“We kept ourselves in the game”

Chase Briscoe was the last of eight drivers to qualify for the semi-finals after last weekend’s race at Charlotte Roval, and Sunday’s race in Las Vegas did not look promising.

Briscoe #14 Stewart-Haas Racing The Ford struggled to steer from the start and fell a lap before the end of the first stage.

Caution in the late stage from a Kyle Bush a spin gave Briscoe a free pass and put him back on the lead lap, and from there he slowly worked his way back into contention for the rest of the race.

By lap 246 out of 267, Briscoe passed Justin Haley for the leading role, but only as a back Landon Cassill bring the race back under caution and set up another restart. Several cars, incl Joey Loganotook the opportunity to get a new set of tires.

On the next restart, Ross Chastain took Briscoe and Haley in a triple to take the lead. Logano, on fresher tires, quickly passed Briscoe for the spot and eventually passed Chastain for the lead and the win with two laps to go.

Briscoe ended up finishing a respectable fourth, but one was left to wonder what would have happened if he had had the opportunity to challenge for the lead on flat tyres.

“We weren’t the best at the start of the race and obviously it didn’t matter much at the end,” said the 27-year-old Briscoe. in the leader, that the run would go to the end.

“I feel like I was probably going to pass him in the next five laps. We had such a big gap compared to everyone else. No one else had tires. We were all equal.”

Instead, Briscoe lost the lead to Chastain’s audacious move, which the driver even predicted on the team’s radio before the restart.

“On the last restart, I just didn’t do the job,” Briscoe said. “No. 31 (Haley) stopped me and let Ross put us in a three, which put me in a really bad spot in the three. If you give up leadership, you’re just stuck.

“Who knows? Those guys were on tires and I doubt I could have held them off, but I would have felt better if I had had the chance.”

Briscoe didn’t get the win that would have automatically put him in the Championship 4, but his finish did improve his prospects in the standings. He is sixth out of eight drivers in points, but just nine points below the relegation zone.

“We kept ourselves in the game and we still have a lot of work to do, but we still have a chance,” Briscoe said. “We’ve been doing our best all year long, and that’s all you can ask for.”