Surging Chase Briscoe says a win “is right around the corner”
Briscoe is heading into this weekendâs race at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway on the heels of consecutive top-10 finishes, including a seasonâs-best sixth last weekend at Texas.
The strong two-week run â which included top-10 finishes in both stages at Texas and rebounding from involvement in a wreck early in the final stage â has pushed Briscoe to 12th in the series standings â highest among all four Stewart-Haas Racing drivers.
Itâs also given the 29-year-old native of Mitchell, Ind., some confidence moving forward.
âWay better than sixth place (at Texas). I feel like I keep saying it is frustrating because we are way better than that speed wise but overall, it was a really solid day and really solid points day,â Briscoe said.
âI feel like our win is right around the corner. We just have to clean up a little bit of stuff.â
Chase Briscoe, Stewart Haas Racing, Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang
Photo by: Ben Earp / NKP / Motorsport Images
Talladega is as good a track as any for Briscoeâs â and Fordâs â first win of the year.
The 2.66-mile superspeedway has been good to Ford through the years with the manufacturer producing 32 Cup victories, with at least one in 11 of the last 12 seasons.
In six career Cup starts at the track, Briscoe has only one finish outside the top-15. His average finish of 14.8 is fourth best among current full-time series drivers, trailing only Chase Elliott (13.6), Todd Gilliland (14.0) and Ryan Blaney (14.5).
âGetting a Mustang in Victory Lane at Talladega would be super cool. The Mustangs have been super good at superspeedway race tracks, so it would be no better time to get one than just after the 60th birthday of Mustang,â he said.
âThat is what we are going to try to do. We are going to have really fast Fords, so hopefully, one of us can put Mustang in Victory Lane.â
Ford also celebrated the 60th anniversary of the iconic sports car at a day-long event this past week at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
While his season â which included the addition of two new teammates at SHR in Josh Berry and Noah Gragson â has gotten off to a slow start, itâs been an important one in the development of Briscoeâs NASCAR career.
âItâs been really good. Honestly, itâs probably been my favorite year at Stewart-Haas,â he explained. âAll of my teammates are relatively the same age as me. Weâre all kind of the same, where weâre career-wise, and itâs just been a lot of fun from the camaraderie side and just getting to know them better.
âI just feel like from a teamwork standpoint, weâre way better than weâve ever been as far as working together. I would say 10 races in weâre farther ahead from a teamwork standpoint, so hopefully we can continue to grow that.â
The are few tracks on the Cup schedule where teamwork could play as big a role in the outcome, which is another reason for Briscoeâs confidence heading into this weekend. Itâs also a race where the outcome can change quickly through no fault of your own.
âYou stick to the plan because Talladega is one of those places where if you get off the plan, it kind of just ruins your day,â he said. âLike, you can pit by yourself, but then youâre just hung out to dry.
âYou have to have a plan, but I also I feel like that plan never plays out. Youâre constantly calling audibles the whole race because itâs constantly changing.
âHopefully, we can just have one of those solid days. Obviously, weâre going there to win the race, but Talladega is one of those places where if you can just come out of it with a top-15, youâre almost happy just because you didnât bleed a ton of points.â
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