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Chase Briscoe won the Cook Out Southern 500.
With five laps remaining, NASCAR Cup Series driver Alex Bowman conceded.
As Chase Briscoe, the eventual winner of Sunday night’s Cook Out Southern 500, and runner-up Tyler Reddick closed in, Bowman declined to defend his lead-lap position. He steered down to the middle groove at Darlington Raceway, leaving an opening for the two leaders to safely pass.
Bowman, the postseason field’s No. 16-ranked qualifier, endured a 40-second pit stop during the second stage, which dropped the No. 48 Chevrolet two laps off the pace.
Bowman wasn’t the lone playoff driver who departed Darlington disappointed.
Here’s a look at three drivers who will need to rebound next Sunday at World Wide Technology Raceway:
Alex Bowman
After an early incident and the prolonged pit stop, Bowman started to work his way back through the field. With finishes of 11th or better in eight of his previous 10 starts, Bowman rallied to claim the final playoff spot.
The issue with his prolonged stop pointed to a faulty air gun, confusing pit-crew members. A tire changer couldn’t complete his work on the right rear wheel. Meanwhile, the jackman moved to the left side before the right tire was secured, forcing him to return. And then go back to ensure both tires were locked in place. Bowman rejoined the field P36.
By the end of Stage 2, however, Bowman attempted to join the middle pack, but eventually faded.
Shane van Gisbergen
The road-course ace remains challenged on superspeedways, prompting crew chief Stephen Doran to roll the dice.
Van Gisbergen, who earned four wins as a rookie, failed to overcome the gamble of making a long second-stage run. The No. 88 Chevrolet team counted on a caution period that never developed. When Derek Kraus’ engine caught fire on Lap 313, the yellow flag came out too late. At that point, the three-time Supercars champion raced two laps off Briscoe’s pace and was a non-factor.
Van Gisbergen, the series’ rookie of the year, claimed a waiver around to cut his laps deficit to one, but he ended up P32.
“It was a tough day,” van Gisbergen said, as reported by NBC Sports. “Our car was very different from yesterday. Stephen didn’t give up on tuning on it, but we just couldn’t make it better. We tried something different with strategy but got a caution at the wrong time and couldn’t rebound from it.”
Shane Van Gisbergen says his car is “unraceable”, as he drops back to 29th-place at the end of Stage 2.
“This is embarrassing. I can’t turn, there’s no drive, it’s just not even close.”#NASCAR
— Joseph Srigley (@joe_srigley) September 1, 2025
Josh Berry
A playoff longshot entering Sunday night’s event, Berry successfully navigated the first turn on the first lap.
But that was about it.
Along Turn 2, the Wood Brothers Racing driver spun out, nearly took out eventual P2 finisher Tyler Reddick, and crashed. Berry eventually returned, but finished last, 124 laps behind Briscoe.
Berry questioned the No. 21 Ford setup.
“It bottomed out, that’s what happened,” Berry said. “It’s just disappointing. The car bottomed out five or six times and just wrecked. It was definitely unexpected. We didn’t really fight that too bad in practice.
“It looked like a lot of people had a bad night, which we know how this goes.”
Jeff Hawkins Jeff Hawkins is a career sportswriter who has collected 12 industry awards, including two Associated Press Sports Editors (APSE) honors. Author of four youth sports books, Hawkins has served as a beat writer for the Carolina Panthers, Chicago Blackhawks, Adirondack IceHawks, Adirondack Lumberjacks and Hickory Crawdads. A husband and father, Hawkins enjoys live eclectic music, mountain biking and watching Film Noir. More about Jeff Hawkins
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