Chase Briscoe and Corey Day have been lights out as the NASCAR Cup and O’Reilly Series reach their final few races.
Briscoe and Day each won at Las Vegas and Charlotte, but their situations couldn’t be more different. Over the past two races, Briscoe gained 58 points on points leader Kyle Larson. But he remains 65 points back with four races left. Briscoe is fourth in points and is looking to put his previous 37th-place finish at Phoenix behind him.
Meanwhile, Day has gained 85 points on O’Reilly points leader Sheldon Creed and has moved up to third in the standings. Day has also cut his deficit to seven points behind Creed, and he’s looking to at least repeat his ninth-place finish at Phoenix from the spring race.
Chase Briscoe’s NASCAR Winning Streak Hasn’t Closed the Gap Enough
Briscoe recently dominated at Las Vegas when he led 175 of 267 laps. He also swept the stages in that race, which gave him even more momentum going into Charlotte. At Charlotte, Briscoe edged out Christopher Bell by .029 seconds, giving him his second consecutive win and even more momentum heading into Phoenix.
But the question is, what’s keeping Briscoe from closing in on Larson in the same way that Day is closing in on Creed?
Larson’s consistency is the biggest reason. While Briscoe has been winning and even maximizing his stage points, Larson keeps putting together strong finishes. He took second at Vegas before following it up with a sixth-place finish at Charlotte, his fifth consecutive top-six finish in the Chase. Before that, Larson had four straight top-two finishes.
Recent history is also on Larson’s side for Phoenix. While a tire failure resulted in a crash for Briscoe that caused his meager 37th-place finish back in March, Larson cruised to take third. If Larson finishes strong again, Briscoe will need more than wins if he plans on maximizing his chances to catch Larson following the Phoenix race.
Corey Day Has Turned NASCAR O’Reilly Chase Into a Three-Driver Fight
An aggressive three-wide pass late in the race helped seal the deal for Day at Charlotte. That, coupled with his win at Vegas, helped Day erase an ugly 33rd-place finish at Gateway a few races back.
Meanwhile, Creed’s 13th-place finish at Vegas helped ensure Day managed to gain 85 points on him across two races and close in on the points lead. Day and Creed, however, are in a fight with Jesse Love, who is in second place and just two points behind Creed. Day trails Love by five points heading into Phoenix and Creed by seven points.
While Briscoe ideally needs another victory and to see Kyle Larson finish outside the top 10 to gain serious ground, Day could mathematically pass Love and Creed to take the points lead if he finishes strong at Phoenix.
Day also has a strong record across two appearances at Phoenix. He finished 14th there to close out his part-time 2025 schedule. In March, he swung back around and took ninth. That gives him a phenomenal outlook heading into the weekend.
Two NASCAR Drivers Are Winning, But Only One Is Closing In