Chase Briscoe snatched victory from the jaws of chaos with a last-lap pass to win Sunday’s YellaWood 500, sealing his first-ever ticket to the Championship 4 at Phoenix. The win puts him in the title mix alongside his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin. Meanwhile, Christopher Bell, sitting atop the points standings among the remaining six contenders, looks ready to join them in the finale if he keeps his momentum rolling.
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Should Bell advance, Briscoe would face off against two of his own teammates and one rival from another camp. Yet, he isn’t losing sleep over that possibility. Speaking after the race at Talladega Superspeedway, Briscoe said, “Truthfully, I hope that happens [Bell qualifying for Championship 4]. It would be tough because I feel like they’re my biggest competition for it.”
He continued, “I don’t think it’s any different because I’ve learned, [it] took me a couple months to kind of learn this, but at JGR you compete for wins against your teammates all the time. It’s not really like it’s unchartered territory for us.”
“Obviously, there’s more on the line when you’re racing for a championship. If I’m going to go against anybody, I hope it is them because I feel like at the end of the day, if one of us can’t win, we hope the other guy wins. It would be just a huge thing for our company to have a three-in-four shot.”
Briscoe sounded upbeat about Bell’s chances at Martinsville, hoping he punches his ticket to Phoenix. He admitted it would be “pretty special” if all three JGR drivers made the cut, though he cautioned that the team must avoid tripping over its own feet, as it did in Kansas. His wish is straightforward: he just wants one of them to bring it home.
With a smile, Briscoe quipped that the biggest storyline, if all three JGR drivers advance, would be how they didn’t mess it up, given how dominant the team has been all season. He emphasized that if JGR fields three contenders, the goal is that one of them must seal the deal.
Beyond that, Briscoe noted there’d be no shortage of narratives, his own being his first shot at the crown, Hamlin chasing his long-awaited Cup title after 21 years, and Bell’s return as an annual threat to the title contenders. Whoever the fourth driver turns out to be, Briscoe said, they’ll bring their own story to the stage as well.
As for a potential all-JGR race in Phoenix, the 30-year-old reiterated that the real headline would be execution. With a 75% chance of winning on paper, he believes the team must capitalize. After all, JGR already conquered Phoenix earlier this season with Bell’s third straight win, so now, it’s about tying a bow on what has been a stellar campaign.
