*Chase Briscoe has turned in a personal best season in his first year driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, claiming a series-high six pole positions (including the Daytona 500), winning at Pocono Raceway this summer and eclipsing all his season-best marks in top-five (10) and top-10 (12) finishes with 10 races remaining.
“I was telling my wife, this is really the first time I have legitimately thought I could win a Cup championship,” Briscoe said. “In the past I could make the Playoffs, and that was exciting, but down deep you kind of know the odds of you winning are pretty slim.
“Now, not to say I’m the favorite by any means, but I feel like I have a legitimate chance to go do it. … definitely feels different this time around just knowing you have a shot. I would say this Playoffs just feels different because of that.”
*A year ago. 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick headed into the Playoffs as the Regular Season Champion and advanced all the way to the Championship 4 Round. This go-round, the two-time NASCAR Xfinity Series champion is ranked 14th among the 16 drivers and has yet to score a race win.
Although he safely “pointed” his way into the championship chase, Reddick conceded Wednesday his No. 45 Toyota team needs to step it up for the Playoff run.
“I was on the good side of it last year,” Reddick acknowledged, “It’s just all experience. Last year was a little nicer one because we were able to have those Playoff points to fall back on. … This year we’ve got to be much more on top of it. We don’t have a lot of room for error. But that’s OK, there’s some good tracks.”