Chase Briscoe has already made his mark with Joe Gibbs Racing, wrapping up his rookie campaign third in the Championship 4 with three wins, and he now heads into his second year with the outfit carrying the same motivation. The difference this time around lies in the format awaiting him, one he has never competed under before.
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Briscoe grew up watching it on television, but competing in NASCAR cars within that structure will present an entirely different challenge. He believes the format strikes a balance by leveling the playing field and rewarding consistency alongside wins in nearly equal measure, something drivers and fans have clamored for over the years.
“I’m excited… I think all the drivers for sure wanted it to be a real example of the body of work that you’ve done all season long,” he said on Beating and Banging.
“And I think that this format kind of hits all those things, and it’s kind of a perfect mixture of you get that 10 race playoff where a guy can kind of get hot at the right time.”
Briscoe explained how the system balances playoff intensity with season-long accountability. “You still have the playoff feel, and then you still have kind of the season-long points because it is going to matter all season long where you’re running because of how the seedings work when the chase starts,” he continued.
That said, the #19 Joe Gibbs Racing driver doubts the racing itself will undergo substantial transformation in his view. Drivers may not appear as desperate, but drop everyone at a rental go-kart track, and the competitive fire will be the same. From that angle, the new format won’t revolutionize the on-track product. DNFs, however, will carry far greater consequences than ever before. Previously, a driver could secure a win and then crash out of a subsequent race without serious repercussions.
Those incidents barely registered from a playoff perspective. Now every DNF accumulates real damage to championship aspirations. Briscoe believes consistency will be the paramount factor in racing moving forward. Fans will witness drivers running up front week after week, truly separating themselves from the pack.
The old playoff structure made pulling away from the field difficult. Even when a driver stockpiled playoff points and captured numerous wins in the regular season, everyone essentially reset to a similar footing once the postseason started. Under the new framework, that equilibrium vanishes as NASCAR will grant extra points to the regular season champion.
But for a driver like Briscoe, who has shown his driving skills at short tracks, particularly relishing Martinsville, while also shining at certain intermediate circuits like Texas and Kansas despite mixed results across 1.5-milers generally, being among the most consistent performers in the coming season seems entirely reasonable.
