NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C.: Chase Briscoe had one of the fastest cars during the second half of Sunday night’s NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway, but without a late-race caution, the Stewart-Haas Racing driver didn’t stand a chance against race dominator Kyle Larson.
Briscoe restarted the second half of the race in the bottom half of the top-10, but a green flag run to the checkered allowed the driver of the No. 14 HighPoint.com Ford Mustang to maneuver forward and inside the last 50 laps of the race was turning some of the quickest laps on the track.
Leader Kyle Larson was so fast – he checked out from the field was already headed to Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway ahead of next Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 – and without the benefit of a caution there was no chance for Briscoe to get fresh tires and take a stab at his first chance at a million dollar payday.
The caution that Briscoe and much of the field was hoping would fly – never did and Briscoe was left to settle with a somewhat satisfying fourth-place finish.
“We were really, really fast at the end,” said Briscoe after the race. “I felt like if I could have ever just got the lead, I would have been hard to beat, but I’m sure a lot of other guys would say that too. It was definitely frustrating. We kind of got beat around there on that one restart.”
The restart that the Mitchell, Ind. native referred to kept the No. 14 HighPoint.com Ford Mustang trapped on the high lane
“I went from running fourth to seventh or eighth and had to drive back up to fourth, so I felt like we were one of the few cars that could pass,” Briscoe added. “I’m proud of that effort, but I would have obviously loved to win a million dollars. Truthfully, with how our last couple of weeks have been, just to get a good run and prove that we can run with these guys is nice.”
It’s no secret that the Next-Gen car has struggled on the short tracks since its introduction and Sunday night’s race was no exception and while Briscoe said the car is better than it was in 2022, there is still more work to be done.
“Truthfully, this car at every short track has kind of struggled. I think a lack of grip didn’t really fix the issues,” explained Briscoe. “I don’t know. It was fun. I still think this has a great opportunity to be an incredible event, but it would be different if every other race on short tracks had been really good. I think we just need to keep continuing to work on the car. I feel like we made it better on short tracks than what it was last year, but we just need to get it better.”
With everyone hugging the bottom lane for grip and to pass cars, Briscoe believed the All-Star Race would have delivered a better show if the track would have widened out to two grooves.
“We’re slipping and sliding around and doing the things we need to do, but, truthfully, I just feel like this race would have been really, really good if the track had more than one lane,” Briscoe sounded. “It was almost the track more than the car necessarily.
“It was just so fast on the bottom groove. If you miss it by six inches, you are a half-second slower. We all know that and we all just continue to fight for the bottom. I would almost just put it up as the racetrack is so bottom dominant that that’s why it’s really hard to pass.”
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01 and email at: [email protected].
