Chase Briscoe Covers the Field at Las Vegas

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In: Xfinity Series News
Race Winner:  Chase Briscoe of Stewart-Haas Racing (Ford)
Stage 1 Winner:  Chase Briscoe of Stewart-Haas Racing (Ford)
Stage 2 Winner:  Chase Briscoe of Stewart-Haas Racing (Ford)
 
Overview:
Chase Briscoe dominated the Alsco 300 NASCAR Xfinity Series race Saturday night at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, winning the first two stages before securing the win. The driver of the No. 98 FIELDS Ford Mustang led four times for a race-high 164 laps en route to his league-leading eighth win of the season. No other driver led more than 15 laps in the 200-lap contest around the 1.5-mile oval. Briscoe’s margin of victory over second-place Noah Gragson was 1.370 seconds and would have been more if not for a caution 12 laps short of the finish that set up a nine-lap sprint to the checkered flag. The victory punched Briscoe’s ticket to the penultimate round of the NASCAR Playoffs, with the 25-year-old racer from Mitchell, Indiana, guaranteed a spot in the Round of 8 with two races still remaining before the field of 12 playoff drivers gets whittled down to eight. The next two races are daunting – Oct. 3 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway and Oct. 10 at the Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway Roval, but Briscoe goes into each playing with house money thanks to his winning pull at Las Vegas. Briscoe’s victory puts him in elite company with NASCAR legends Jack Ingram and Sam Ard, each of whom won eight races in 1984 through the series’ first 27 races. 
 
Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 98 FIELDS Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:
“First off, I had an incredible car built by everybody at Stewart-Haas Racing. That made my job way too easy, honestly. It was a super fast FIELDS Ford Mustang and I’m happy to get them in victory lane. 
 
“On the restart, I  knew if I could take the lead I would be OK, but I was spinning the tires so bad all night for whatever reason, I guess thanks to that Roush Yates horsepower. We’ve had a lot of wins this year but this is, by far, our most dominant car. I can sleep a little easier this week going into Talladega and the Roval and just enjoy those races.
 
“I knew this team was fully capable of achieving eight wins and even more. I just can’t say thank you enough to Gene Haas and Tony Stewart and everyone that lets me drive these racecars. It has been an unbelievable season and we still have six more wins and a championship that we can try to get. That is what we’re going to try to do. I’m so happy to start the playoffs like this. To go to Bristol and win and now here is a pretty good way to start our playoffs.”
 
Notes: 
● This was Briscoe’s 10th career Xfinity Series victory. He won a race in 2018 and another in 2019 before his eight-win-and-counting 2020 season.
● This was Briscoe’s second straight victory. He won the series’ previous race at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.
● Briscoe’s victory in the Alsco 300 marked his second straight win at Las Vegas. He won the Boyd Gaming 300 in the Xfinity Series’ first visit to the track in March.
● In the two Xfinity Series races held at Las Vegas in 2020, Briscoe led 253 of the 400 laps available (63 percent).
● Briscoe won Stage 1 and Stage 2 to earn a total of 20 bonus points and two playoff points.
● There were six caution periods for a total of 28 laps.
● Only 16 of the 36 drivers in the Alsco 300 finished on the lead lap.
● By virtue of his Las Vegas win, Briscoe advances to the Round of 8 for the second time in his career. He finished fifth in the Xfinity Series standings last year, narrowly missing out on advancing to the Championship 4 and competing for the series title. He did, however, win the rookie-of-the-year award.
● Briscoe leads the championship standings by 17 points over second-place Austin Cindric.
 
Next Up:
The next event on the Xfinity Series schedule is the Ag-Pro 300 on Saturday, Oct. 3 at Talladega Superspeedway. The race starts at 4:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by NBCSN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
 
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