Stewart-Haas Racing will be shutting down at the end of the year, and the entire four-car team is rallying around Chase Briscoe as he tries to do the impossible. No one expected the No. 14 Ford to make the playoffs, but a dramatic win in the final race of the regular season made it a reality. Few said he would advance beyond the first round, but again, he did while champions such as Martin Truex Jr. and Brad Keselowski were eliminated.
Oh, and his wife Marissa Briscoe just gave birth to twins.
Briscoe now enters the cut-off race last in the playoff standings, 32 points back. His goal is simple: all or nothing.
“I think for us, it’s honestly better that we’re kind of in the position that we are being 32 out or whatever it is versus 15 just because if you’re 15 to even 20, that is doable,” explained Briscoe. “Where we’re 30 (down), at least for us, we’re just looking at it as a must win. You could maybe point your way in, but a lot of things would have to go your way. I think it honestly opens up a lot for us from a strategy standpoint of just going in with the approach of flipping the track position and everything else.
“So yeah, to be below the cut line is obviously unfortunate, but honestly, I would much rather it be 30-something points than 15 just because I think it makes it a little clearer of what you need to do from a strategy standpoint. And out of all the tracks in this round, this is the one where I feel the most confident to come and battle for the win, so hopefully we can do that.”
Race winner Chase Briscoe, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford Mustang
Photo by: Danny Hansen / NKP / Motorsport Images
SHR has 323 employees and many still have uncertain futures. Briscoe is not one of them, as he has already signed with Joe Gibbs Racing to pilot the No. 19 Toyota next year. Even still, he was at the shop all week and noted that, “I don’t feel worried at all.” It’s actually a very similar predicament to the one he faced entering the regular season finale at Darlington.
“I honestly feel a lot like I did going into the Darlington week, where I know that we can win here. We’ve done it before in the Xfinity level, but this is a track I feel really good about. Our road course stuff has been really good. If you look at Watkins Glen and things like that. So I’m not really nervous. There’s not a whole lot that I feel like isn’t capable by our team when we do everything right.
“It’s just going to take a good weekend, and…
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