Chase Briscoe Revives Round of 12 Hopes with Strong Showing at Watkins Glen
"We need to just hit singles and doubles and don't do anything crazy. As long as we just execute all day long, it should be enough."
- Chase Briscoe on making the Round of 12
The odd nature of Sunday's Go Bowling at The Glen has breathed life back into the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs hopes of Chase Briscoe and Stewart-Haas Racing, as the organization enters the final stretch of its NASCAR tenure.
After a last-place finish due to an early-race wreck at Atlanta Motor Speedway, the path forward into the Round of 12 for Briscoe wasn't looking great, with the driver of the No. 14 leaving the 1.5-mile superspeedway-like facility sitting 21 points below the cutline.
Since his walk-off victory at Darlington, the Mitchell, Indiana-native has been consistent in saying the opening round of the playoffs was likely his strongest, with confidence that his team would be strong at both Watkins Glen and Bristol.
That previously indicated strength was present at the 2.45-mile road course in Watkins Glen, New York, after Briscoe qualified the No. 14 HighPoint.com Ford Mustang 12th, right in the middle of the 16 post-season drivers.
Once the race got underway, Briscoe was able to use positive strategy calls by Richard Boswell -- and at one point, one that he made on his own -- to maintain solid track position, netting the team 12 stage points and holding on for a sixth-place finish -- the best among the playoff drivers.
That 21-point deficit to the cutline, which could have easily been viewed as insurmountable, was erased instantaneously, and the 43 points earned in Sunday's event were enough to toss Briscoe back above the cutline, now six points to the good.
"It was huge. It's what we needed to do -- score stage points and run good in the race, and we were able to do that," said Briscoe. "It was a really good, solid day for our HighPoint.com Ford. I felt like I could've gotten a couple more points, but just didn't want to risk it there at the end. I knew I was in a pretty good position compared to a lot of the field, so we did what we needed to do and now we just need to go do that same thing next week."
In the first of what will be two trips to Bristol Motor Speedway this season, Briscoe finished 13th, two laps off the pace, after starting the race from sixth. That event featured a never-before-seen factor of tire degradation, which wasn't present in practice and qualifying.
With Goodyear bringing the same tire as the Spring, and NASCAR preparing the racetrack in the same way, there are questions surrounding how Saturday's Bass Pro Shops Night Race will play out. Should that degradation return, it will be crucial for drivers to not abuse their tires and race the racetrack, rather than the competitors. However, if that doesn't happen, all of the driver and team notes from the Spring, are rendered useless.
JOSEPH SRIGLEY