DARLINGTON, S.C. (AP) — Chase Briscoe liked Darlington Raceway from the moment he first drove here seven years ago. He'll like it a lot more if he can make history with his third straight win at the Southern 500 on Sunday.
Only NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon would have more, with four straight victories from 1995-98 at the track dubbed “Too Tough to Tame.”
Briscoe recalled his opening practice in an O'Reilly Auto Parts Series car back in 2019. “After the first five laps, I thought, 'Man, this place is awesome.'”
His affinity for Darlington has only grown since then. He won the Triple-A tier series race here in 2021, then took the past two Southern 500s to match a feat that only seven other drivers, including Bobby Allison, Cale Yarborough, David Pearson and Dale Earnhardt — all Hall of Famers — had ever achieved.
Winning three in a row? “That's definitely on the radar,” Briscoe said with a grin. “To do that three times in a row would be something really, really special.”
It also would be a strong start for the Joe Gibbs Racing driver's latest attempt at a NASCAR Cup championship, a chase that begins Sunday.
Briscoe finished fifth in the standings, 45 points behind regular-season champion and JGR teammate Denny Hamlin. The margin is manageable, especially with the format change, where none of the 16 competitors in The Chase will be eliminated during the next 10 races.
Briscoe brings with him an understanding of how to make his car better during his time on Darlington's oddball layout. While others complain about the egg-shaped oval's tight corners and tire-chewing surface, Briscoe has pushed all the right buttons to get to victory lane the past two years.
He used a drama-filled, three-wide pass late in the race to win in 2024 to qualify for that year's playoff grid. A season later, Briscoe had a dominant machine as he led 309 of 367 laps for his second Southern 500 in a row.
“When you're able to win two years in a row, that confidence just builds more and more every single time," Briscoe said. “So this is always one I've got circled on the calendar and one where the circle gets bigger.”
Denny Hamlin enters NASCAR's playoff Chase as the favorite and with experience in the reset format, in which none of the 16 competitors will be knocked out. But what if the 45-year-old future Hall of Famer doesn't win the championship this year or before he chooses to leave the sport?
“It would mean a lot personally,” Hamlin said this week while previewing the playoffs. “But also if I quit today, I'm still really happy with the stats we were able to put on the stat sheet and the wins we've been able to get. It certainly would be very gratifying, but what matters to me is my dad saw me when I was at my absolute best, and that was at Phoenix last year.”
Hamlin's father, Dennis, was his son's biggest supporter, and Hamlin said that his dad's sacrifices helped him achieve all he has in racing. Dennis died last December at 75, a few weeks after his son competed for the title at Phoenix.
Denny Hamlin holds the record with 19 playoff appearances and 14 playoff race wins. He has made the Championship 4 at the final race four times, including last year. But he has not broken through for a title.
He sits ninth all-time with 64 NASCAR victories, including four this season to take the 2026 regular-season title. He hopes to add a few more on the way to celebrating in Homestead in a couple of months. “I'm a little bit ahead and I've got enough races to prove that we're the best,” he said.
Ryan Preece, who won his way into the playoffs with a victory at Daytona last week, plans to stay aggressive and focused in the postseason. It's the only strategy that make sense to him.
“We have nothing to lose,” said Preece, seeded 16th in the 16-driver grid. "When I look at where we're at, if we're aggressive and it doesn't work out we’re still at the bottom.”
Hamlin and Tyler Reddick are the co-favorites to win the Southern 500 on Sunday, tied at plus-500. Briscoe, looking for his third straight win at Darlington's crown jewel event, is next at plus-600. Following Briscoe is Kyle Larson (plus-850), Christopher Bell (plus-1000) and Ryan Blaney (plus-1100).
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Chase Briscoe (19) and Ty Gibbs (54) steer their cars out of Turn 4 during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race, Sunday, Aug. 23, 2026, at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, N.H. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
Chase Briscoe walks to the drivers meeting before a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Daytona International Speedway, Saturday, Aug. 29, 2026, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith and Miami’s Malachi Toney have wasted no time launching their respective Heisman Trophy campaigns.
Smith caught eight passes for 151 yards and two touchdowns in the first half alone as No. 1 Ohio State opened its season with a 56-3 blowout of Ball State on Saturday. Smith celebrated his second touchdown by doing a Heisman pose.
One night earlier, Toney performed a similar celebration during his three-touchdown performance in the seventh-ranked Hurricanes’ 45-6 victory at Stanford. Toney set a school single-game record with 234 yards receiving.
Smith was a first-team selection and Toney was a second-team pick on last year’s Associated Press All-America team. The AP’s preseason All-America team this summer had both as first-team receivers along with Texas’ Cam Coleman.
Now they're showing they're among the top players in the land, regardless of position.
They faced off in last year’s College Football Playoff. Smith had better numbers that night — catching seven passes for 157 yards and a touchdown — but Toney’s Hurricanes advanced with a 24-14 Cotton Bowl quarterfinal victory over the Buckeyes.
There could be another matchup in this season's playoff, given how dominant both Ohio State and Miami looked in their respective openers.
But the star receivers could be meeting in New York for the Heisman ceremony well before then.
No. 6 Indiana's new faces helped the defending national champions roll to a 52-16 victory over North Texas in their opener.
Former TCU quarterback Josh Hoover went 13 of 16 for 231 yards with four touchdowns in his first game stepping in for Heisman Trophy winner and No. 1 overall draft pick Fernando Mendoza. Boston College transfer Turbo Richard scored twice and Michigan State transfer Nick Marsh got the Hoosiers' first touchdown with a one-handed grab.
One sign of concern for Indiana is that a defense that allowed the second-fewest points per game of any FBS team last year struggled to slow down North Texas, which had to overhaul its roster after former Mean Green coach Eric Morris left for Oklahoma State and took most of his weapons with him.
Smith, Toney and Hoover weren’t the only notable players delivering noteworthy performances this weekend.
— Ohio State QB Julian Sayin, who finished fourth in the Heisman Trophy voting last season, went 21 of 25 for 320 yards with three touchdowns. He also ran for a touchdown.
— South Carolina QB LaNorris Sellers was 19 of 23 for 270 yards with three touchdowns in a 57-0 victory over Kent State.
— Southern California QB Jayden Maiava, the reigning AP national player of the week, went 25 of 29 for 286 yards with two touchdown passes in a 39-0 win over Fresno State on Friday night. Maiava has thrown five touchdown passes and six incompletions through No. 14 USC's first two games of the season.
— Maybe it's too soon to put Pitt QB Mason Heintschel on this list, but he set an Atlantic Coast Conference single-game record by throwing seven touchdown passes in a 59-14 rout of Miami (Ohio). He went 31 of 41 for 459 yards.
These freshmen made major impacts in their college debuts.
— Nebraska's Jamal Rule rushed for 122 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries and caught two passes for 47 yards and another score in the Cornhuskers' 49-21 win over Ohio.
— Syracuse's Shavane Anderson Jr. ran for 102 yards and three touchdowns in a 66-3 blowout of New Hampshire. That game also featured a notable comeback by Syracuse QB Steve Angeli, who threw three touchdown passes in his first appearance since tearing his Achilles tendon in a victory over Clemson last year.
Clemson at No. 11 LSU on Saturday night was always going to be a showcase game. Two teams that went 7-6 last season trying to get back in the national championship mix (LSU winning in 2019 and Clemson in 2018 seems so long ago), two outspoken coaches in Dabo Swinney and LSU's expensive new hire, Lane Kiffin.
The game took on a lot more meaning when the NCAA's new eligibility rules blew up in courtrooms all over the country and LSU made no secret of its interest in bringing back not just fifth-year players who went to court but players who had signed professional contracts.
This issue lingered late into the week, including the surreal spectacle of the SEC battling LSU in multiple courtrooms. LSU eventually decided against placing onetime pros Dae’Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris on its roster in advance of its season opener.
The Sunday lineup includes a weirdly early Apple Cup between No. 17 Washington and Washington State before prime-time showdowns: No. 4 Notre Dame against Wisconsin at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and No. 9 Mississippi against No. 24 Louisville in Nashville, Tennessee. The Labor Day capper sees Mike Norvell and Florida State hosting No. 19 SMU and dynamic quarterback Kevin Jennings.
The next AP Top 25 rankings to sort it all out will be released Tuesday.
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Missouri wide receiver Cayden Lee, left, scores past Arkansas-Pine Bluff defensive back Na'il Johnson (38) during the first half of an NCAA college football game Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026, in Columbia, Mo. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
The Colorado team celebrates a win over Georgia Tech after an NCAA college football game, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
