Advertisement

Chase Briscoe gets an emotional win as he holds off Kyle Busch in a thrilling Darlington finish

Chase Briscoe (98) crosses the finish line ahead of Kyle Busch (54) to win the NASCAR Xfinity series auto race Thursday, May 21, 2020, in Darlington, S.C. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
Chase Briscoe held off Kyle Busch on Thursday. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Chase Briscoe went from the worst day of his life to the biggest day of his life in the span of a week.

Briscoe held off Kyle Busch in a fantastic finish to Thursday’s postponed Xfinity Series race at Darlington. Busch ran Briscoe down over the final three laps and was able to get alongside Briscoe as the two approached the final lap. But Busch couldn’t get past him as the two drivers made contact.

“This is more than a race win,” Briscoe said. “This is the biggest day of my life after the toughest day of my life. To be able to beat the best there is is so satisfying.”

Briscoe was in tears when he emerged from his car on the frontstretch. On Tuesday, he and wife Marissa found out that she had a miscarriage. The couple, who got married over the offseason, were expecting their first child.

“This is for my wife,” Briscoe said. “This is the hardest week I’ve ever had to deal with and God is so good man. Even when I took the lead with 50 to go I was crying inside the race car and I wasn’t there at all.”

The victory is Briscoe’s fourth of his Xfinity Series career and his second of the season. He won the second race of the season at Las Vegas in February before the NASCAR season was halted because of the coronavirus pandemic. He entered the 2020 season as one of the favorites for the Xfinity Series title and there’s no reason to think he won’t be in the mix for the title — and a potential Cup Series ride in 2021.

The second-place finish was Busch’s second in the span of 24 hours. He was second in Wednesday night’s Cup Series race to Denny Hamlin after Chase Elliott went spinning off his bumper and flipped Busch the middle finger. Busch is the only driver attempting to run all seven of NASCAR’s races from May 17-27 across the Cup, Xfinity and Truck Series.

– – – – – – –

Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports.

More from Yahoo Sports: