Chase Briscoe and the No. 14 Stewart Haas Racing team are brimming with confidence heading to the Bristol Night Race this weekend. Following a historical victory at the Southern 500 that put him into the playoffs, Briscoe secured a crucial sixth-place finish in Watkins Glen last Sunday. The unexpected momentum has given him unbridled positivity to make it into the Round of 12.
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He is, by most means, an underdog in Bristol considering who will be up against him. Considering him a favorite over the likes of Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, and Kyle Larson would be a fool’s errand. But Briscoe is certain that he can overcome these stalwarts if he executes his plan perfectly. What instills this optimism in him is the character that he sees in his race shop after the Glen race.
The top-10 result catapulted him from 20 points below the cutline to 6 points above it. And his crew loves him for it. He told sportsnaut.com, “It kind of had that same atmosphere and vibe I would say of after we won Darlington. We knew that was a huge day. That was everything we needed to do and even though we didn’t win the race, it honestly almost felt like we won the race.”
Briscoe will need a big, big day at Bristol to qualify for the next round. The challenges posed by the contenders and the hurdles presented by the track both shoulder him with threatening eyes. And yet, he doesn’t consider himself to be an underdog. He continued to express his belief that if he puts in the best possible effort from his side, it should be enough to get him through.
The typical Bristol favorites that Briscoe hopes to beat
The driver’s mindset is so strong that he would have considered himself to have a good shot at victory even if he were sitting below the Round of 12 elimination line. But this little means that he is unaware of the difficulty or that he is being too naive.
Bristol is one of the Stewart-Haas Racing’s better tracks. He hopes to build on such factors to construct his day against Martin Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin, and Ty Gibbs – the drivers whom he considers are typically in the mix to win at the short oval.
Doing everything right is what will give him the best chances of success even if that doesn’t necessarily mean a win. His best finish in the last four Cup Series races at the track is 13th. However, he did finish inside the top-4 in each of his last four Xfinity Series races at the track. Saturday night will determine his fate for 2024.
