“Just survive the chaos”: Chase Briscoe looking to emulate his Watkins Glen playoff resurrection run at Bristol

Chase Briscoe found his stride at Watkins Glen, after a challenging finish in Atlanta where his race ended abruptly due to an early setback from a collision with Kyle Larson. With renewed confidence, Briscoe aims to transfer the Watkins Glen momentum to his upcoming race at Bristol, keeping the importance of a strong qualifying session in mind, to enhance his final position.

Currently racing for Stewart-Haas Racing, Briscoe is set to join Joe Gibbs Racing in 2025, taking over the #19 Toyota from Martin Truex Jr. He secured his playoff spot with a narrow victory of 0.361 seconds over Kyle Busch at Darlington, the final race of the regular season.

At Watkins Glen, Briscoe advanced from P12 to finish P3 in Stage 1 and P7 in Stage 2, ultimately securing a P6 finish. Reflecting on the tumultuous conclusion at Watkins Glen and his aspirations for Bristol Motor Speedway, he shared his thoughts on the critical need to maintain his current form and capitalize on strong starts.

"It's nerve-wracking at the end. [...] One thing I saw said plus twelve earnings and plus six, I mean the points are gonna be what they are, right?" Chase Briscoe said. "We just have to go and do what we can do. If we go there next to you all day long, Bristol is a really good racetrack. I feel like for us as a company and even myself as a driver, it's not about a track, you just got to survive the chaos."

Chase Briscoe moved from being 21 points under the cutoff line to six points above it following his performance at Watkins Glen.

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Chase Briscoe is optimistic about the next weekend at Bristol

With four starts at Bristol Motor Speedway, Chase Briscoe holds an average finish of 16.8.

Briscoe's last appearance at Bristol in March 2024 saw him secure a 13th-place finish after beginning in the sixth position. As Bristol serves as the elimination race, he expressed his strategic approach and said (via Speedway Digest):

"Going into Bristol, it's an elimination race - and really, any elimination race, whether it's Bristol, or another round, or for us like it was at Darlington - you just know that you have to do everything perfectly. You can't have any big mishaps, you can't have a bad night on pit road, and you can't make a big mistake on the racetrack."

Briscoe also noted the unpredictability of Bristol but remains hopeful due to his recent going during a test session at the track.

"Bristol is definitely a big question mark. We don't know if the tires are going to last 150 laps or if they're going to last 40 laps. Bristol is a place where we've been really good. We've qualified well and we've run up front. We had a good test there a month and a half ago," Chase Briscoe added.

If Chase Briscoe can avoid on-track incidents and maintain top-10 stage finishes, he stands a strong chance of advancing to the Round of 12.