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Stewart-Haas Racing: Chase Briscoe NXS Race Report from Charlotte

by MikeMay 26, 2020

Date: May 25, 2020

Event: Alsco 300 (Round 6 of 33)

Series: NASCAR Xfinity Series

Location: Charlotte (N.C) Motor Speedway (1.5-mile oval)

Format: 200 laps, broken into three stages (45 laps/45 laps/110 laps)

Start/Finish: 8th/20th(Running, completed 200 of 203 laps)

Point Standing: 1st (251 points, eight ahead of second place)

Note: Race extended three laps past its scheduled 200-lap distance due to a green-white-checkered finish.

Race Winner: Kyle Busch of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)

Stage 1 Winner: Kyle Busch of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)

Stage 2 Winner: Kyle Busch of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)

Overview:

Fresh off a victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series’ previous race at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, Chase Briscoe was poised for another strong result in his No. 98 HighPoint.com/Ford Performance Racing School Mustang Monday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway until oil on the racetrack sent him into the turn-three wall 47 laps short of the finish. Briscoe began the Alsco 300 from eighth in the 37-car field and climbed to as high as second. He finished eighth in Stage 1 and third in Stage 2. Shortly after, however, Briscoe’s race began to come undone. An uncontrolled tire penalty stemming from his pit stop after the second stage sent him to the back of the field for the lap-98 restart. Still, the 25-year-old from Mitchell, Indiana, made his way back inside the top-10, rising to sixth before making a green-flag pit stop on lap 148. Unfortunately, Briscoe was cited for speeding on pit road, and he had to serve a pass-through penalty on the following lap. Mired in the middle of the field, Briscoe became a victim of circumstance on lap 156 when his No. 98 Ford Mustang slipped up the banking and into the wall after the engine on Timmy Hill’s Toyota broke and spewed fluid onto the racetrack. While the No. 98 team was able to make repairs, Briscoe returned to the track in 18th, two laps down to the leaders. But on lap 172, a cut tire sent Briscoe back into the wall, deepening the damage to his HighPoint.com/Ford Performance Racing School Mustang. Briscoe soldiered on to finish 20th, maintaining his position atop the championship standings.

Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 98 HighPoint.com/Ford Performance Racing School Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

“We had a pretty good HighPoint.com/Ford Performance Racing School Mustang the first run of the race. We were a little off before that first pit stop, but we were able to get the car dialed in and had good track position off pit road. I felt like I was pretty equal to the 54 (Kyle Busch). He was probably a little better in the latter half of the run, but I felt like we were just as good as the leaders. When we started that final stage with the uncontrolled tire, that’s what kind of set everything in motion. We went from starting dead last to sixth and for a while there we were still the fastest car, and I thought were going to be OK if we could catch a caution, but I sped on pit road and from there it was one thing after another. I thought we were a top-three car, for sure, and probably could’ve battled for the win. It’s tough to have a race-winning car and run 20th, but it could’ve been worse. We were able to rally and end up with a top-20 finish. It’s a shame we didn’t run better, but I’m ready to go to Bristol where we should be really good.”

Notes:

● Briscoe finished eighth in Stage 1 to earn three bonus points and third in Stage 2 to earn eight more bonus points.

● Briscoe remains the championship leader after Charlotte with an eight-point advantage over second-place Austin Cindric.

● Kyle Busch won the Alsco 300 to score his 97th career Xfinity Series victory, his first of the season and his ninth at Charlotte. His margin of victory over second-place Daniel Hemric was .178 of a second.

● There were 11 caution periods for a total of 53 laps.

● Only 11 of the 37 drivers in the Alsco 300 finished on the lead lap.

Next Up:

The next event on the Xfinity Series schedule is the Cheddar’s 300 on Saturday, May 30 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. The race starts at 3:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FS1 and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Chase Briscoe Wins at Darlington

by MikeMay 22, 2020

HighPoint.com/Ford Performance Racing School Driver Takes Championship Points Lead

Date: May 21, 2020

Event: Darlington 200 (Round 5 of 33)

Series: NASCAR Xfinity Series

Location: Darlington (S.C.) Raceway (1.366-mile oval)

Format: 147 laps, broken into three stages (45 laps/45 laps/57 laps)

Start/Finish: 11th/1st (Running, completed 147 of 147 laps)

Point Standing: 1st (223 points, 19 ahead of second)

Race Winner: Chase Briscoe of Stewart-Haas Racing (Ford)

Stage 1 Winner: Noah Gragson of JR Motorsports (Chevrolet)

Stage 2 Winner: Kyle Busch of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)

Overview:

Chase Briscoe beat one of the best drivers in NASCAR to score his fourth career Xfinity Series victory and his second this season. The driver of the No. 98 HighPoint.com/Ford Performance Racing School Mustang started 11th for the 200-lap race around the 1.366-mile oval and ran consistently among the top-10 through the race’s first 90 laps. A quick pit stop on lap 91 for four tires and field allowed Briscoe to restart in second place on lap 96. The 25-year-old driver from Mitchell, Indiana, promptly took the lead, pacing the field for the next 34 laps. A caution on lap 133 allowed Briscoe to pit one final time for fresh tires and fuel, and another lightning-fast stop put Briscoe in the lead for the lap-138 restart. This set up a battle between Briscoe and Busch, the winningest driver in Xfinity Series history with 96 career victories. But Briscoe would not be denied, crossing the finish line first in a fender-scraping, tire-rubbing duel where the margin of victory was just .086 of a second.

Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 98 HighPoint.com/Ford Performance Racing School Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

“This is the best thing that could happen, honestly. For those that don’t know, we had a miscarriage Tuesday of our daughter and, to be honest with you, I wasn’t sure what racing we would do. God is so good. Earlier when I got dressed, I prayed that whatever His will is, just let it be done today. I knew He was going to have a high because of the low, and it’s just unbelievable to win here at Darlington and to beat Kyle Busch doing it.

“I just kept making a lot of mistakes on the final lap. Emotionally, I wasn’t there. Getting into turn one, I knew that there was no way he was going to drive in deeper than me. I wasn’t going to let it happen. Kyle was gracious enough to at least leave me a little bit of a lane and it was a heck of a race. This is the number one win. Honestly, winning the Daytona 500 couldn’t even top the feeling of the ups and downs. This is what my family needed and what my wife needed.

“This has been the hardest week I’ve ever had to deal with. At the initial start, I was all over the place emotionally, and then when I had the lead with 50 to go, I was just making so many mistakes because I was literally crying inside the racecar. There’s nothing else to say other than God is just so glorious. Obviously, I’m happy to get HighPoint.com and Ford Performance Racing School in victory lane, but this is more than a race win. This is the biggest day of my life after the toughest day in my life, and to be able to beat the best there is, is so satisfying.”

Notes:

● The win gave Briscoe the lead in the championship standings. He holds a 19-point advantage over second-place Harrison Burton.

● This was Briscoe’s 55th career Xfinity Series start, but only his second at Darlington. He finished sixth in last year’s race.

● Briscoe led three times for 45 laps.

● Briscoe finished eighth in Stage 1 to earn three bonus points and fourth in Stage 2 to earn an additional seven bonus points.

● There were five caution periods for a total of 28 laps.

● Twenty-four of the 39 drivers in the Darlington 200 finished on the lead lap.

Next Up:

The next event on the Xfinity Series schedule is the Alsco 300 on Monday, May 25 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway. The race starts at 7:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FS1 and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Chase Briscoe: Darlington NASCAR Xfinity Series Advance No. 98 HighPoint.com/Ford Performamce Racing School Ford Mustang

by MikeMay 19, 2020

NASCAR Xfinity Series Overview

Event: Darlington 200 (Round 5 of 33)
Date: May 19, 2020
Location: Darlington Raceway
Layout: 1.366-mile oval

Chase Briscoe Notes of Interest

• The Darlington 200 is the fifth event of the 33-race NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule. It will mark the first event for the Xfinity Series since racing went on hiatus following the March 7 LS Tractor 200 at Phoenix Raceway.

• Racing was forced into hibernation by the COVID-19 pandemic, but Briscoe made sure he stayed sharp. The 25-year-old from Mitchell, Indiana, competed in numerous iRacing events on both asphalt and dirt track tracks, and when he wasn’t in his sim rig, Briscoe was mastering the art of hibachi-style cooking and knocking out home-improvement projects while keeping up with his two French bulldogs, Ricky and Callie.

• Briscoe comes into Darlington second in the championship standings, just three points behind series leader Harrison Burton. Briscoe has three top-10 finishes this season, highlighted by a win Feb. 23 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

• Briscoe has just one NASCAR start at Darlington. It came in last year’s Xfinity Series race when Briscoe started fifth and finished sixth in the Sport Clips Haircuts VFW 200.

• Briscoe won the 2019 rookie-of-the-year title in the Xfinity Series and is racing for a championship in 2020. He is a three-time winner in the Xfinity Series and the 2016 ARCA Racing Series champion. Briscoe finished fifth in the Xfinity Series championship standings last year, narrowly missing out on advancing to the Championship 4 and competing for the series title.

• Briscoe shed his rookie stripe upon the conclusion of last season, but he and wife Marissa will soon be rookies together as they are expecting their first child in December following their first-year wedding anniversary.

• Briscoe can look to his crew chief, Richard Boswell, for veteran leadership when it comes to parenting. Boswell and wife Ashley welcomed their fourth child in March. Warner joins sisters Elizabeth, Grace and Juliette.

Chase Briscoe, Driver of the No. 98 HighPoint.com/Ford Performance Racing School Ford Mustang

Were you able to learn anything from watching Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race that will help for when you take the green flag on Tuesday?

“I felt like I learned a little, but I think I’ll learn the most after talking to the Cup guys. Track conditions will likely be a little different for us with our race starting later. The more information we can get for our HighPoint.com/Ford Performance Racing School Mustang, the better since we’re running what we unload. It looked like each of the Stewart-Haas Racing cars was strong at some point in the race, with Kevin Harvick being the strongest at the end, so I think we can get some good feedback from our teammates.”

You spent a lot of time iRacing during the sport’s hiatus. While it’s not the same thing as real racing, do you feel like it kept your mind and reflexes sharp?

“Doing any type of racing keeps you sharp and in the right state of mind, and iRacing is, for sure, a part of that. There’s so much similarity between how you drive a track on iRacing and in real life. If you lose your focus for a second, that could mean a mistake that costs you or someone else a good finish, and I think we saw a lot of that in some of the Saturday Night Thunder races.”

How difficult is it to race at Darlington, even when you have plenty of track time beforehand?

“What makes it tough is it’s just so different from every track we go to. The groove, the surface and the shape are unlike any on the schedule, and it’s so narrow. You’ve got to take care of your tires or you aren’t going to be able to make any moves for position and move around on the racetrack to find speed. Under the lights at Darlington is going to be different, for sure. It’s easy to make mistakes – we saw that on Sunday – so patience is going to be the most important thing. I’m ready to be back in the HighPoint.com/Ford Performance Racing School Mustang and I’m ready for the challenge of Darlington.”

Chase Briscoe Darlington Performance Profile

No. 98 HighPoint.com/Ford Performance Racing School Team Roster

Primary Team Members:

Driver: Chase Briscoe

Hometown: Mitchell, Indiana

Crew Chief: Richard Boswell

Hometown: Friendship, Maryland

Car Chief: Nick Hutchins

Hometown: Columbia, South Carolina

Engine Tuner: Craig Hermann

Hometown: Albany, New York

Spotter: Tim Fedewa

Hometown: Holt, Michigan

Over-The-Wall Crew:

Front Tire Changer: Ryan Mulder

Hometown: Sioux Center, Iowa

Rear Tire Changer: Chris Jackson

Hometown: Fort Mill, South Carolina

Tire Carrier: Jon Bernal

Hometown: Shelby, North Carolina

Fueler: Andrew Migliozzi

Hometown: Westborough, Massachusetts

Jackman: Sean Cotten

Hometown: Mooresville, North Carolina

About HighPoint

HighPoint is a leading IT infrastructure and solutions company. With its customer-centric, results-driven approach to digital transformation, you get technology that works, delivered by people you want to work with. HighPoint builds lasting relationships with clients, employees and partners based on honesty, integrity, trust and a mutual commitment to growth and success. The company, founded in 1996, is a minority-owned business headquartered in Sparta, New Jersey, serving markets in the tri-state region and southeastern United States, with a presence in Charlotte, North Carolina, and overseas in London. To contact us or learn more about our solutions, please visit www.HighPoint.com.

About Ford Performance Racing School

The Ford Performance Racing School is based in Tooele, Utah, approximately 30 minutes southwest of Salt Lake City, and has operations in Tooele and Concord, North Carolina. Along with high-performance driving instruction, the school conducts tire-training courses for BFGoodrich and Michelin, as well as product-focused experiential driving programs for owners of Ford Performance vehicles at no charge. Ford Performance Racing School is the only school to wear the Ford oval. For more information, please visit us online at www.FordPerformanceRacingSchool.com, on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/FordPerformanceRacingSchool, on Twitter at @FPRacingSchool, on Instagram at @FordPerformanceRacingSchool and on YouTube.