Dale Earnhardt Jr. applauds Kyle Busch, NBC NASCAR broadcast for last laps at Darlington

The closing laps to this past Sunday’s Southern 500 at Darlington were as intense as any we’ve seen this season in the NASCAR Cup Series. With Chase Briscoe out front and Kyle Busch chasing him down, the two winless drivers battled to secure a spot in the 16-driver postseason.

As Busch quickly went from 10th and second off the final restart aided by a fresh set of tires, viewers were able to ride along with Busch in his No. 8 Chevrolet. For the final 10 laps or so, NBC Sports showed the on-board camera in Busch’s car, showing the audience his real-time perspective as he chased down Briscoe.

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Speaking on “The Dale Jr. Download,” Dale Earnhardt Jr. credited NBC Sports for its usage of the in-car camera, saying it allowed fans to feel like they were “in the passenger seat with Kyle Busch.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr. relives Chase Briscoe, Kyle Busch battle at Darlington

“One of the drivers that was smart and put tires on his car and gave himself an offensive chance was Kyle Busch,” Earnhardt said. “Man, it was fun to sit inside that car and ride with Kyle as he tried to track down Chase Briscoe in those final laps. We talk about the broadcast a lot and how important it is to show the fans how incredible the racing is. And if the broadcast doesn’t, you can have an amazing race, but if the broadcast doesn’t take you there and doesn’t show you why it’s amazing, you’ll never know it. They did a really smart thing by sitting inside the racecar more than usual in those moments.

“It put us in the passenger seat with Kyle Busch as he’s doing everything possible trying to find just a little bit more speed to chase down a guy who’s driving with his hair on fire in Chase Briscoe. I mean, Chase Briscoe’s sitting there going, ‘Here’s my moment, I’ve gotta do this not only to try to make the playoffs but SHR’s shutting down, 350 employees all trying to figure out where they’re going to go to work next year.’ This is his chance to sort of give them something to be excited about. He’s also looking in the mirror and seeing one of the best drivers in the series chasing him down. And he has three-lap better tires.”

Kyle Busch wants to ‘keep building’ on solids runs of late

Busch got close, but never quite close enough to make the pass on Briscoe. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver held on to take the checkered flag to snap a 93-race winless streak and advance into the postseason.

Busch came up just short at Darlington, however, it was another encouraging result in a season which has been perhaps his toughest in the Cup Series. He heads into the final 10 races of the season riding a three-race top-five streak, something he hopes to build on.

“This Morgan & Morgan Chevrolet, they turned it around these last four, five weeks and we’ve run a lot better. That’s been much improved, beneficial to our team and the organization,” Busch said after the race. “Something to build on and get better for. We just missed a lot in the early part of the year. Through the middle part of the year, to put ourselves in this spot, to be on the outside looking in. To come in here for a last-ditch effort and have a shot. Early in the race, I wouldn’t have thought we had a shot.

“So felt like we really overachieved towards the end. And got a really good finish for what we had or what I thought we had. We’ll take that and keep building on it.”