On what has been a trying week for Chase Briscoe, personally, as his wife Marissa had a couple of stints in the ER following the birth of their twins earlier this week, the driver of the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang Dark Horse saw his championship hopes come to an end in Sunday’s Bank of America ROVAL 400 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL.
“Just one of those days, and honestly kind of one of those weeks with all that’s happened. Just ready for Monday,” Briscoe quipped after climbing from his No. 14 machine, which retired due to a mechanical failure.
Briscoe, who had been the lowest-running NASCAR Cup Series Playoff contender for the majority of the race had suffered a cut tire with 14 laps remaining in the second Stage.
The caution is out for debris from Chase Briscoe having a right-rear tire go flat halfway through Stage 2.
The No. 14 has remained on the lead lap.#NASCAR #NASCARPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/FNPeCklj7V
— NASCAR on TSN (@NASCARonTSN) October 13, 2024
Eventually, the car lost the ability to steer to the right, which caused Briscoe to bring the car behind the wall.
While Briscoe was a heavy underdog in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff field, the driver showed in the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway that he and the No. 14 team could rise to the occasion when they hit everything just right. The driver is bummed because he truly felt his team was capable of advancing to the Championship 4 this season.
Unfortunately, the final season for the Stewart-Haas Racing team, which will close at the season’s end, will end without a third championship.
“Yeah, it’s tough, right? You know, to have all of that momentum that we had, to come to an end, and to have it all come to an end like it did is definitely unfortunate,” Briscoe said outside of the infield care center. “But yeah, wish we could have kept going for it. I mean, all of the guys who get eliminated wish they could have kept going for it, but we knew, I think, as a team even going into it, this was going to be the one round that if we could have gotten through it, we really felt like we could get there to the final four. Obviously, wasn’t able to get through this round. It’s unfortunate, but we still have a lot to race for, right? We still could go win four races, and that’s what we’re going to try to do.”
Three more drivers will be eliminated from NASCAR Cup Series Playoff contention at the conclusion of Sunday’s Bank of America ROVAL 400 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL.
