Briscoe wins in Vegas, keeps James Small from throwing him off the roof
by Crystal Clay
LAS VEGAS — Chase Briscoe came to Las Vegas looking to put Kansas behind him. He left with the trophy—and, by his own joking account, avoided a rough flight home with crew chief James Small.
“I don’t think I would have been able to get on the plane. They would have all kicked my butt,” Briscoe said after Sunday’s South Point 400.
When a reporter reminded him that Small had threatened to throw him off the building if he lost again, Briscoe added, “I was scared to death to see him if I didn’t pull that one off.”
Briscoe made sure he wouldn’t have to find out. He swept both stages, led 175 of 267 laps and held on to win by 1.376 seconds for his second NASCAR Cup Series victory of the season. The win moved him up two spots in the Chase standings with five races remaining.
The margin looked comfortable on the results sheet, but the closing laps were anything but. Larson and Tyler Reddick cut Briscoe’s lead to less than four-tenths of a second with a lap to go. Larson hit the wall in the final corner while pushing toward Briscoe, and Reddick made contact with Larson before sliding across the infield grass. Larson recovered to finish second and Reddick slid across the finish in third.
Briscoe said he watched mostly through the windshield, checking the mirror when Larson got close. The aero effect made it a guessing game. In Turns 1 and 2, Briscoe tried to cover Larson’s line. In Turns 3 and 4, he focused on hitting the bottom and slowing the corner enough to make a pass difficult.
“I hope that was a good race,” Briscoe said. “From my seat there at the end, I don’t know what else you could want from a cat and mouse standpoint.”
The Kansas loss had been hard to shake. Briscoe said he’d been in “a not very fun mental place” after losing the lead late the week before. This time, with Larson charging, Briscoe held on.
Small said the final 10 laps were stressful, with the No. 19 navigating a thick pack of traffic. He said Briscoe’s car handled traffic better than it had at Kansas, although balancing the car in clean and dirty air remained difficult.
The win carried extra meaning during a weekend honoring Kyle Busch, who died in May. Busch was a Las Vegas native, and Briscoe said winning at his hometown track was meaningful. Larson, whose No. 5 carried a tribute paint scheme, said he wished he could have won in the car honoring Busch.
Joe Gibbs said the tributes reflected how much Busch meant to people throughout the sport. Winning at Busch’s home track made the moment especially significant for the team.
“On the front stretch to be able to do a bow, it was special for sure. Yeah, just miss him, truthfully. Still doesn’t feel real,” said Briscoe.
Larson’s second-place finish increased his championship lead over Denny Hamlin from 26 points to 40. Hamlin finished 16th after a mid-race spin. Christopher Bell finished 23rd after losing power steering, while Ty Gibbs who started on row 1 finished 17th. Five races remain in the Chase.
Briscoe knew the win didn’t erase the Kansas disappointment. But it kept him in the title fight…and, for now, off the roof.
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