Story By Matthew Thomerson/TheFourthTurn.com

DARLINGTON, SC – Chase Briscoe heads back to Darlington Raceway ready for another title push and a chance at a historic three-peat in the crown jewel race, the Cook Out Southern 500.

The second-year Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) driver enters The Chase for the NASCAR Cup Series Championship seeded fifth, 45 points behind first. The year didn’t start how it conventionally should for a JGR driver, as Briscoe saw himself close to the cutline in the early summer months, but has since made a complete turnaround. Along with a win at Chicagoland in July, Briscoe put together a plethora of top-five finishes and strong runs to get to the point he and the No. 19 Toyota team are now.

It should be expected that Briscoe is in heavy contention, as JGR and Toyota Racing have been the class of the field for much of the season. All four company cars are in the top-six in the standings, with Tyler Reddick, another Toyota, in third. So does Briscoe feel any further expectation to continue this championship charge?

“I wouldn’t say there’s like any higher expectation,” Briscoe said. “I think the expectations are already there internally of our stuff is really, really good right now and it’s never guaranteed tomorrow. So even these next 10 weeks, it’s not guaranteed by any means. But a year from now, who knows what it’ll look like. 

“You want to strike while the iron’s hot. And for us, I think we all know that we’re all racing each other, kind of for the championship. I mean, there’s five of us right in the top six. I definitely would say that pressure’s there, but I don’t think the expectations been put on us. We just all kind of internally know it.” 

The new championship format has been the subject of much conversation throughout this season, and now that the postseason field is set, drivers will be learning, or finding out, a lot over the next 10 weeks. The new format is mostly similar to The Chase format of old, just with more points added for winning a race and stage points factoring into the final total. There are also 16 drivers; the biggest field that has ever been under this format, but most believe the top six to eight drivers will have a realistic shot. However, Briscoe doesn’t believe the old format is the best reference now because it’s not quite the same as its predecessors.

“So it’s just so different now,” Briscoe said. “I mean, you think about Tony (Stewart), right? Like in 2011, if you could win five out of the 10 races this year, I mean, you’re going to clinch before Homestead. You’re going to clinch at four Homestead as long as you don’t DNF the other four races up till Homestead. So yeah, it’s different now with the added points for winning. And even the stages, it just changes a lot, I feel like, from what it used to be.” 

A strength for Briscoe and all of the JGR/Toyota fleet in The Chase is their success on mile-and-a-halfs, with three being in consecutive weeks around the halfway point. The Indiana-born driver has emerged as one of the best on that track type, and Darlington, while not a pure intermediate, can be considered like one for this final stretch. Briscoe doesn’t see the 1.366-mile oval being of much help to prepare for the 1.5-mile tracks, though.

“I don’t think you can take a whole lot from Darlington,” Briscoe said. “I mean, the points are obviously going to carry over, but if somebody has a bad run at Darlington, obviously it sets them back points-wise, but I don’t think that’s going to dictate how they run the rest of the Chase because it is such a unique racetrack and really Gateway is kind of that same way.” 

Speaking of Darlington, Briscoe has an obvious track record at the egg-shaped oval that would suggest he’ll be in contention once again. He has always been quick at the track, but with back-to-back wins in the 501.32-mile race he can become the first driver since NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon to win three consecutive Cook Out Southern 500s.

“I definitely am excited to start with the Southern 500,” Briscoe said. “You know, that’s something that we won’t get to do next year (Darlington won’t be in The Chase in 2027), and that’s for me at least, with just how the tracks line out in this year’s Chase. If you just look statistically, this year the tracks are way better for me than what they would be next year. Excited though, to start at the Southern 500. 

“I don’t feel like there’s really a weakness out of any of the Chase races for us,” Briscoe continued. “To hopefully go to Darlington, the goal is a 76-point day, win both stages, win the race and have the fastest lap. And we were able to do that last year, so there’s no reason why we can’t do it again. If we do that the 45 points to Denny, even if he runs second in all the stages, it’s cut in half already. That’s the goal and hopefully we can do that.” 

The Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway will broadcast live on the USA Network at 5 p.m. ET on Sunday.

Photo Credit: Hunter Thomas/TheFourthTurn.com