There’s something about Darlington Raceway that just brings out the best in Chase Briscoe.
Advertisement
Although she’s known to be very fickle, if not downright hateful, with other NASCAR Cup drivers, the so-called ‘Lady in Black’ is definitely like a teenage girl with a massive crush on the 30-year-old native of Mitchell, Indiana.
Two of Briscoe’s four career NASCAR Cup wins have come at the 1.366-mile, egg-shaped oval in South Carolina: back-to-back triumphs in the 2024 and 2025 editions of the iconic Southern 500 race. But Darlington holds a special place in Briscoe’s heart for other reasons, as well.
In 2020, Briscoe’s wife, Marissa, who was carrying the couple’s first child, suffered a miscarriage just before the Toyota 300 Xfinity Series race at Darlington.
While officials of Stewart-Haas Racing, the team Briscoe raced for, told Briscoe to take the race off to be with and console his wife, it was Marissa who persuaded her husband to keep his focus on racing.
His wife’s encouragement was an inspiration for Briscoe to get behind the wheel, and he ultimately wound up winning the race. Just over a year later, the couple welcomed son Brooks a few weeks after Chase finished 19th in his first-ever Southern 500.
And then in 2024, again, only a few weeks after the Southern 500, which Chase won, the couple welcomed twins, a boy and a girl named Cooper Banks and Collins Ivy, respectively.
After Brooks stood on top of his father’s winning car on the frontstretch, proudly holding up his index finger in a No. 1 fashion, he then turned out to be quite the ham, stealing the show during Briscoe’s post-race press conference after last week’s win by picking up a microphone just like his dad to talk with reporters.
Son made Dad pinky finger promise to win at Darlington
The irony is that prior to the race, Brooks made Chase promise that he’d win the race, and sure enough, Dear Old Dad did just that.
Briscoe said, “He (Brooks) is definitely the life of the party. He got recognized at the mall this week. He was with my father-in-law, and there is a little slot-car track in the mall, and he went and they’re like, ‘Are you Brooks Briscoe?’
“He has no idea what’s going on, and then he had his first day of school on Tuesday and all of his teachers were telling him that he was on TV. It was definitely a cool experience.
“It is really what Darlington has meant to our family. From 2020 and the miscarriage thing to now, five years basically removed, to be able to celebrate with Brooks and have him there, and even the twins there. It was just a special moment…
“Last year, I thought that I was going to get to do that with Brooks and (then-crew chief Richard) Boswell came in to give me a hug, and (accidentally) punched Brooks in the face. So he was screaming the whole time and just didn’t have a very enjoyable experience. Whereas this time around, he was living his best life.”
Briscoe said that his son was in every single victory lane photo, with every sponsor and crew member holding up two fingers and the flag, and reiterating that Brooks definitely had the time of his life.
He added that it was cool to experience that moment, especially since his family had not been at Pocono in June when he won to secure his playoff spot.
Briscoe noted that this was really the first time his entire family, along with his parents, in-laws, brother-in-law, and sister-in-law, were all present to celebrate a win together, making it a truly special day.
