By Seth Eggert, Writer
A two-tire stop for Joe Gibbs Racing’s Chase Briscoe gave him the lead late in Sunday afternoon’s South Point 400 at Las Vegas (NV) Motor Speedway, however it was not enough to get the NASCAR Cup Series driver to victory lane.
Prior to a massive accident between Kaulig Racing’s Ty Dillon and Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron with 30 laps to go Briscoe was running just outside the top-five. Contact with the outside wall exiting turn four at the start of the final stage dropped the No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry XSE out of the top-five.
“I don’t know if it gave us damage but the car definitely was never the same as what it was,” Briscoe admitted. “We were just kind of stuck right there around fifth all day long so honestly I wish we would have won right but for us to finish fourth that was probably a spot or two better than what we were going to finish. I guess it could have been a lot worse.”
Crew chief James Small opted to put two right side Goodyear Racing tires on in a bid for track position. The gamble seemingly worked as Briscoe exited pit road with the lead on lap 241.
The luck appeared to continue as the biggest wreck in the track’s history collected 11 cars on the ensuing restart on lap 245. Briscoe held off defending race winner, and Cup Series champion, Joey Logano, on the final restart with 14 laps to go.
With just two fresh tires, Briscoe was at a disadvantage to his Joe Gibbs teammate Denny Hamlin, along with others that had taken four tires. The Mitchell, Ind. native kept his veteran teammate at bay over the next 11 laps.
With four laps to go, on lap 263, the aero blocking was not enough and Hamlin swept by for the lead, and ultimately the win. Without clean air, Briscoe slipped down the running order, taking the checkered flag in fourth.
“I just air blocked as much as I could,” Briscoe explained. “My car was good enough in (turns) one and two, I could hold my own, just in three and four I was bleeding like a half second every single lap and then it would just flip. I was just so vulnerable down the front straightaway so yeah definitely tough, but could have been a lot worse, leaving 15 (points) up today.”
The 400-mile race started with Briscoe taking the lead from the outside pole on the opening lap. That continued Las Vegas’ streak of the leader of the first lap at the track failing to reach victory lane. Despite continuing that trend, the 30-year-old finished third and fifth in the opening two stages, gaining an additional 14 points.
Those 14 points, combined with one point from the Xfinity Fastest Lap bonus, is what allowed Briscoe to leave Sin City fourth on the playoff grid with 15 points to spare.
Briscoe will now take that 15 point cushion to the unpredictable YellaWood 500 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. Between the two traditional drafting tracks of Daytona (Fla.) Int’l Speedway and Talladega, Briscoe has three top-five and five top 10 finishes.
Broadcast coverage for the YellaWood 500 at Talladega is scheduled for Sunday, October 19 at 2 p.m. ET, live on NBC, the Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.