The way the Darlington race started, nobody could have imagined that it would end like this. In the end, it doesn’t matter that Kyle Larson led more than 250 plus laps in the 367-lap race. It doesn’t matter that Bubba Wallace and Chris Buescher had a fierce battle for the 16th spot in the playoffs. It all came down to who crossed the finish line. And it was Chase Briscoe!

And boy, he did it in style! With 11 laps to go, two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch was on his tail. Despite the pressure, Briscoe held his nerve and tamed the ‘track too tough to tame.‘ His win has now put him in the 14th spot of the playoffs, eliminating both Chris Buescher and Bubba Wallace.

A special one for the Stewart-Haas team

Briscoe’s victory was extra special as his team, Stewart-Haas Racing, had announced its closure earlier in the season. Despite facing uncertainty, Briscoe has now given the entire SHR a chance to fight for the championships in their last season of the Cup. On this note, an emotional Briscoe said, “Last week was the most embarrassing race I ran of my life. I told Richard, I don’t even wanna talk about it. I promise you I will make it up to you next week. Taking this 14 car in victory lane. For all the 320 employees. To be able to race for a championship in the final year is unbelievable. The guys were so good. Slight De ja Vu with Kyle Busch in the Xfinity race here in 2020. I didn’t know if I was gonna be able to do it.”

This wasn’t the first time Briscoe kept the hungry lion at bay. Back in 2020, in the Xfinity Series, on the same Darlington track, Briscoe fended off Busch in the last 10 laps of the race. And it’s no easy task to defeat the 63-time Cup Series race winner. Reiterating this, Briscoe talked about the pressure he felt from Busch. He said, “Yeah (there was pressure). I was sideways, counter steering, and felt like I was in a sprint car. This night just literally went perfectly. The pit crew did an incredible job and I was crying. This is the crown jewel and what makes it special is all you race fans.”

You have got to feel it for Kyle Busch. First at Daytona and now at Darlington, two missed opportunities to qualify for the playoffs. This marks the first time the veteran will not be competing in the playoffs. In another upset, Kyle Larson, after dominating the majority of the race (263 of 367 ), lost the regular season championship to a consistent Tyler Reddick by just one point. For Reddick, it wasn’t the most comfortable race, as he complained about being sick throughout. Reddick’s 17-point advantage entering the race was the reason why he won despite finishing 10th in Darlington. Reddick will also get a head start in the playoffs with the bonus of 15 playoff points. Despite winning the regular season championship, Reddick was not pleased.

In a post-race interview, he said, “It’s huge for us um it’s a bummer man this was this has been one of my best tracks and we just we had an all around off night I hate that um like I said I hate we had to use that buffer up that that we had coming in here but um I mean this is what this team’s kind of all about I feel like this is the worst night we’ve had in in in months and months um speed wise um and we still finished 10th and it was kind of an all-out struggle for us.” Reddick was sick throughout the race. Yet managed victorious! According to him, it’s a big thing for him and his team competing for going and competing for the championship. The race was full of ups and downs. While Reddick is on the top, his teammate Bubba Wallace won’t compete in the playoffs. Also facing upset were Busch and Buescher.

Another big upset in Darlington

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Bubba did everything he could, yet it wasn’t enough. He was in a must-win situation or a good finish hoping for Buescher getting a bad finish, but. For some parts of the race, it went according to Wallace’s, where he had narrowed the lead between him and Buescher to -2 which coming in the race was -21. You know the battle was intense as it had 23XI owner Michael Jordan Stress. During the race, he said, “I’m absolutely terrified right now because I want him to do well obviously.” However, in the end, a new winner ruined it all, knocking both Bubba and Buescher out.

Naturally, Bubba was disappointed as, according to him, he gave it his all; he said, “Unfortunate, I hate it for your guys, but hats off to the 14 . I thought I did something yesterday, they one-up’d us and showed up when it was game time. That’s pretty badass, so congrats to them. Wasn’t good enough for 16th this year. Hate that, it stings saying that but wasn’t from lack of effort from all of us from this 23 car.”

Even Buescher echoed Wallace’s emotions when he talked about losing out. According to him, many factors that led to his loss weren’t in his control. Reiterating this, He said, “Tried to control what we could, and it wasn’t enough. To come back and get a really good finish out of it is great, just wasn’t working out with the way the rest of the race played back. We’ll go back and watch it and see how it unfolded, ultimately, just didn’t get it done this year.”

That is how NASCAR is. It is a game of uncertainties. You can plan everything perfectly yet not get the results!