After a devastating loss at Kansas, just seven short days ago, Chase Briscoe managed to get his redemption, winning Sunday’s South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway by holding off a hard-charging Kyle Larson and Tyler Reddick.
Briscoe, who paced the field for a race-high 175 of 267 laps, had command of the entirety of the final run of the race – first against Bubba Wallace, then against Kyle Larson and Tyler Reddick – and managed to maintain the top spot despite valiant efforts by the two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion.
The 1.376-second Margin of Victory didn’t necessarily show the closeness of the final run to the finish, though, due to a final-corner wreck involving Larson and Reddick, which happened as the two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and current points leader broke loose while trying to hammer the gas in Turn 3 and 4, slamming the outside wall and collecting the No. 45.
Larson and Reddick managed to scramble across the line in second and third.
Asked if this makes up for Kansas, Briscoe, said. “Not really. We could have had another win, but yeah, I wouldn’t have – I don’t think I would have been able to get on the plane. They would have all kicked my butt.”
“I was scared to death to see [James Small] if I didn’t pull that one off. What an amazing day,” Briscoe added. “Thank you to all the fans. It was so hot out here, and you guys were still out here. I hope that was a good race. From my seat at the end there, I don’t know what else you could want from a cat and mouse standpoint.”
Briscoe had a truly dominant afternoon in Las Vegas, sweeping both the stages and leading the most laps, by far. The driver of the No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry XSE only lost the lead during the green-flag pit stop cycle, never losing the top spot despite challenges from several drivers in the middle portion of the run.
Then, as driver zeroed in towards the finish, Briscoe, despite his weakness in the long-run and in traffic, managed to stay ahead. With drivers in his rearview mirror, the Joe Gibbs Racing pilot mentions he was looking more in the windshield than the mirror… at least most of the time.
“Honestly more of the windshield, except for when Larson would get really, really close. The aero is such a big deal. On 1 and 2 I felt like if I could somewhat cover where he was at. It was a huge guessing game. At 3 and 4 I knew if I hit the bottom properly and slowed down, which I’m normally not very good at, he was going to have a hard time getting by me. Just glad I was able to hold on. Last week was not a very fun mental place to be after kind of throwing one away. Yeah, really cool, like I said, to get in victory lane.
Kyle Larson finished in second place, continuing a run of top five results in the NASCAR Cup Series Chase, allowing him to extend his points lead to 40 markers heading to Charlotte Motor Speedway. Tyler Reddick finished in third, breaking a slump of back-to-back weeks where the No. 45 was dramatically off pace compared to his fellow Chase drivers.
Austin Cindric had another strong weekend on a mile-and-a-half, finishing fourth, with his Team Penske teammate Ryan Blaney rounding out the top five. William Byron was sixth, with Chase Elliott in seventh. Bubba Wallace, running as high as second at points in the final run and battling for the win, faded dramatically to eighth after making a push for the lead on Briscoe.
Shane Van Gisbergen was the highest-finishing driver not in the Chase, bringing home a ninth-place result. Joey Logano rounded out the top-10.
Other drivers in the Chase that finished outside the top-10 included Carson Hocevar (P12), Chris Buescher (P13), Daniel Suarez (P14), Denny Hamlin (P16), Ty Gibbs (P17), Christopher Bell (P23), and Ryan Preece (P28).
Aside from Chase Briscoe, the four-car contingent out of Joe Gibbs Racing had a tough afternoon in Las Vegas, with Denny Hamlin spinning and stopping on the racetrack to lose mounds of track position twice, Ty Gibbs never recovering from an early speeding penalty, and Christopher Bell facing power steering issues. Briscoe, the race-winner, was the only Gibbs car to finish top-15.
Leaving Las Vegas, the fifth of 10 races in the NASCAR Cup Series Chase, Kyle Larson has a 40-point advantage over second-place in points, Denny Hamlin. Christopher Bell sits third, 55 points back, with Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney rounding out the top-10.
The NASCAR Cup Series returns home to Charlotte Motor Speedway next weekend. Coverage of the Bank of America 400 will take place on Sunday, October 11 at 3:00 PM ET on USA Sports.
