Chase Briscoe jumped from his car and was clearly emotional, kneeling at his No. 14 for a few second before some voice cracks during his postrace television interview.
As a rookie in the NASCAR Cup Series, Briscoe was 27 years old and took his lumps last year. He’s now a winner.
Briscoe stated, “It’s incredible — I was crying for the entire last lap.”
Briscoe won his first Cup Series win, pulling away from Ross Chastain (Ross Chastain) and Tyler Reddick at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday. Tony Stewart, an Indiana native and Briscoe’s childhood idol, is now Briscoe’s No. 14 car for Stewart-Haas Racing.
Briscoe channeled some of Stewart’s late race moxie in a fierce battle between three drivers who hadn’t won the Cup Series. This is more evidence of the parity in the Next Gen series, as four drivers won the first four races.
Reddick and Chastain, both driving Chevrolets, made the last laps interesting but Briscoe’s Ford was just too strong. With four laps remaining, the 27-year old Briscoe began on the inside and dipped low on his dogleg apron. He was able to keep the rest of the field at bay.
Before Stewart-Haas Racing invited Briscoe to take over No. 1, he was one of the most popular drivers in the Xfinity Series in 2019 & 2020. 14. As a rookie, he had only three top 10s and was 23rd in season standings. With a February third-place finish in Daytona, he got off to a great start this season.
It is now a victory.
Although he didn’t win the race, it was a significant victory for Chastain’s TrackHouse Racing team. Chastain thanked Phil Surgen, his crew chief, for giving him a car that was easy to drive up front.
Chastain stated, “He gave me exactly the thing I needed.” “But we came up short on one spot. “But I’m so happy.”
Reddick has been one of the fastest Cup Series drivers all season, but he was just short for his first victory. Reddick experienced leg numbness while driving the Next Gen car for the first few weeks, but didn’t have any issues Sunday. After finishing seventh in Las Vegas last week, he has now had two consecutive top 10 finishes.
Ryan Blaney began on pole position and won the first half of race. He also won the second stage, after having led 138 of the first-185 laps. He finished fourth. Kurt Busch came in fifth.
After a win at Phoenix in the fall, Kyle Larson won last year’s series championship. However, engine problems ended Kyle Larson’s day. He was 34th. Larson qualified seventh, but was forced to finish 34th due to unapproved steering wheel changes.
Harrison Burton (unapproved adjustments), and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
BUSCH TAKES THE PLUUNGE
The hot topic before the race was the use of the 110-foot wide apron at Phoenix Raceway’s dogleg turning.
Many said that they would wait to see what the Next Gen car did for others. It didn’t take too long for the waiting to end: Kyle Busch jumped onto the apron during the first laps and picked up some spots. It was all business as usual, with many cars on the apron on restarts.
HARVICK IS IN TOP 10 AGAIN
Kevin Harvick, a veteran who has won in Phoenix nine times, couldn’t find victory lane on Sunday. He did finish sixth, his 18th consecutive top 10 at the track.
This tied Richard Petty with Dale Earnhardt as the track’s most Top 10s in succession.
ENDS AND ODDS
At Lap 25, about halfway through the first stage, there was a competition caution. Blaney, Hamlin and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. were all penalized during the caution for speeding on pit roads. … William Byron won stage 1, which was 60 laps. This was his ninth stage win in his career. Martin Truex Jr. finished 35th in the Phoenix spring race after his flat tire caused him turn 2 and hit the wall. … Each of the four Cup races this year saw the final restart with only four laps remaining. … Briscoe is now the Cup Series’ 200th Winner.
UP NEXT – The annual three-week West Coast swing has ended. Next weekend, the series will move across the country to Atlanta Motor Speedway.
