TALLADEGA, Ala. — Chase Briscoe has prided himself on performing when the pressure is on. When he needs the performance to save his job or boost his career, he delivers.
Entering this season, his first year at Joe Gibbs Racing as the appointed replacement of former Cup champion Martin Truex Jr., he knew that if he didn’t perform, he likely wouldn’t have many options.
“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel like we were capable of doing it,” Briscoe said. “That’s why I said even what I said at the beginning of the year. If I don’t go win, I’m never going to get hired again because the expectation is you have to go to JGR and win.
“If you can’t win in a JGR car, why would anybody hire you for another team?”
An emotional Chase Briscoe reacts after winning the NASCAR Cup Series YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.
The 30-year-old Briscoe has faced a different type of pressure in recent weeks in the Cup playoffs. He was the only driver among the eight semifinalists who had never made it to the Champ Four to compete for the title Nov. 2 at Phoenix Raceway.
Briscoe earned an automatic bid to be among those four, thanks to a victory Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway, his first win in 28 starts in drafting-style tracks.
“It just felt different because this time I feel like I don’t have to do anything special,” Briscoe said. “In the past, I felt like I had to do something extraordinary to even have a shot to go to the Round of Four. Here I felt like if I did my job, nothing extra, I’d at least have a shot at making it.
“This playoffs has felt different. I’m curious to see how the Final Four feels because I’ve not been in that position before and the weight of it. I’m just excited to at least have an opportunity.”
The JGR driver had only three career victories entering the playoffs and now has two in the first eight playoff races. He has five top-five finishes in the nine races. In his 170 starts before these playoffs, he had just 22 top-five finishes.
He stepped into a team that knew what their veteran driver wanted, but Briscoe also has more desire to work in the simulator and help the team find what works best for him.
All the preparation came into focus in the overtime finish at Talladega. And some luck, too.
Briscoe pushed Bubba Wallace into the lead and expected to push him to the win. But Wallace didn’t make a move to the inside lane and Briscoe — with the help of fellow Joe Gibbs Racing driver Ty Gibbs — was able to dive down and pass Wallace.
Chase Briscoe takes the checkered flag to win at Talladega.
“It’s been a hell of a year,” crew chief James Small said. “Every week, I think we’re still just getting better and better. Chase has grown a lot. He had a lot of pressure on him. We asked a lot of him.
“As I said a million times before, he’s done everything we’ve asked and then some.”
Briscoe’s roots are in sprint-car racing, so maybe that helps his demeanor. He’s used to having to search for the best line on a dirt track and adapting on the fly.
“Nothing fazes him,” Small said. “His personality, he’s cool under pressure. He’s a weird dude. I’ve never met anybody like him.
“To be a race car driver, that’s a great quality to have. For him, [the Champ Four] akan menjadi pengalaman yang luar biasa.”
Briscoe dan Denny Hamlin telah mengunci tempat di Juara Empat berkat kemenangan di babak semifinal. Christopher Bell dan Kyle Larson memiliki keunggulan yang hampir tidak dapat diatasi (setidaknya 37 dan 36 poin) dibandingkan empat pesaing lainnya. Keempatnya adalah William Byron, Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney dan Chase Elliott. Dan jika salah satu dari pembalap tersebut menang, maka tempat terakhir akan jatuh ke tangan Bell atau Larson.
Larson, Logano, Blaney dan Elliott semuanya telah memenangkan gelar. Bell dan Byron keduanya menjadi finalis kejuaraan dua kali.
Pembalap di antara empat finalis di Phoenix yang finis terbaik (semua pembalap masih berkompetisi sepanjang babak playoff NASCAR) adalah juaranya.
Seberapa kuatkah Chase Briscoe saat dia tampil pertama kali di Juara Empat di bulan November?
“Ketika Anda melihat delapan pebalap yang mengikuti putaran ini secara umum, saya merasa mereka adalah delapan pembalap dan tim terkuat di olahraga kami,” kata Briscoe. “Bahkan bisa berhubungan dengan orang-orang itu adalah suatu kehormatan dan hak istimewa bagi saya.
“Itu cukup keren [to be in it]. Tentu saja, siapa pun yang memenangkan kejuaraan ini akan lebih dari layak. Mudah-mudahan itu jelas-jelas aku.”
Small tidak berpikir momen dalam dua minggu ini akan membuat pengemudinya kewalahan.
“Saya hanya berharap dia memperlakukannya seperti balapan lainnya,” kata Small. “Menurut saya, sebenarnya tidak ada tekanan tambahan apa pun.
“Kami harus pergi ke sana dan mencoba memenangkan perlombaan, mencoba melakukan hal yang sama yang kami lakukan setiap minggu. Ini semua tentang persiapan, kerja keras, memastikan kami pergi ke sana dengan sekuat tenaga.
“Saya memiliki keyakinan penuh bahwa dia memiliki kemampuan untuk melakukannya, dan kesempatan itu tidak akan terlalu berarti baginya.”
Bob Pockrass meliput NASCAR dan INDYCAR untuk FOX Sports. Dia telah menghabiskan waktu puluhan tahun meliput olahraga motor, termasuk lebih dari 30 Daytona 500, dengan tugas di ESPN, Sporting News, majalah NASCAR Scene, dan The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Ikuti dia di Twitter @bobpockrass.
