Chase Briscoe was the last of the eight drivers to qualify for the semifinal round following last weekend’s race at the Charlotte Roval and the start of Sunday’s race at Las Vegas didn’t look promising.
Briscoe’s No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford struggled with handling from the get-go and he fell a lap down before the conclusion of the first stage.
A late-stage caution from a Kyle Busch spin gave Briscoe the free pass and put him back on the lead lap and from there he slowly worked his way back into contention the remainder of the race.
By Lap 246 of 267, Briscoe had passed Justin Haley for the lead but just as a spin by Landon Cassill put the race back under caution and set up another restart. Several cars, including Joey Logano, used the opportunity to take on a new set of tires.
On the ensuing restart, Ross Chastain took Briscoe and Haley three-wide and emerged with the lead. Logano, on the fresher tires, quickly ran down Briscoe for position and eventually passed Chastain for the lead and the win with two laps to go.
Briscoe ended up with a respectable fourth-place finish but was left wondering what might have been had he the chance to race for the lead on equal tires.
“We weren’t the greatest at the start of the race and obviously it didn’t really matter there at the end,” said Briscoe, 27. “We put ourselves in position and I wish that when I was running second and Justin was in the lead, that run would have gone to the end.
“I feel like I was probably going to get by him in the next five laps. We had such a big gap compared to everyone else. Nobody else had tires. We were all on equal tires.”
Instead, Briscoe lost the lead to Chastain’s daring move – one that was even forecast by the driver over his team radio before the restart.
“On that last restart, I just didn’t get the job done,” Briscoe said. “The No. 31 (Haley) stalled me out and let Ross put us three-wide which put me in a really bad spot into three. When you give up the lead you are kind of just stuck.
“Who knows? Those guys were coming on tires and I doubt I would have been able to hold them off but I would have felt better about it if I had the opportunity.”
Briscoe didn’t earn the win that would automatically put him in the Championship 4 but his finish did improve his prospects in the standings. He is sixth of eight drivers in points but just nine points below the elimination cutline.
“We kept ourselves in the ballgame and still have a lot of work to do but we still have a chance,” Briscoe said. “We are running the best we have all year long and that is about all you can ask for.”