After capturing the opening playoff race at Darlington, Chase Briscoe punched his ticket to the Round of 12 with ease. By keeping his foot on the gas, stacking up top-fives and top-tens, he clawed his way into the Round of 8 as well. But despite a hard-fought fourth-place finish at Las Vegas in the first race of the third playoff round, Briscoe now walks a tightrope, holding just a 15-point cushion above the cut line.
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At Las Vegas, for only the second time in his young NASCAR Cup Series career, the first being the 2022 Martinsville race, Briscoe found himself clinging to the lead on worn tires in a Round of 8 show, only to watch the victory slip through his fingers in the closing laps.
Running seventh with right-rear damage when a caution waved with 30 laps to go, crew chief James Small rolled the dice on pit strategy, opting for two tires instead of four to give his driver track position. The alternative, taking four tires, would have sent Briscoe deep into the pack again.
With the car’s handling already fading, Small wasn’t sure they could have clawed their way back through even after four fresh tires. That’s why he made the decision.
The final restart set up a 14-lap dash to the finish, and Briscoe nailed it. He jumped out to lead, stretching the gap over Kyle Larson. But behind him, teammate Denny Hamlin was carving through the field.
On four fresh tires, Hamlin ran down Briscoe with four laps remaining, taking the lead and securing his spot in the Championship 4. Soon after, Larson and Christopher Bell also slipped by, leaving Briscoe to settle for fourth.
“Just wish it was six laps shorter or whatever it was. Just I was so loose at the end. I had nothing left. That was everything I had, and glad at least Denny won, you know, JGR car… Didn’t have enough at the end, and unfortunate for sure,” Briscoe said after the race.
Reflecting on his run, Briscoe admitted, “I was just so loose, truthfully, all day long if I ran the top. So, when I was already that loose on the bottom, I was just scared to death to go up there. And plus with them having new tires, I felt like if I gave them the bottom, they would just drive right underneath me anyways.”
Hear @chasebriscoe and his crew chief, James Small talk about the tire gamble the No. 19 car took in Las Vegas.
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Briscoe tried to play defense the only way he could, by using the air block. He said his car held its own through Turns 1 and 2, but in Turns 3 and 4, he was bleeding half a second each lap, leaving him a sitting duck on the front straightaway.
Still, the #19 JGR driver felt fortunate that the two tires held up as long as they did. “Otherwise, I would have really been in trouble,” he admitted. Small, meanwhile, stood by his call, knowing their options were few and the odds stacked against them. But with the rest of the field taking four fresh tires, Briscoe was always going to be fighting an uphill battle to the finish.
