Chase Briscoe was able to earn his first win in the NASCAR Cup Series at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday. Let’s take a look at one of the key moments from the race.
The official Twitter account for NASCAR shared a pretty cool video on Monday evening. It shows Larry McReynolds with FOX Sports breaking down the GEICO Restart Zone from Phoenix Raceway. In the clip, you can see how Chase Briscoe chooses the bottom lane and is able to overtake Chase Elliott for the lead.
It was the restart at Phoenix after the sixth caution at lap 229 with 83 laps to go.
“I never saw a trend or a pattern which lane the leader was choosing,” McReynolds says in the video. “In this particular restart, Chase Elliott in the 9, he’s the leader, he chose the outside. Chase Briscoe in the 14 running second, he chose the inside. That actually put him right in front of his teammate Kevin Harvick in the 4.”
As the drivers rise through the GEICO Restart Zone, it looked like Chase Elliott was going to have a little bit of an advantage. That turned out not to be the case.
“This is what I love about Phoenix,” McReynolds said. “12, 14 drivers blow that yellow line which is perfect legally at Phoenix. But when you get to turn one, you need to be back on the race track to make the corner. As they come along the back straightaway, Chase Briscoe is now pulling away.”
Check out the entire video down below:
Chase Briscoe Was ‘Crying the Whole Last Lap’ of his NASCAR Cup Series Win
To say that Chase Briscoe was emotional after his first-ever Cup Series win would be an understatement. As a matter of fact, he said after the race that he was crying while driving the final lap at the Ruoff Mortgage 500 in Phoenix.
“It’s unbelievable,” he told FOX Sports after the victory. “I was crying the whole last lap. I mean, this definitely is a team win. But I gotta thank everybody who’s gotten me to this point. Seven years ago, I was sleeping on couches volunteering at race shops and was literally driving home to give up. And Bruce Cunningham and Kerry Scherer and Beth Cunningham gave me an opportunity that’s led to this.”
Briscoe even mentioned the restarts in his post-game interview. He also took a moment to thank NASCAR fans who were at the race.
“Yeah, those restarts. I mean we were sliding guys everything else. I hope the race fans enjoyed the race, too. It was unbelievable from my point. So thank you guys for coming out. We missed you the last two years with COVID and everything else. So thankful to have you guys back. Without you guys, we don’t have a sport. We don’t get a raise to do what we do for a living. So thanks to each and every one of you. I wish my wife and baby were here. Definitely special and one that’s going to be remembered forever.”
