Chase Briscoe Cites Fontana Flashbacks in Emotional Health Scare Revelation

Chase Briscoe put on a clinic at the Southern 500, owning Darlington with a jaw-dropping 309 of 367 laps led, sweeping both stages, and fending off Tyler Reddick’s late charge to nab his second straight crown jewel victory at the “Lady in Black.” It was a masterclass, echoing Bobby Allison’s 1971 and Dale Earnhardt’s 1986 dominance. Nobody has led that many laps in this race in decades.

From the green flag, Briscoe was untouchable: perfect restarts, slick pit stops, and a car that refused to let anyone by. Even in the final 20 laps, with Reddick breathing down his neck, Briscoe stayed cool, using clean air to seal the deal. This wasn’t just a win. It was a statement that the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing driver is a Cup Series force to be reckoned with.

But even a day that perfect had its shaky moments. On a recent interview, Briscoe opened up about a health scare during the race that brought back haunting memories of a 2020 Xfinity Series nightmare at Fontana. A sudden issue with his car’s systems had him sweating buckets, fighting to stay focused while flashbacks of a lost win hit hard.

Briscoe’s Fontana flashbacks and health scare

On Dirty Mo Media, Briscoe got real about a tense moment at Darlington, “It wasn’t bad. I did have some PTSD when the alternator thing started because in 2020 Xfinity at Fontana I had that happen and my car would just start shutting off down the straight away. I kind of had a dominant car at Fontana and I lost the race because of it so I was handpicked a little bit for like 15 laps and then you know kind of levelled out.”

Back in the 2020 Production Alliance Group 300, Briscoe led 41 laps in his No. 98 Stewart-Haas Ford, looking like the guy to beat. But a battery and alternator issue tanked his race, with the car cutting out on straights, dropping him to 19th. That gut punch clearly stuck with him. When Darlington’s electrical gremlins hit, it was like reliving a nightmare, spiking his stress in the middle of a playoff battle.

Things got worse when he tried to cope with the heat, “But yeah when I turned the cool shirt off I was like man dude it got really hot really quickly cuz you kind of forget how cool that thing actually is and knock on wood like I’ve never had an issue with mine like a lot of guys have. So I turned it off and I was like ‘Man it’s pretty warm.’ But I was okay like you know that’s how we’ve always done it before the cool shirt deal and then I turned my helmet fan off. And the sweat is just pouring down my face and I’m going down every straightaway flipping my shield up open my face….”

The Cool Shirt System, which pumps chilled water to keep drivers’ body temps in check, is a lifesaver in NASCAR’s 130°F cockpits. Briscoe’s been lucky compared to guys like Denny Hamlin, who nearly passed out at Texas in 2010, or Noah Gragson, who vomited mid-race at Atlanta in 2023. Flipping his visor up was a desperate move to get air, but it left him exposed to fumes and heat, pushing his limits.

Briscoe’s panic peaked with a burning smell, “I’m not a fan of that… I see guys who wore helmet skirts so like it kind of blocks out some of that stuff. And yeah like you’re smelling the rubber and stuff. Like I literally thought my battery was on fire cuz I just smelled something burning so I had to shut my shield back down. I’m like I’m just going to deal with it and I’ll just keep wiping my sweat and then yeah once it kind of got steady James said hey you can turn your fan back on like just one where just at least has some type of air flowing over your face and then yeah it was fine after that.”

Helmet skirts, used by drivers like Kyle Busch, block fumes but limit airflow. Briscoe’s choice to skip one left him choking on rubber burnoff, a common issue like Brad Keselowski’s 2012 Kentucky scare. His crew’s call to restart the helmet fan saved him, letting air flow and calming the chaos. It’s a raw look at how drivers fight through fear and heat to stay in the game.

Briscoe’s Playoff prowess shines

Chase Briscoe’s become the guy everyone’s talking about, and his back-to-back Southern 500 wins, each in cars from different manufacturers, prove he’s no fluke. With only two wins this season, his three runner-up finishes and 11 top-fives show he’s a front-runner week in, week out.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. can’t stop raving about him, “Briscoe’s a little different in the playoffs, and he said, ‘Man! I love pressure.’… One of the hardest races to win in the year. Dude, he is dangerous. I’d be a little concerned. If I was the competition, I’d be looking at him, going, ‘He’s got to be one of the guys I need to worry about.’”

Junior’s not wrong. Briscoe’s locked into the Round of 12, and his Darlington masterclass, leading 309 laps, puts him in rarified air with legends like Bobby Allison. Junior went big with his prediction, “I don’t know if he can win it all. I’m not ready to say he’s got a chance to go win the championship, but  he’s going to ruin someone else’s.  But I mean, if there’s a final four that you feel like are four locks, he’s going to boot somebody out.”

Briscoe’s history backs this up. He’s a fighter. In the 2017 Truck Series, he won the Homestead finale but missed the title after an engine failure at Talladega. In 2020 Xfinity, he racked up nine wins but finished fourth. Now, in his sixth Cup season with 171 starts and four wins split between Stewart-Haas and Joe Gibbs Racing, Briscoe’s peaking at the right time. His momentum makes him a dark horse nobody can ignore, ready to shake up the playoff picture.