The NASCAR Cup Series’s second round of playoffs kicked off at Kansas Speedway. While many expected it to be a Kyle Larson or Denny Hamlin-dominated race, the “Melon Man” played spoiler. Ross Chastain claimed his first win of the season. However, the honor wouldn’t have been Chastain’s if Kyle Busch hadn’t had yet another close miss.

Rowdy is looking to break his dry spell and continue his 20-season win streak. Quite frankly, everyone in the NASCAR community wants to see him do that, even Chase Briscoe, who denied him that opportunity at Kansas. With so much at stake, hard racing is inevitable, especially for the SHR driver shouldering the playoff hopes of 300 employees after SHR announced to shut operations post-2024.

Chase Briscoe opens up on the Kansas incident

In the final stages of the race, Ross Chastain was leading the race. With 64 laps to go, Kyle Busch made a pass and took the lead. For 34 laps, Busch successfully held off Chastain. But as he was trying to lap Chase Briscoe, who was running 26th, Briscoe fought back. In this tussle, the #8 car tried to pass from the outside of #14. However, Busch made contact with Briscoe, getting pinned against the outside wall, leading to him spinning.

Kyle Busch was pushed behind the pack and eventually finished the race in the 19th position. And Briscoe, who did not have the best day either, finished 24th. But you have got to feel it for Busch, first a back-to-back P2 in Daytona and Darlington, and now this. So many close misses for the two-time Cup Series Champion. Even Briscoe felt it for him; post the race, he said, ” I hate it for them, I’m a Kyle Busch fan, I wanna see him win and keep the streak alive, obviously a really good opportunity. It’s unfortunate, hate that we are part of the conversation, and hate that our day wasn’t any better.”

But naturally, Briscoe, who was struggling to get a good finish for his playoff campaign, was fighting to stay on the lead lap. The #14 explaining his side of the story said, “When he got to me, I was making sure it was tight. I wasn’t just gonna pull over and give it to him, right. We are still racing for staying on the lead lap. I felt like I left him a car width and a couple of inches and these cars are so sensitive, especially this track If you are off to someone’s right rear, you just get so loose, looked like that’s what happened…I didn’t feel like I did anything, it definitely wasn’t intentional.” 

Busch, expressing his emotions after missing out yet again, was at a loss for words. He said, “Well, I didn’t start to. It just did. Nothing, I’m numb, I don’t know what to do.”

Chase Briscoe entered the race -7 points under the cutoff line and is exiting the race -25 points below it. This must come as a disappointment to not just the #14 but to the entire SHR faction that is rallying around him in their final days.

Chase Biscoe has four crew chiefs in his playoff campaign

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The Stewart-Haas Racing team is shutting down operations post-season. While a one-driver team under the banner of the Haas Factory team would compete in 2025, most out of the 300 employees have their futures hanging in the balance. In this turmoil, Briscoe gave them one last hope after bagging an unexpected playoff berth in the final race of the regular season in Darlington.

SHR, too, has returned the favor by giving him all the available resources for a final championship attempt. Briscoe talking on these lines recently said, “It’s been humbling, just from the whole company all embracing the 14 car and doing everything they can to make the 14 car have the best potential to win the championship. So that’s been cool. Just to have 300 and something employees literally feel like they’re on your back and riding with you every single weekend. And then just as a company, like SHR from the day I’ve been there has never worked as well as they have right now. Like all four crew chiefs, all four drivers.”

Hopefully, he can bounce back at the next race in Talladega like he did in Darlington. And this time he won’t be alone. “All the effort, all the focus, everything they got is on us right now…especially at a place like Talladega next week, I do think it’ll make a difference, just because I’m going to have three teammates that are super committed to doing everything they can to help me,” Briscoe added.

And the #14 has always been consistent on Talladega; all the last four races have been top-13 finishes. In the spring session this year, he finished 12th on the track. Briscoe’s best finish on this iconic Superspeedway has been 4th, which came in April last year. Hopefully, he can do his best at Talladega.

What do you think are Briscoe’s chances to progress to the round of 8? Let us know in the comments below.