Chase Briscoe has won twice, put together three consecutive strong finishes, and still walked away from Phoenix feeling like he had lost something far more valuable than a few positions. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver finished eighth at Phoenix, but the championship picture left him thinking about the points that slipped away.
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As he now sits 24 points behind the lead, Briscoe believes he could have been at the top of the standings had things gone differently.
“It’s sickening knowing the points that we gave away, because we’d be leading. But at the same time, everybody’s probably got some points they felt like they gave away,” Briscoe told Motorsports Today on X after Phoenix.
The frustration was unmistakable, but so was his confidence. With two chaotic races ahead and the title still within reach, he has no intention of easing off the throttle.
Briscoe’s eighth-place finish came after a tense closing stretch, with Tyler Reddick charging forward on fresher tires. He struggled to keep the No. 45 at bay during the final run, while the circumstances around his own pit stop had already put him in a difficult position.
The No. 5 of Kyle Larson was directly behind Briscoe in the pit sequence, which left Briscoe’s team facing the prospect of a slower stop. That made the final run especially important. Briscoe needed his tires to last and the race to play out in a way that would keep him in contention.
“I just needed that last run to play all the way to the end,” he explained. “I feel like we were going to be in contention to potentially win if that happened, but it’s not how it worked out.”
Reddick ultimately won the race, while Briscoe was left considering what could have been. The pressure also made it difficult for him to point to one decisive mistake. Fresher tires gave Reddick an advantage, and Briscoe admitted that he might have been able to do something differently to defend his position. But he was not certain there was a simple solution.
That uncertainty is part of what made the result so frustrating. Briscoe had a top-10 finish to show for the afternoon, yet he believed the race offered an opportunity to make a much bigger move in the championship.
Briscoe knows his frustration is not unique to Joe Gibbs Racing. Over the course of a NASCAR season, every contender can identify races in which a better decision, a cleaner finish or a little more luck might have changed the outcome. The challenge is turning those regrets into results before the championship window closes.
Briscoe is not treating the lost points as proof that his title hopes are slipping away. Instead, he sees them as evidence of how close the team is to taking control of the fight.
“Definitely in contention, can definitely win the championship,” he said.
The distinction between being disappointed and losing belief is central to Briscoe’s outlook. His Phoenix finish did not deliver the points haul he wanted, but his recent performances have given him reason to believe the team can still make a serious run. What he cannot do is spend the remaining races dwelling on the standings without improving them.
The next two races present very different challenges, but neither offers an easy route to protecting a points deficit. Martinsville is known for close-quarters short-track racing, while Talladega’s pack racing can produce dramatic swings in position and points.
Briscoe understands that Talladega, in particular, could reshape the championship picture. A strong result could help him close the gap quickly, while a difficult afternoon could leave him with even more ground to recover. That uncertainty makes the race a risk, but also an opportunity.
Asked whether he would become more conservative to protect the 24-point gap or continue attacking, Briscoe did not hesitate.
“No, we just have to keep attacking,” he said. “If it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t work out.”
It is a blunt answer, but one that fits his situation. With the championship lead still within reach, simply avoiding trouble may not be enough. Briscoe needs to gain points, and that means continuing to pursue the strongest possible results rather than racing exclusively to limit the damage.
However, there are risks associated. Martinsville and Talladega can punish drivers who find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time, and Briscoe has little control over every variable that could affect his results. Still, he believes backing away from the fight would be the wrong response to Phoenix.
The goal is to arrive at the final stretch with the championship still possible, not to settle for a respectable finish while others take the risks necessary to move ahead.
Briscoe’s disappointment about seeing a chance to take the championship lead slipping away, knowing that the remaining schedule offers fewer opportunities to recover lost ground.
His two wins and recent consistency have put him in position to contend, but the 24-point deficit leaves little room for complacency. He can regret the points surrendered at Phoenix, or he can use that frustration to drive the next two weekends.
Briscoe has made his choice. He is not promising that an aggressive approach will guarantee a championship, and he knows the outcome may not go his way. But with Martinsville and Talladega ahead, he believes the only realistic option is to keep pushing.
For a driver who feels he could already be leading the standings, settling for safety would be difficult to justify. Briscoe wants the points back, and he intends to keep attacking until the opportunity to win the title is gone.