Chase Briscoe earned his second-career top-five finish in his first NCWTS visit to Kansas Speedway. Briscoe climbed three positions in the series championship standings and now sits fourth, 54 points behind the leader. He also grabbed Sunoco Rookie of the Race honors for the first time this season.The No. 29 Cooper Standard team entered the Kansas event looking to rekindle their strong start in Daytona. Laying down the ninth-fastest laps in both practice sessions, Briscoe qualified 11th, but knew he had a potent Ford F-150 that would come to life under race conditions. After the drop of the green flag, Briscoe endured a wave of five cautions in the opening stage of the race, and was scored in the eighth position when it concluded. Following a four-tire pit stop with air-pressure adjustment, the Cooper Standard Ford F-150 undeniably had speed, and Briscoe had advanced up to the fourth position by the end of stage two. Reporting that his truck was just a tick tight, another pit stop with very minor adjustments would allow him to reach third place before his final pit stop of the night. In the closing 35 laps, Briscoe narrowly avoided a truck crashing into the fence directly in front of him, withstood his own brush with the wall, and then endured a challenging final restart before ultimately crossing the finish line in the fifth position. |