Chase Briscoe is coming into his career-best form at the perfect time after his win in the NASCAR Cup Series Championship playoff opener, with one NASCAR insider believing him to have a good shot at the title.
Briscoe has had the best season of his Cup Series career, with 10 top-five finishes while consistently pushing the likes of Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin.
The 30-year-old is still seen as an outsider to win it all this year, despite his impressive regular season and playoff win, but his confidence will be high after his success in Darlington.
Brad Keselowski’s spotter TJ Majors spoke highly of Briscoe chances in the playoffs, off the back of his win – which was just the fourth of his career.
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Majors said: “Chase has had a lot of speed this year. I do wonder if the consistency can stay there all throughout the playoffs. I think he’s proven, I mean, there were a lot of unknowns about Chase going into this.
“Would he be able to run as good? Obviously, the 19 car has been fast at a lot of these places and Chase is holding up his end of the deal now. I feel like he’s developing a lot this year and he’s taking advantage of it, and I feel like him and James Small and the crew are really starting to hit their stride.
“So, I think Chase has a good shot at it. He just needs to when the race comes around, when he’s going to be an eighth-place car, he needs to try to run eighth and take his fifth, sixth or seventh and not try to force something and get himself in trouble. If he can do that and manage some situations, Chase can make a deep run in these playoffs. That car is a really good car.”
Briscoe will have to outduel the likes of Hamlin, Larson, Ryan Blaney, William Byron and Christopher Bell, who all remain in strong contention.
The Cup Series playoffs return this weekend when the drivers take the trip to Madison, Illinois at the World Wide Technology Raceway on Saturday.