Chase Briscoe might not be a part of the playoffs anymore but he still wants to win a race before the season comes to an end. That is unlikely considering how poorly Stewart-Haas Racing cars have been racing this season. However, the driver is prepared to give it his all to get the job done. His next attempt will be at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway this weekend and he knows what is required to conquer the track.
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Having a fast car alone won’t land a driver in the Vegas victory lane. It is a venue where one can take more than one groove, so having good speed on short runs is crucial. The car also has to be suited to perform on long green runs. Briscoe believes that the balance of the car will come to play an important role in all this.
He said in a recent interview, “It’s definitely high-speed. I would say it’s a lot less momentum-based than a place like Kansas, but it’s still a track where we’re running a 19-hour. So momentum and not losing speed is still a big part of it, but certainly, I feel like the mechanical balance at Vegas is always a crucial part with how rough it is and the things you kind of fight there.”
Vegas is a bumpy track and drivers could lose their car at any point. This is why mechanical balance is so important. Otherwise, the car would feel loose going through every turn of the track. Even if they have a good balance, drivers will have to maneuver past those bumps as much as possible to not lose control.
Briscoe explains how he got used to the Ford Mustang Dark Horse
Ford introduced their new Mustang Dark Horse in the Cup Series this year and the car’s first intermediate track test was at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway back in March. Little over six months later, the drivers have a better understanding of what to expect from it. It certainly took the Ford driver quite some time to get used to it.
Briscoe said, “There were a lot of things that were different on it. Just the things we had to do to kind of wake it up and things that were totally different than with the old car. It probably took us all a little bit longer than we would’ve liked to get the Dark Horse going, but I feel like once we all kind of figured it out, we’ve been way closer to where we need to be.”
He won’t have to worry about the Mustang next season since he will be racing the No. 19 Toyota Camry XSE for Joe Gibbs Racing. The Toyotas have been incredibly fast the entire season. He will be looking forward to win races in them.
