Chase Briscoe didn’t just win at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Sunday, he pulled off one of the most insane finishes in Cup history, holding off Christopher Bell by a mind-boggling 0.029 seconds. That’s the second-closest finish ever at the track, and it capped off back-to-back victories for Briscoe, coming just a week after he clinched the win in Las Vegas. This guy is on fire, picking up his seventh and eighth career wins, six of which have come in the last two years since he joined Joe Gibbs Racing.
Briscoe’s Pressure Cooker Pays Off at JGR
When Briscoe joined Joe Gibbs Racing for the 2025 season, he felt the weight of expectation immediately. He talked about how at his previous organization, Stewart-Haas Racing, victories were celebrated more. At JGR, winning is just the baseline, it’s what’s expected. That’s a ton of pressure, but it’s clearly paying off now. He admitted, “When [JGR] signed me [for 2025], I had one career Cup win and there was obviously a ton of question marks about what I guess my potential was. And for [Joe Gibbs] to take a chance on me and to be able to drive this car, it’s just a privilege.” Two wins in two weeks? Looks like that gamble is paying dividends. He’s showing exactly what his potential is, and it’s awesome to watch.
The Chase Heats Up, Hamlin’s Struggles Continue
This Charlotte race was the sixth of the ten-race Chase, and things are really tightening up. Kyle Larson, the two-time and defending Cup champion, had himself a “good solid day,” as he put it. He won the opening stage, finished fourth in the second, and wound up sixth in the race, pushing his points lead over Denny Hamlin from 40 to 49. Briscoe, with his win, is now fourth in the standings, 65 points back (he was 84 points behind going into Charlotte). Bell is sitting 51 points back, moving up from 55. Five of the top-six finishers were championship leaders, with Ryan Blaney finishing third (85 points behind), followed by non-Chase driver Josh Berry, Hamlin, and Larson.
Meanwhile, Denny Hamlin, the regular-season champion who was expected to light up The Chase, is having a rough go of it. He thought he had a race-winning car for the first 100 laps at Charlotte, but a safety violation in the pits cost him points in the opening stage when one of his crew members fell over the pit road wall reaching for a tire. He’s only got one top-three finish and two top-fives so far in The Chase, and his confidence to win his first Cup title is “so-so.” He told reporters, “We haven’t lit the world on fire by any means, and we’re still hanging around. It’s all we’ve got right now, and obviously, we’ve got to clean a lot of things up to get the best out of our days. But when it really counted with race-winning speed today, we just didn’t have it.” It’s tough to see, especially after such a strong regular season.
The pressure is only going to mount with just four races left in The Chase: Phoenix, Talladega, Martinsville, and Homestead. Briscoe’s back-to-back wins have definitely changed the conversation. Could he be a contender now? He’s certainly making a strong case! We’ll see how it all shakes out over these next four absolutely critical races.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Fox Sports.
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