Chase Briscoe scored his best finish of the season at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. (Photo: Josh Jones | The Podium Finish)
LOUDON, N.H. – Chase Briscoe’s second-place finish in the USA Today 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway was desperately needed, regardless of how it happened.
On a day that looked to end up with a mid-pack finish, a switch to wet weather tires following an over two-hour rain delay breathed new life into the No. 14 team, allowing Briscoe to make a slew of passes en route to his best finish of the 2024 season.
“The rain saved us,” Briscoe said. “Awesome recovery for our Zep Ford. I’ve always joked this is one of my worst racetracks, so to run second is kind of surprising, to be honest with you. If it wasn’t for the rain, we literally would’ve run 24th, probably.”
Entering the day 44 points out of the final playoff spot, Briscoe needed to capitalize when fellow bubble drivers faced trouble. With Bubba Wallace, Joey Logano and Kyle Busch all getting involved in accidents and finishing laps off the pace, the race quickly turned into a net positive.
Then it was time for Briscoe to make his move.
With nobody knowing what to expect as the final 77 laps were run under damp conditions, Briscoe turned heads quickly as he marched from 23rd place all the way into the top-10.
Chase Briscoe battles Erik Jones in the corner at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. (Photo: Josh Jones | The Podium Finish)
A top-10 run turned into the top-five, Briscoe continued to push for both points and job security, as he and his Stewart-Haas Racing teammates are all racing to land new rides for 2025 and beyond.
With drivers having to continue to adapt to the changing conditions, it should be no surprise that dirt-track racers like Briscoe, Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson were among the biggest contenders late in the running.
A wreck between Ryan Blaney and Michael McDowell saw Briscoe lining up for a restart to the inside of his good friend, Bell.
It was only fitting that these two would decide the win among themselves, as Bell inadvertently revealed that Briscoe will replace the retiring Martin Truex Jr. at Joe Gibbs Racing starting next year.
Briscoe tried his best to hold his own on the bottom, but Bell got one of several strong restarts on the top.
With the leader well out in front, Briscoe held off Stewart-Haas teammate Josh Berry for second. The run was Briscoe’s best finish in the NASCAR Cup Series since his win at Phoenix in 2022.
Briscoe now sits 25 points out of the playoffs with eight races remaining in the regular season.
Chase Briscoe and others narrowly avoid a spinning Chase Elliott. (Photo: Josh Jones | The Podium Finish)
After concluding the NASCAR Cup Series’ first extended experiment with wet weather tires, Briscoe had high marks for the situation.
“I thought it was really good,” Briscoe told NBC Sports‘ Parker Kligerman. “I thought we could have started with the track honestly a little bit wetter. The beginning was pretty fun, we were like all over the place. Five-wide at times and slipping and sliding around, it’s been really encouraging.
“To see the wet weather progression of how aggressive we’ve been with it. I think we can continue to do that. Even from a visibility standpoint, it was totally fine with no wipers or anything.”
Briscoe will need to continue the positive momentum as the NASCAR Cup Series heads to the Music City for the Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway.
The 1.33-mile concrete tri-oval has been rough on Briscoe, with three finishes of 31st or worse in his three start at the track.
