A decade ago, the name Chase Briscoe wasn’t one anyone had heard of. Chase’s father, Kevin Briscoe, was against him racing to prioritize family time. But the racing bug couldn’t keep him away for too long. From mastering sprint cars in his teens, today, he’s competing for the highest stakes possible in the motorsporting world – the NASCAR Championship.

This year, he’s already won thrice, and it’s his latest Talladega win that’s put him in the limelight. And none of this would’ve existed had it not been for that one golden opportunity that Briscoe got when his Stewart-Haas Racing closed down last year.

Chase Briscoe is in disbelief about how life’s changed

Post the ‘Dega win, Briscoe told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, “I don’t know if they showed me on TV or not, I was bawling out there after I took the chequered. Just knowing the opportunity that I’m at least going to have. 15-16 months ago, I would have never in a million years expected to be in contention to run for a championship. Unbelievable opportunity, no matter how it comes out. Obviously we’re going to try and win it, but just to even have the opportunity.”

When SHR shut down, a concerned Briscoe had reached out to JGR president Dave Alpern right away, but it was the JGR owner Joe Gibbs who called Briscoe multiple times to say they wanted him. It wasn’t just viewed as a good driver, but a good person. That’s what sealed the deal for him. Since then, it’s been hell of a debut year for the underdog with his team, as this opportunity has brought him eyeing for his first ever championship title already.

“I talk about it all the time, literally less than 10 years ago I was sleeping on couches. Now I’m going to be 1 in 4 shot to win the championship, it’s pretty unbelievable.” It’s true. Ten years ago, Briscoe was nowhere near the NASCAR scene. He was just racing sprint cars as a teen, traveling wherever he could find a track, sometimes sleeping on friends’ couches just to be at the races.

It was only in 2015 when his friend and fellow driver Christopher Bell reached out about a possible contract with Roush Fenway Racing that led him to enter the ARCA test sessions and so on. From there, today, he is one race away from claiming his place as the next big king of American motorsports.

But as fascinating as his career trajectory is, his underdog story is no less compelling. Until the playoffs began, Briscoe was a sleeper in the garage. Nobody noticed the consistently high results he kept racking up, which ultimately made him the table topper not just in points but also in top-5s (15). It was that Darlington win in the playoff opener that finally opened everyone’s eyes to just how much Briscoe had arrived.

Briscoe agrees, as he said, “It’s definitely been a sleeper of a season for how good we’ve been. Truthfully, we’ve only really like raced the second half of the season. The first half, I was just trying to learn the cars. We could have been way better, the first half of the year. I feel great about where we’re at as a race team. Obviously I’m still focused on this year, I’m just excited next year to have a full season where we can kind of hit the ground running. Spending 3-4 months doing that, right now the focus is all on Phoenix and feel really good about going there. It’s just a matter of putting it all together.”

While he realizes the initial season was challenging, the second half bore fruit. Joe Gibbs himself is also on Cloud 9 since Briscoe’s Championship 4 advancement, as he said, “Right now he can get anything he wants.” This shows the amount of confidence and trust he has in Briscoe’s abilities.

As Briscoe looks ahead, the experience gained positions him and his team to approach the upcoming season with renewed confidence and readiness.

Briscoe on his Team Penske stance

As the NASCAR playoffs intensify, Team Penske has a last chance at Martinsville to make a comeback, which they are very cautiously expected to. And while their fans would want, Chase Briscoe doesn’t. At least not this year. “We have them in a really good spot right now, right? Where they have to go to Martinsville and win,” Briscoe admitted on the Dale Jr. Download podcast.

Chase Briscoe’s reasoning stems from pure logic mixed with recent history. “I think it’s no secret that, you know, the last three years they went to Phoenix and just dominated. Nobody could even run with them. So, I mean, yeah, from a personal standpoint, I do not want a Penske car to go there,” he admitted candidly.

Team Penske’s Phoenix stats are scary for everyone, especially over the last couple of years. They’ve been winning straight over there, and not just that, Ryan Blaney has been runner-up in all three editions.

Briscoe and JGR know how important it is to keep Penske out of the Championship 4 to dethrone them for once. If somehow they survive and reach there, others might just be racing for second place.