Chase Briscoe believes having even a half-second advantage over Joey Logano when they made their final green-flag pit stop could have been enough for him to win at Richmond Raceway, where a late brake problem erased the cushion he had built and ultimately left him chasing the No. 22 to the finish.
Speaking with Jared Allen on Actions Detrimental, Briscoe admitted he genuinely thought the win was within reach despite Richmond historically being one of his weakest tracks.
“Yeah. I thought it was going to happen, which is crazy to think of Richmond. It’s like my worst track in the world.”
Briscoe had one of the strongest cars of the night, but the balance of power changed repeatedly between him, Logano and Denny Hamlin. At different points, each driver appeared capable of controlling the race.
Briscoe recalled one stretch when Logano disappeared far enough ahead that he could no longer see him, only for the situation to reverse later when the No. 19 built a three- to four-second advantage of its own.
That advantage became evident with roughly 60 to 70 laps remaining.
“You know, I had a three-second lead, and I just lost brakes and started getting really, really loose, and it allowed Joey to, you know, eat up that three-second lead, and he passes me.”
Logano and Briscoe then came to pit road during the same line, with the Team Penske driver emerging ahead. Briscoe felt his Toyota remained stronger over the final run, which is why the time he surrendered beforehand bothered him so much.
“Even that last run, I thought I was better than him. But, you know, if I could have just had even a half-second lead when we pitted, I probably win the race. But, yeah, giving up a three-second lead with 60 to go for, um, green-flag pit stops, it just cost you.”
Chase Briscoe still found one last way to attack Logano
When asked whether Briscoe ever had a realistic opportunity to get back around Logano before the checkered flag, the JGR driver revealed that he nearly created one with four or five laps remaining.
Briscoe began entering the corners higher before cutting toward the bottom, a different line that helped him close the distance. He intended to convince Logano that the outside groove had become the bigger threat, forcing the three-time champion to defend it and potentially leave the inside available.
He said, “I just wanted to bait him to go to the top to kind of cover it. And then I was going to try to get inside of him. I knew if I could get inside of him, you know, my forward drive would kind of pay off.”
The plan almost worked. Briscoe managed to get within roughly three-quarters of a car length, but Logano never gave him enough room to complete the move.
And then the final straw came when traffic effectively ended the fight. With two laps remaining, the leaders caught Erik Jones. Logano cleared Jones entering Turn 1, while Jones remained alongside Briscoe coming off the corner, costing the No. 19 several car lengths at precisely the wrong moment.
“Once that happened, I think that was two to go, and I lost three or four car lengths at that time. I knew that my chance of winning was over.”
Briscoe, however, credited Logano with managing the closing laps like a driver with extensive experience at Richmond, but his own assessment made the decisive moment seem small.
After spending much of the night trading control of the race, half a second entering the final stop may have been all Briscoe needed to change who left Richmond with the trophy.