Chase Briscoe, who narrowly made the playoffs with a win at Darlington, is ready to compete at Talladega this week, eyeing a spot in the Round of 8. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver has demonstrated reliable performance at the venue, maintaining an average finish of 14.4 over seven races, third best among active drivers.
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In a recent interview on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, Briscoe’s crew chief, Richard Boswell, unpacked the #14 team’s strategy for navigating the challenges of Talladega. He said, “We have to be aggressive all right along. We have to score stage points. I think that’s our way to set ourselves apart from the guys that score stage points this week.”
“We have to be aggressive with our pick calls, with the car we’re bringing to make sure that it has the speed that it needs, out front in the pack. The handling and the pack is going to be important.”
🗣️ "We just have to be all hands on deck. We have to be super aggressive."
Crew Chief Richard Boswell (@rboswell84) details the No. 14 team's approach for @TALLADEGA sitting 25 points below the cutline in the Round of 12.
More → https://t.co/MKhd9eLXG8 pic.twitter.com/dWU2ggMrib
— SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Ch. 90) (@SiriusXMNASCAR) October 3, 2024
The #14’s best performance at Talladega Superspeedway was in the spring race of 2023, where he started and finished in fourth place. Given the elimination race for the Round of 12 is scheduled at Charlotte Roval, where he has an average finish of 19.7, Talladega might be his best chance to secure a victory or at least accumulate enough points to advance to the Round of 8.
Chase Briscoe discusses his approach for the YellaWood 500 at Talladega
In a media session ahead of the YellaWood 500 at Talladega, Briscoe was asked whether he would approach the race with trepidation due to its unpredictable nature or see it as a golden chance to win and progress. Echoing his crew chief’s sentiments, the SHR driver shared,
“I’ve gone through different kinds of spectrums of superspeedway racing. I’ve taken the conservative route and I’ve gone the super-aggressive route. And every time I’ve gone the conservative route, I typically end up crashed. So I’m just going to go back to being on the aggressive side.”
He acknowledged the challenges posed by the Next Gen car, noting its limitations on track maneuverability. But despite these challenges, Briscoe plans to aggressively vie for stage points and aim for the best finish possible. He admitted “And if you get caught up in a crash, you get caught up in a crash,” but ascribed that conservatism on the track often doesn’t pay off for him.
He said when he tries to play it safe, it rarely works out. So, he’d be heading into the race prepared to be as aggressive as possible, aiming to lead every lap he could and make his way through the chaos.
