It is typically mentioned that stress is a privilege. You may discover no higher proponent of that phrase than NASCAR Cup Sequence driver Chase Briscoe.
Over the course of his five-year Cup Sequence profession, Briscoe has risen to the event a number of instances. That was the case on Sunday night at Darlington Raceway, the place he led 309 laps en path to his second consecutive win within the Southern 500.
One other crown jewel win? Test. A ticket to the following spherical of the Cup Sequence playoffs? Test.
When the brilliant lights that encompass Darlington Raceway have been turned on, Briscoe turned in the very best efficiency of his NASCAR profession.
“I’ve all the time simply cherished high-pressure conditions,” Briscoe mentioned in his post-race information convention. “I really feel like I simply carry out higher for no matter cause.
I really feel like my entire profession has all the time been a high-pressure state of affairs, proper? There was no backup plan. You may solely get one race, you bought to go carry out, present your price. I’ve all the time felt like each week I’m nonetheless auditioning to show that I belong right here. Actually the upper the stress, the higher I really feel like I do for no matter cause.”
That is a useful trait for a driver within the trendy NASCAR panorama, which hinges on the very best drivers with the ability to carry out over the course of the 10-race stretch that makes up the NASCAR playoffs.
A primary-round win and a berth in Spherical of 12 actually is not the specified finish recreation for Briscoe and the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing staff. There’s an expectation at JGR for all of its drivers to compete for championships on a yearly foundation.
With two victories in his first season with Joe Gibbs Racing, Briscoe is wanting like a title favourite and doing precisely what he was employed by Joe Gibbs to do – even when Gibbs was initially uncertain of what Briscoe and crew chief James Small might accomplish collectively.
“You come to a brand new staff. You bought to type a relationship along with your crew chief and all people, your pit crew, the engineering group, all people that works on the automotive,” Gibbs mentioned in a post-race information convention. “That’s actually exhausting to do.
I received to inform you, it’s a credit score to James and all people, to Chase, the way in which they’ve approached this in a really fast method and put that automotive up entrance. It’s been extraordinarily quick. Had nice finishes. To get our second win with it, I don’t suppose any of us would in all probability have felt that that might have been potential.”
With excessive expectations being realized by Briscoe, the one factor left to do is go chase a championship.
For an evening, a minimum of, Briscoe and the No. 19 should rejoice a win in certainly one of NASCAR’s crown jewel occasions. So too does Briscoe’s son, Brooks.
“I mentioned, Daddy, you gained a giant race,” Brooks defined when requested to doc how he celebrated along with his father. “It went tremendous, tremendous quick, the pit cease. Simply hold going and going and going and going and going. Then he gained the race.”
“There you’ve got it,” Briscoe mentioned.
Quotes offered by NASCAR Media except in any other case famous.
