NASCAR insiders ‘dumbfounded’ by Chase Briscoe fuel saving win at Pocono

Despite botching his final pit stop of the race, Chase Briscoe was able to save enough fuel to win at Pocono on Sunday. Was it all because of dirty air or was this a masterclass in fuel saving from the three-time NASCAR Cup Series winner?

We have seen situations of severe fuel saving working in the Next Gen car. Everyone will point to the Joey Logano win at Nashville in 2024. But even in that case, Logano at least had caution laps to help him out. Chase Briscoe had nothing but green flag laps.

Even with seven-time Pocono winner Denny Hamlin coming at him from second place, Briscoe held tough. He made a mistake, leaving his pit box too early instead of waiting for fuel, but it didn’t matter.

Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic talked about the win after last night’s Pocono finish. The two NASCAR journalists were a bit beside themselves.

“With another fuel mileage race, the second time in three weeks, where we have had a fuel mileage race. Similar to Michigan,” Gluck said on The Teardown. “This one looked like it could be shaping up similarly because we saw a leader who seemingly wasn’t going to make it on fuel, just as Hocevar wasn’t going to be able to at Michigan.

“He ultimately cedes to Denny Hamlin, who ends up winning the race. This time we hear that, you know, James Small says afterwards, they came out nine laps short. Nine laps short on fuel. So, really, no chance, especially at a place like Pocono, right? So, with 30 to go, Chase Briscoe is managing, managing, managing, right? Somehow, he’s coached enough to save his fuel, makes it happen, makes it work. Really, against all odds, seemingly.”

Gluck’s co-host wasn’t sure how it happened. But he was impressed, nonetheless.

“It was interesting because it was a mistake by Briscoe,” Bianchi said. “Pulls in [to the pit box] and he went when the jack dropped, which is what you normally do, but James Small, his crew chief had told him, ‘You go on my command,’ and Briscoe left early and it was like, ‘Oh, he just choked it away, this is going to cost them they’re going to need a lot of help here.’ I am dumbfounded how you go from ‘We’re nine laps in the hole,’ to ‘We’re okay on fuel,’ without a caution. Like, you don’t hear that. I don’t remember the last time that’s happened.

“Usually, you can see guys like, ‘Hey, a couple of laps here or there, whatever, and we’re going to save, save, save.’ This wasn’t the case. And not only did he have to save, he had to maintain the lead, and he did that. It was odd, it was a very peculiar sequence over the last 30 laps of, you have nine laps you’ve gotta figure out how to make good on, you’re doing that, and you gotta hold the lead, and all of everything else. It was very strange.”

Chase Briscoe earned that win on Sunday. The Next Gen car has issues. However, we have seen some great racing at Pocono in this car as well. The frustrating part of the car is that it largely depends on when cautions fall. That is what makes or breaks many of these races and how fans perceive them.

Denny Hamlin was charging. Briscoe didn’t have the fuel, or at least he thought he didn’t. Whatever he did behind the wheel to stretch his gas is going to be studied by every driver at JGR, though.

The first win for Chase Briscoe at Joe Gibbs Racing, and it happened at the perfect time. NASCAR does not hand out wins easily. Regardless of the issues with the car, this was a win that Briscoe had to dig deep for, and it ended up working out for him in the end.