Chase Briscoe is aware of what’s at stake in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup race on the Charlotte Roval. A win would assure his development into the Spherical of 8, which begins subsequent week in Las Vegas. Nonetheless, Briscoe’s largest considerations middle on simply the 2 drivers closest to him within the standings.
Heading into Charlotte, Briscoe is 21 factors above the cutline, in seventh place. Joey Logano is correct behind in eighth place, 13 factors above the cutline. And under them, it’s a tight bunch of at the very least three drivers inside placing distance.
Beneath the cutline are Ross Chastain (minus-13), Bubba Wallace (-26), teammate Tyler Reddick (-29), and Austin Cindric, who’s at -48. They’re all in a must-win scenario.
However the way in which Briscoe seems to be at it — not from an air of overconfidence however extra of lifelike potentialities — he feels that every one he has to do is end forward of Logano and Chastain to make sure that he’ll transfer on to the Spherical of 8.
“I feel this weekend, we’re clearly actually simply racing the 22 [Logano] and the 1 [Chastain],” the Joe Gibbs Racing driver mentioned in media availability this week. “If we are able to simply go and outrun them in each phases and the race, then we’ll transfer on no matter what.”
The Roval is just not one in every of Briscoe’s greatest tracks
Briscoe has a median end of 23.8 with a better of ninth in 4 Cup Sequence begins on the two.28-mile Roval street course.
He received the opening race of the 10-race playoffs at Darlington final month, and adopted that up with a runner-up end the next week at Gateway and ninth within the Spherical of 16 finale at Bristol.
So far within the Spherical of 12, he’s completed tenth at New Hampshire and fourth final Sunday at Kansas. But, Briscoe is staring potential elimination within the face.
If Briscoe will get caught up in another person’s wreck on the Roval, that might spell the distinction between him advancing or seeing his playoffs finish, dismally.
“Loopy, we’re averaging a top-five end within the playoffs, and we’re solely (21) factors above (the cutoff line),” Briscoe mentioned, in accordance with The Tennessean. “By no means really feel secure on the Roval, however go there and attempt to do our job. Our street course stuff is fairly good there. See what we are able to do.”
Maybe that’s key for Briscoe: Staying secure, and like he put it, ending forward of Logano and Chastain.
