CUP: Chase Briscoe’s last-place finish – as with his win last Sunday – is his first in two years
by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
PHOTO: Steven Taranto, @STaranto92
Chase Briscoe picked up the 2nd last-place finish of his NASCAR Cup Series career in Sunday’s Quaker State 400 Available a Walmart at the Atlanta Motor Speedway when his #14 Mahindra Compact Tractors Ford was collected in a two-car crash after 55 of 266 laps.
The finish, which came in Briscoe’s 135th series start, was his first of the season and first in a Cup Series race since October 23, 2022, 65 races ago. In the Cup Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 42nd for the #14, the 674th from a crash, and the 750th for Ford. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 62nd for the #14, the 1,049th for Ford, and the 1,392nd from a crash.
Briscoe entered Sunday’s race on the highest possible note, punching his ticket into the Playoffs with a dramatic walk-off victory in the regular season finale at Darlington. The win came in the famed Southern 500, at a track where team co-owner Tony Stewart never won in his driving career, and ended Briscoe’s 93-race winless streak dating back to his only win in 2022. After finishing strong in both stages, Briscoe slipped from 4th to the lead in Turn 3 with 26 laps to go, then held off a determined charge by Kyle Busch, who Briscoe also defeated in a XFINITY race at the track in 2020. The win also made Briscoe the sole member of Stewart-Haas Racing’s four-car crew to make the Playoffs in this, the team’s final season before shutting down, as Briscoe prepares to take the place of Martin Truex, Jr. at Joe Gibbs Racing.
The Playoff opener came in Atlanta, where no practice would be held. In the first round of qualifying, he ranked 8th with a lap of 31.157 seconds (177.938mph). This moved Briscoe to Round 2, where he ranked slowest of the group in 10th at 31.131 seconds (178.086mph). His was one of six Playoff drivers and seven Fords in the Top Ten.
With only two “open” entries arriving at the track, securing the 38th and final starting spot was Denny Hamlin, who had a power train issue on his #11 Mavis Tire Toyota, dropping him more than two seconds off the pole speed set by Michael McDowell. The issue required unapproved adjustments, and led to plug wire changes for teammates Martin Truex, Jr., who timed in 22nd in the #19 Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota and 20th-place Ty Gibbs in the #54 He Gets Us Toyota, who were sent to the rear with Hamlin. Prior to the start, NASCAR instructed all three to trail the outside line along with B.J. McLeod, who qualified 36th in the #78 Delgado Stone Chevrolet.
Onboard Denny Hamlin's #11 just before the start. (SCREENSHOT: NASCAR Drive)
When the green flag dropped, Hamlin remained in the 38th spot and crossed the stripe 3.841 seconds behind the leader. He also left open track in front of him, showing more than a full half-second behind 37th-place runner J.J. Yeley in the NY Racing Team’s #44 U.S. Aviation Academy Chevrolet, 3.326 behind the lead. Contrary to expectations, Hamlin did not immediately climb through the pack, and remained in last until Lap 9, when he pulled alongside Yeley by 0.071 second at the stripe, then cleared him on Lap 10.
Yeley was then told he was lifting in the corner where others weren’t, and that he needed to stay in the draft or risk losing a lap before the end of Stage 1. On Lap 13, Yeley was 0.217 behind new 37th-place runner Shane van Gisbergen in the #16 Acceptance Insurance Chevrolet, then 0.415 on Lap 15 and 0.509 on Lap 16. The next time by on Lap 17, Ryan Preece slipped to 37th in the #41 HaasTooling.com Ford and Yeley caught up, drawing within 0.123 second. On Lap 21, Yeley dropped Preece to last, and Preece reported debris on the frontstretch. The message was relayed, but the green flag stayed out.
By Lap 23, Cody Ware slipped to 36th as Hamlin passed his #15 Mighty Fire Breaker Ford. This was significant as, by Lap 25, Yeley and Preece lost touch with Ware, forming their own draft a full 1.281 seconds behind the #15. The back of the field started to lose touch with each other. Ahead of Ware, Yeley, and Preece, Van Gisbergen, now 34th, was two seconds back of 33rd-place McLeod, who was another 1.449 seconds behind 32nd-place Noah Gragson in the #10 Overstock.com Ford. Still, on Lap 29, Preece dropped Yeley back to last, but was still 2.970 seconds behind Ware. The gap increased once more - 3.346 on Lap 30 and 3.617 on Lap 36 – but by Lap 39, Preece and Yeley formed up a draft that was catching Ware by three-tenths a lap. From there, the interval shrank to 2.213 on Lap 42, 0.533 on Lap 46, and Preece drew alongside Ware on Lap 48 by just 0.090 second. Still, it wasn’t until Lap 50 that Preece and Yeley cleared Ware. Ware then promptly got back in line, creating a three-car draft that was now 14.402 seconds behind 35th-place McLeod, who was drafting a still-trailing Hamlin in 34th. That draft was itself 2.007 seconds behind new 33rd-place runner Bubba Wallace in the #23 Leidos Toyota.
By Lap 56, there were less than ten laps to go in Stage 1, and Ryan Blaney led Austin Cindric and Kyle Larson heading into Turns 1 and 2. Just past the apex, the tail end of Larson’s car stepped out, cut to the right, and slammed the outside wall with the right-front corner. Larson skidded sideways into the middle lane, leaving a trail of smoke at the exit of Turn 2. The field behind him scattered, including Briscoe, who tried to slow and go to the left. But with Larson’s car sitting in that lane, Briscoe cut to the right at the last minute. He nearly had Larson cleared, but slammed the right-rear of Larson’s car with his left-front, sending Briscoe into the outside wall and Larson to the apron. Both drivers climbed out without serious injury, each done for the day in the final two spots. Briscoe took last on Lap 56, and both cars were towed to the garage on Lap 61. While Briscoe’s reached the garage, Larson’s was so heavily damaged it had to be left behind the infield wall at Turn 2 until a flatbed could be brought to the scene. This was done around Lap 67.
Briscoe's wrecked car getting a tow. (SCREENSHOT: NASCAR Drive)
Finishing 36th was Chris Buescher, who receive significant damage to his #17 Fastenal Ford in a multi-car accident down the backstretch on Lap 206. Also involved was 35th-place Martin Truex, Jr., who struggled to find speed in his #19, then suffered suspension damage in the Buescher incident. Rounding out the group was Noah Gragson, whose #10 Overstock.com Ford was spun by Harrison Burton entering Turn 3 on Lap 259, putting him into the inside wall.
LASTCAR STATISTICS
*With the finish, all four Stewart-Haas Racing entries have finished last in 2024 in exactly one race each: Ryan Preece (Dover), Josh Berry (Gateway), and Noah Gragson (Pocono).
*This marked the first last-place finish for the #14 in a Cup Series race at Atlanta since March 9, 2003, when Larry Foyt picked up the first of his Cup career after he lost the engine on his #14 Harrah’s Dodge lost the engine after 104 laps of the Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500. That race marked Bobby Labonte’s sixth and final Atlanta win, significant as Labonte gave the command to start engines on Sunday.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
38) #14-Chase Briscoe / 55 laps / crash
37) #5-Kyle Larson / 55 laps / crash
36) #17-Chris Buescher / 205 laps / crash
35) #19-Martin Truex, Jr. / 254 laps / suspension
34) #10-Noah Gragson / 258 laps / crash
2024 LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Stewart-Haas Racing (4)
2nd) Joe Gibbs Racing, Kaulig Racing, Motorsports Business Management, Penske Racing, Spire Motorsports (3)
3rd) Front Row Motorsports, Hendrick Motorsports, Legacy Motor Club, RFK Racing, Richard Childress Racing, Rick Ware Racing, Trackhouse Racing (1)
2024 LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Ford (13)
2nd) Chevrolet (9)
3rd) Toyota (4)
2024 LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
