretty big deficit, and to add seven, that’s a huge deal going forward.

“I was way more excited about that than locking into the Round of 12. It’s nice for us to start our playoffs off the way we did — not just winning, we dominated — that’s really cool to do.”

Playoff drivers struggle in the NASCAR postseason opener

Only six playoff contenders finished in the Top 15 in the first race.

The majority of the postseason field will be looking for a bounce-back as the playoffs continue. Josh Berry qualified well and got caught up in wrecks early in his playoff debut, and several former series champions ran in the middle of the pack.

It still feels like it’s any driver’s shot in any given week. Even Shane Van Gisbergen found himself working on Darlington’s oval specifically and felt confident to put together a strong finish there.

“It’s a shame, because I had reasonable hopes as we ran well here in the spring, and our cars are getting better,” Van Gisbergen said after finishing 32nd, mired by a late caution. “I don’t know next week’s track, and then Bristol is very tough. Trying to do our best job, and hopefully, we get to the top in the coming weeks.”

Toyota kicks off postseason with the upper hand

Three different Toyota-based teams represent the top three finishers, while Chevrolet and Ford were led by non-playoff drivers.

Ford, the manufacturer that’s produced the past three champions, didn’t have any of its playoff contenders finish higher than 12th place Sunday. Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano were mostly nonfactors at Darlington, and Austin Cindric led Team Penske.

There wasn’t much performance from the Hendrick Motorsports cars outside Chase Elliott briefly leading and finishing in the Top 20; and Ross Chastain had the best finish for a playoff Chevrolet driver.

Briscoe won last year’s Southern 500 in a Ford, and as he continues his strong Joe Gibbs Racing debut season, the Toyota Camrys are following him.

“We made some really good notes earlier in the spring, figured the direction we needed to go to make our cars even better when we come back,” Nemechek said. “We continue to progress as an organization, as a team. Some weeks it’s hit or miss, but Jimmie (Johnson)’s vision and where he wants to take this — this is a step in the right direction.”