Chase Briscoe has taken advantage of the rash of mile-and-a-half racetracks in the middle portion of the NASCAR Cup Series Chase, winning Sunday’s Bank of America 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway to go back-to-back for the first time in his career.
However, the Mitchell, Indiana-native will likely tell you that, both times, the margin in which he’s won has been too slim for his liking.
After inheriting the lead during the final cycle of caution-flag pit stops with 62 laps to go, Briscoe was able to keep his teammate Christopher Bell at bay throughout the longest green-flag run of Sunday’s event, but barely…
In the closing laps, as Briscoe dealt with traffic and some handling issues, his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Christopher Bell closed dramatically, just enough to make the final lap of the event interesting, closing a second to get side-by-side with the No. 19 off Turn 4.
Briscoe was able to beat Bell to the start-finish line by 0.029 seconds – the second-closest finish in Charlotte Motor Speedway history.
“Yeah, I think [I had a right-front tire going down],” Briscoe said post-race. “When I got to the final pack of lap cars with five or six laps to go, I mean, I just felt like I was going to knock the wall down at any point. It just quit turning. I don’t know what it is about these finishes. I’ve got to quit making it so exciting at the end. Just an amazing car.”
Christopher Bell narrowly missed out on securing his second victory in the Chase and had to settle for a runner-up result. Ryan Blaney was on the charge late in the going on Sunday, but came home in the third position, with Josh Berry being the highest non-Chase driver, in fourth.
Denny Hamlin rounded out the top-five after recovering from a safety violation during the first set of pit stops on the afternoon. Kyle Larson, Shane Van Gisbergen, Tyler Reddick, Joey Logano, and Chris Buescher completed the top 10.
Other drivers in the Chase that finished outside the top-10 includes Chase Elliott in 12th, Daniel Suarez in 13th, Carson Hocevar in 14th, Ryan Preece in 15th, and Austin Cindric in 17th. Bubba Wallace and William Byron finished 37th and 39th, respectively, after getting caught up in an early accident.
Leaving Charlotte, Kyle Larson has extended his gap in the NASCAR Cup Series point standings to 49 markers over Denny Hamlin in second. Christopher Bell sits third, 51 points behind, with Chase Briscoe in fourth, now 65 points back of Larson with four races to go.
The NASCAR Cup Series will head to Phoenix Raceway for its next event with the Freeway Insurance 500 taking place on Sunday, October 18 at 3:00 PM ET on USA Sports.
