NASCAR Ford driver Chase Briscoe made the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs just barely, winning at Darlington just before the cutoff and bringing another Blue Oval competitor to the title fight. Unfortunately, the Round of 16 didn’t start well for him – he posted a 38th-place finish at Atlanta after his No. 14 Ford Mustang Dark Horse was swept up into an early wreck. That left him in dire straits heading into the elimination round at Bristol last weekend, where he salvaged his title hopes by finishing eighth.
According to a report from NASCAR.com, Briscoe headed to Bristol 21 points out of the Round of 12, but his top-10 finish put him one point above it. But that didn’t discourage him at all – in fact, it lit a fire under him to make it happen.
“The only time I had any concern the entire time is when I was sitting on the backstretch unbuckling after crashing,” Briscoe said of the Atlanta incident. “And then when the race played out at Atlanta, we were sitting there at the airport and it literally just showed minus-21. I took a screenshot of it, sent it to our team guys, and I said, ‘doable.’ That’s all I said.”
Briscoe carried that sentiment straight to Bristol. While he may not be the title favorite, he’s intent on proving the naysayers wrong.
“I don’t think anybody believes this, but I really think we can battle for the championship,” Briscoe said. “And I think these last two weeks show that. I mean, we gave them a race, right? We went to Atlanta and got one point. And tonight, we had a lot of adversity, and we were better than eighth place.”
Briscoe’s crew chief, Richard Boswell, shared a similar sentiment.
“He’s determined,” Boswell told NASCAR.com. “He’s committed to finish this year out as strong as he can. And we know when he’s at his very best, he’s a championship contender, right? He proved that a couple years ago. And it’s been a tough year with everything that’s going on at [Stewart-Haas Racing, which is shutting down] and had tough end of the year last year, so this is just a breath of fresh air to see this Chase Briscoe with this much confidence and a team that supports him 100 percent.”
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