Chase Briscoe continues to showcase why Joe Gibbs Racing selected him to be the successor for Martin Truex Jr., who retired from full-time NASCAR Cup Series competition following the 2024 season.
When the checkered flag was displayed at the end of Lap 350 of Sunday’s Iowan Corn 350 Powered by Ethanol at Iowa Speedway, the new driver of the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was scored in the runner-up spot. The latest second-place finish marks Briscoe’s third in his last four starts.
Related:
Race Results: NASCAR Cup Series Iowa Corn 350 at Iowa
Race Recap: William Byron Regains Point Lead With Fume-Fueled Iowa Win
While it was another impressive performance for the driver, who started the weekend off with his sixth pole position of the season, the 30-year-old driver had one thing on his mind when he climbed out of his car — an incident on Lap 253, where he got into Tyler Reddick, which sent Reddick and Christopher Bell, both fellow Toyota drivers, spinning out.
“First off, just want to apologize to [Reddick] and [Bell]. That was a really boneheaded move on my part, and got in there and got loose and ruined their day. That’s 100 percent on me,” Briscoe admitted in his post-race interview on USA Network before fielding questions about his race.
Fortunately, Reddick and Bell were able to soldier on in the race. Bell came home a disappointing 17th, while Reddick finished 19th.
As for his race, Briscoe was attempting to chase down William Byron for the race win in the closing laps, and he felt like he was in a prime position to win the race, but he stalled out as Byron and he were subjected to lapped traffic in the closing laps.
“There at the end, I was running William down. I thought I was really in the catbird seat there, and I just got there and kind of stalled out,” Briscoe explained. “I kind of experienced that when I was leading earlier. I caught the back of the field, and same thing; as soon as I got there, I just kind of died.”
Sure, it wasn’t a second win of the season for Briscoe, who won at Pocono Raceway in June, but the runner-up finish was an incredible finish considering he and crew chief James Small came out on the wrong end of a strategy call, which led to a large portion of the field, themselves included, being trapped a lap down mid-race.
“For us to end up second was a good recovery. Our day kind of got flipped upside down whenever that caution came out and trapped us and was able to rebound,” Briscoe said. “Congrats to William. He did a really good job, and [we’ll] go on to the next one.”
The next one for Briscoe and the NASCAR Cup Series is the Go Bowling at The Glen at Watkins Glen International on Sunday, August 10. In four career starts at the 2.45-mile road course in New York, Briscoe has two top-10 finishes, including a career-best sixth-place run a season ago while driving for the now-defunct Stewart-Haas Racing.
Briscoe will look to better that performance this weekend, and if they play their cards right, he and crew chief James Small could find themselves back in victory lane.
