Sonoma Runner-Up Briscoe Happy With ‘Best In Class’

Chase Briscoe (19) leads a pack of cars at Sonoma Raceway. (David Rosenblum/Nigel Kinrade Photography)

SONOMA, Calif. – While no one has been able to stop Shane van Gisbergen on road courses this summer, Chase Briscoe has given him at least a competitive challenge in recent weeks.

At California’s Sonoma Raceway on Sunday, that didn’t change.

Briscoe came home second in the Toyota/Save Mart 350 to capture his second top five in four weeks and his best career finish at Sonoma in five NASCAR Cup Series starts at the 1.99-mile, 12-turn natural road course.

The 30-year-old gave van Gisbergen everything he had on Sunday. But even still, adjusting his racing lines and trying his best to stay clean on track and follow the flow of race strategy wasn’t enough to best van Gisbergen, who’s won in three out of the last five Cup Series races overall.

“I honestly don't know what more I needed to win. I felt like my car was extremely good, and I feel like every time I would run Shane down that he would just pick up the pace himself and start driving back away,” said Briscoe. “It was frustrating at times, but I was honestly happy with the effort. This is by far my worst racetrack and I kind of surprised myself, truthfully.”

Briscoe said the only opportunity he had to claim the lead at Sonoma was on restarts, when the New Zealander didn’t have a large advantage over the field.

“I never played basketball against [NBA legend and 23XI Racing co-owner] Michael Jordan in his prime, but I feel like that's probably what it was like racing Shane on road courses. That guy is unbelievable on road courses. He’s just so good,” lauded Briscoe of van Gisbergen. “He's really raised the bar for road racing in the entire series.

“But I’m proud of the effort. I thought there was one restart I was maybe going to get clear of him, but truthfully even if I cleared him, he was probably going to pass me back by the end of the lap,” he added. “We were a second-place car all day and obviously ended up second with it. Best in class, so to speak.”

The Mitchell, Ind., native captured his seventh top five of the season, along with nine top 10s and four poles. To make things even sweeter, Briscoe has clinched the most top fives in a single season of his Cup Series career, and is one top 10 away from tying his best in that metric.

He had never finished inside the top 10 at Sonoma until Sunday, and Briscoe said the Northern California track forced him to adjust throughout the day.

“All day I was definitely just trying to maintain; the initial start of the race, I didn’t do a good job of that. I fell back to fourth and cost myself too much time trying to save tires,” said Briscoe. “But I thought other than that I did a really good job of just trying to stay disciplined and manage my stuff, and I felt like it paid off.

“I was typically the second-best car. I never had anything for Shane. I felt like he still had more left in the tank, but it was fun trying to chase him. We were slipping and sliding around all over the place. It’s fun when you can do that in these types of cars.”

Briscoe earned nine stage points as part of his 44 points on the day overall. Sunday was his first career road course top five in the Cup Series. He also climbed from ninth to eighth in the overall Cup Series standings with six races left in the regular season.

Some of the credit Briscoe gave toward his strong day at Sonoma was the No. 19 team showing him what former Joe Gibbs Racing driver and 2017 Cup Series champion Martin Truex Jr. did as a three-time winner at the facility.

“Going into this week, I told them ‘Look, this is my worst racetrack’. And I felt like my team did a really good job of just showing me little things that Martin did that made him excel here, and I just tried to replicate that,” Briscoe said. “But for the most part it's been doing my typical deal. The car has so much more pace and balance, so it makes it really enjoyable to drive.”

After a top three finish at his self-proclaimed worst track on the Cup Series circuit, Briscoe and company head next to Dover (Del.) Motor Speedway. He has a career best finish of 13th at Dover, but has qualified seventh or better in his last two starts there.

With momentum and a career year getting even better, Briscoe hopes his luck could change at the ‘Monster Mile’ and recognizes he’s in a strong place in his career now.

“I’m honored and thankful that I get to drive this No. 19 car with Bass Pro Shops on the hood. I cannot thank Johnny Morris, J.P. Morris, the entire Toyota family, Bass Pro Shops family, and obviously Joe Gibbs Racing for giving me this opportunity because I am certainly having the time of my life right now,” Briscoe said.

“It's fun running week in and week out in the Cup Series and feeling like you have a shot to go win.”

Coverage of the AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 from Dover begins Sunday, July 20 at 2 p.m. ET, live on TNT Sports, the Performance Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.