Briscoe rues title fight that never came

Chase Briscoe would have liked a chance at competing for the NASCAR Cup Series championship on Sunday but, given the adversity he and his team faced, it was as if they never did.

“I definitely felt like I was more than capable; just to go from the back to the front that many times,” Briscoe said after finishing 18th. “I would have loved to have just been able to race straight up. I got back to second and was able to run William [Byron] down there, and thought I was really, really good, and I blew like the second or third tire.

“So, yeah, definitely it's a race of what could have been.”

Briscoe was the worst qualifier of the Championship 4 with a 12th-place effort. Once the green flag dropped in the finale, Briscoe and the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 team had the speed in their Toyota but still had to fight track position, tire issues, and vibrations.

The first tire issue came on lap 106 as the caution flew for a Shane van Gisbergen spin. He was running fifth at the time.

It was a fortunate timing of events as the right-rear tire on Briscoe’s car was coming apart as the caution flew, allowing him to get to pit road without falling further behind than he would have under the green flag. But while new tires were put on the car, Briscoe continued to report a bad vibration. He was 32nd, the last car on the lead lap, when the race restarted.

Another caution, on lap 149, came as Briscoe ran in the 21st position. He would end the second stage, on lap 185, in the seventh position.

The second tire issue came on lap 217 as Briscoe was running third. But again, Briscoe caught a caution, this time on lap 220, and received the lap back that he lost from having to pit.

“Just stay in it,” said Briscoe of his attitude during the race. “My whole career has been never give up, you never know what can happen. I feel like I race with that, and I've had it multiple times throughout my career, where you cannot give up in these races.”

Briscoe was back inside the top 15 with 56 laps to go. A caution two laps later brought the field to pit road, and Briscoe jumped into the top 10 after the pit stop. He was sitting sixth with 34 laps to go and restarted on the front row, thanks to a two-tire call, with 28 laps remaining. Yet it would be a short-lived time at the front.

At the time the final caution flew, with four laps to go, Briscoe was running sixth. He came off pit road in 12th position and, after the choice rule, the three drivers who stayed out under the caution pushed the No. 19 down to 15th position, which ultimately led to finishing 18th in overtime.

“Hopefully, people felt like we were here and in contention,” Briscoe said. “We weren't average, running position-wise – up there a whole lot. Certainly I felt like we had one of the strongest cars for sure, and if we could have started up front – not even started up front, just not had issue after issue – we would have been in the mix. I thought we did everything right as far as pit stops and obviously car speed and balance. The tires just didn't go our way.”

Sunday was Briscoe’s first appearance in the Championship 4, which came in his first season with Joe Gibbs Racing.

“I know when I lay my head down tonight, I (will have) felt like I did my job to the best of my ability,” Briscoe said. “I'm happy I know with my effort. Obviously, I would have loved for things to go different, but I felt like that was one of the best Cup races I've ran, for sure.”