With four races left in the NASCAR Cup Series’ 26-race regular season, Joe Gibbs Racing driver Chase Briscoe is a man on a mission: to gain as many playoff bonus points as he can.
Advertisement
Briscoe doesn’t have to worry about anything other than earning bonus points in the last four races because he is already locked into the 10-race postseason, having earned a victory earlier this year at Pocono Raceway.
In a sense, Briscoe is following the lead of current Cup points leader Chase Elliott, who also is locked into the playoffs and has said several times recently that he will be fighting for as many playoff bonus points as he can.
While winning is still an important accomplishment, drivers like the two Chases are focusing on earning playoff points.
“It’s something James (Small, crew chief) and I have talked a lot about,” Briscoe said during media availability at this week’s venue, Iowa Speedway. “As a race team we feel like we are a Championship 4 contender with the speed we have right now.
“But the playoff points grid, it’s really, really top heavy, and then the rest of the field only has seven or five points. So it makes it where if you can even just get a couple playoff points from a stage win, but especially a race win and get that five extra, it’s a huge deal right now. So that’s something that is definitely on our mind.”
Briscoe looks to move up in points in Iowa
Briscoe comes into Sunday’s race in Iowa eighth in the standings, 127 points behind the other Chase, points leader Chase Elliott. But right now, Briscoe is more focused on which driver is closest to him in points and how he hopes to overtake that driver in the standings at Iowa.
“We are 17 points behind (Ryan) Blaney for seventh in points, so that’s another playoff point that we’re really focused on right now,” Briscoe said. “The biggest thing right now is trying to get as many playoff points as we can because when the playoffs start, you can get through the Round of 16, you can get through the Round of 12 with that deficit we’re at.
“But when you get to the Round of 8, if you have a 20 or 30 point deficit, it’s so hard to do anything. It’s extremely important for us right now.”
