Chase Briscoe: From Cinderella Story to Legitimate Title Contender

Last year’s ‘Cinderella Story’ heading into the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs is this year’s legitimate championship contender.

Starting Lineup: Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington

For Chase Briscoe, winning the 2024 Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway felt like a dream. Not only did the then 29-year-old bring the No. 14 car back to victory lane in Stewart-Haas Racing’s final season, but it also gave him the chance to chase a championship for a team he idolized growing up.

Unfortunately, last season’s underdog story was short-lived, as he exited the playoffs after the first round. This year, though, the situation is different. Now driving in top-tier equipment at Joe Gibbs Racing, the sky is the limit for how far the Mitchell, Indiana native can go in the championship fight.

“I was telling my wife that couple of weeks ago, ‘this is really the first time I’ve ever legitimately thought I could win a Cup championship.’ In the past, you make the Playoffs and it’s exciting, but down deep you kind of know that the odds of you winning are pretty slim, right?” Briscoe recalled during NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Media Day. “Whereas now, not to say that I’m the favorite by any means, but I feel like I have a legitimate chance to go do it, where at SHR (Stewart-Haas Racing), you never really felt like you had a legitimate shot to do it.”

Not only does the driver of the No. 19 Toyota Camry XSE know his shot to hoist the Bill France Cup is higher than it’s ever been, but the expectations to do so are through the roof.

“Yeah, I mean, we need to go and perform in the Playoffs, right?” Briscoe said. “That’s the difference now is that [at] SHR, did you want to get knocked out of the Round of 16? No, but if you did, there was nobody like, ‘man, that was a disappointing season.’ They were still excited they made the Playoffs. Where here [Joe Gibbs Racing], it’s almost like if you don’t make the Round of 8, that’s kind of a failure on the year and really the final four even, right?”

Though the playoffs are impossible to predict, the likelihood of Briscoe meeting those expectations, and even making the Championship 4, seems highly plausible. With a win at Pocono,10 top-five results and six pole positions through the regular season, the stats show he’s a serious title contender.

With the pressure on and the sights set higher than ever, you would think the preparation for this final 10-race stint has been intense. However, it’s been quite the opposite, as the driver has taken a more relaxed approach to the upcoming battle.

“James [Small] and I have yet to talk about, like, ‘hey, the playoffs are starting this week. We need to focus on this for the next [week],” Briscoe said. “Like, we have literally acted like it is a normal week. I texted the group chat this morning and just said, Look, fellas, like 10 weeks of the best weeks we could do, and we got a legitimate shot at this thing. But other than that, that's about the only pep talk that we've had.”

Though the team has not made any formal game plan heading into the ‘Round of 16’, the No. 19 crew chief, James Small, has helped set the tone for the path ahead.

“Understanding that and knowing the risk vs reward, knowing that even on a bad day, we should still run right around the 10th, and that’s an adjustment for me to kind of be able to realize that in the moment and comprehend what’s going on because in the past, 10th was still a pretty good day,” Briscoe said. “Especially during these Playoffs, that’s going to be something to realize is, ‘hey, don’t panic. If you just do your job, you’re probably going to run top 10-ish, for sure top 15-ish even on a bad day.’ That’s been something for me, I’ve had to really adjust my mind too, is I don’t have to try as hard. It sounds weird, but I don’t have to take these huge risks, I don’t have to do all these things because the car’s capability is going to help me a lot of the time compared to what I’m racing against, so that’s definitely been something for me that’s been a mentality shift.”

Briscoe heads into the Cook Out Southern 500 seeded eighth in the playoff standings, just four points above the cutoff line. With such a close points margin around the playoff bubble, it’s easy to get stressed. But these are the situations Chase Briscoe thrives in.

“Just because you have a points deficit doesn’t mean you’re out of it, necessarily,” Briscoe said. “We’ve seen that time and time again, so hopefully, we’re not in that position come after Sunday night, but if we are, it’s definitely a position I feel comfortable in, as crazy as that sounds. I’ve been under the cutline a lot my entire career in the Cup Series, and I feel like I almost perform better when I’m in that position. I’m not worried if adversity does happen. Hopefully it doesn’t, but if it does, it’s certainly somewhere I feel comfortable.”

Briscoe, who narrowly missed out on becoming the first driver to sweep the pole position in all four crown jewel events in a single NASCAR Cup Series season, will start this Sunday’s Cook Out Southern 500 from the second position, alongside his teammate Denny Hamlin, who took the pole position.

Sunday's race will be televised on USA Network, and coverage of the event is set to kick off at 6:00 PM ET. The Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will carry the radio broadcast of the race.