Chase Briscoe‘s Cinderella season has encountered a major hurdle. The driver of the No. 14 finished last in the Cup Series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway after a hard hit with the wall, and he dropped into a must-win scenario.
The incident occurred at the end of Stage 2. Briscoe was battling a loose race car when he slammed hard into the wall in Turns 1 and 2. This brought out the caution as smoke began billowing out both sides of the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang.
Chase Briscoe hits the wall.
Will it be the end of the day for the #NASCARPlayoffs driver?
The team originally told Briscoe to go to the garage, so he began rolling backward down pit road. However, the team noted that going behind the wall would end their day. Briscoe went back on the track, using up precious minutes of the DVP clock, before ultimately heading to the garage with a broken control arm.
Briscoe Entered the Weekend With an Opportunity
GettyChase Briscoe missed out on dozens of points after his wreck.
The reason that Briscoe drew comments about a Cinderella season is that he has entered every round of the playoffs below the cutline, but he has capitalized and gained points every single week. This includes the Round of 12 when he posted three top-10 finishes and one top-five.
Briscoe gained more points at Las Vegas Motor Speedway by posting another top-five finish. This moved him to nine points below the cutline and set up an opportunity to overtake other drivers on the playoff leaderboard. Instead, he fell to the last position in the field.
Briscoe is not the only playoff driver that had issues during the race. William Byron, who started on the pole, lost a lap during a pit stop in the final stage. He began to leave his stall, but he had to back up so the crew could tighten the nut on the left front tire. He then stalled out the No. 24 and had to get a push to get back going. Though Byron ultimately left Homestead-Miami with a five-point advantage over the cutline.
Similarly, Christopher Bell started at the front of the pack for the pivotal playoff race. He was in need of numerous points after getting collected in an incident featuring Bubba Wallace and Kyle Larson at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and he was in the perfect position to pursue these points.
Bell was not able to achieve this goal. He did not secure any points during Stages 1 and 2 while running outside of the top 10. This dropped him further below the elimination line with only one race remaining in the Round of Eight.
Points Are Now Meaningless to Briscoe
Briscoe is now 50 points below the cutline, which means he must win at Martinsville Speedway to punch his ticket to the championship four. Achieving this goal will not be a simple task, especially if Briscoe struggles during qualifying and get stuck in traffic early in the 500-lap race.
Points may be meaningless, but Briscoe will have other things on his mind. Chief among them will be capturing the checkered flag because it will punch his ticket to the championship four. He will also have to avoid any issues on the track that send him to the garage or the infield care center.
“The driver just made a mistake. I was really, really loose that run,” Briscoe said after exiting the No. 14. “We were really tight every other run. That green-flag run we tried to get really free on the other side of it and just started taking really hard. I was hanging on with everything I had. It felt like I was on ice. Honestly, I wasn’t even running hard. I was trying to just get to the caution.
“We kept getting freer. I got sideways and had the wheel all the way to the right and ended up head-on into the wall. It is really frustrating to have it be something of my own doing. I am better than to be crashing by myself. It is really unfortunate. It makes our job easier next week I guess. We don’t have to worry about points. We gotta go to Martinsville and win.”
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Major Damage Puts Chase Briscoe in Must-Win Scenario