A Hoosier with Tri-State Speedway roots, Chase Briscoe advances to Round of 12 in NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs | Sports

After the October 13 race the field will be cut to the Round of 8, composed of races October 20 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, October 27 at Homestead-Miami Speedway and November 3 at Martinsville (Virginia) Speedway. The top four in points after November 3 will race in the November 10 NASCAR Cup Series Championship at Phoenix (Arizona) Raceway.

Briscoe, whose win in the September 1 regular-season finale at Darlington (South Carolina) Speedway qualified him for the 16-driver postseason, is still in contention due to a comeback. A crash knocked him out of the September 8 Round of 16 opener at Atlanta (Georgia) Motor Speedway.

He placed sixth on September 15 at Watkins Glen (New York) International and eighth last Saturday night at Bristol (Tennessee) Motor Speedway. His 3,005 season points match 11th-place Alex Bowman. Kyle Larson, who won at Bristol, is the leader with 3,047 points.

Helfrich said the Briscoe family, including grandfather Richard Briscoe and dad Kevin Briscoe — who both raced at Tri-State — “tried to get Chase emancipated to race here at age 13, but due to rules we couldn’t let him drive here until he was 14. You must go to court to get emancipated. Jeff Gordon had to do that, too. You’re treated as an adult, not as a juvenile.”

“The first time I saw Chase race, I wondered if he had the ability to be as good as his dad and granddad.”

“The next thing you know about drivers like Jeff and Chase, they’re superstars.”

“The Briscoe family is a really good family. Chase is a really good family man.”

“Chase has a lot of similarities with Jackie Young, who watches our races here. We’re blessed to be the home track to sports celebrities.

“I’m anxious to see how Chase does at Kansas Speedway. That’s a really nice facility.”

Knowing that Briscoe must move up at least four places in the standings the next three Sundays, Helfrich said, “Winning a race is very important.”

A Briscoe championship would bring a grand-finale celebration for the Stewart-Haas Racing Team, which will cease operations after this season.

As Chase reported in a recent interview, he’ll join Joe Gibbs Racing in 2025.

Gordon’s four NASCAR Cup Series championships (1995, 1997, 1998, 2001) are far from the record. Dale Earnhardt, Richard Petty and Jimmie Johnson each won seven titles. Johnson’s seven include five straight from 2006-2010. Lee Petty and David Pearson became four-time champions. Larson won in 2021, Joey Logano won in 2018 and 2022 and Ryan Blaney won in 2023.