Heather Griffin, Author at The Official Stewart-Haas Racing Website

Event: Henry 180 (Round 18 of 33)
Series: NASCAR Xfinity Series
Location: Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin (14-turn, 4.048-mile road course)
Format: 45 laps, broken into three stages (14 laps/15 laps/16 laps)
Start/Finish: 7th/3rd (Running, completed 45 of 45 laps)
Point Standing: 2nd (760 points, 11 out of first)

Race Winner: Austin Cindric of Team Penske (Ford)
Stage 1 Winner: Justin Haley of Kaulig Racing (Chevrolet)
Stage 2 Winner: A.J. Allmendinger of Kaulig Racing (Chevrolet)

Overview:
Chase Briscoe finished third in the Henry 180 NASCAR Xfinity Series race Saturday at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. The driver of the No. 98 Henry Repeating Arms Ford Mustang notched his ninth top-three finish this season, and it continued Briscoe’s strong showings at road courses, as he won the series’ first road-course race of the year July 4 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Briscoe finished third in the first stage of the Henry 180, which concluded after two red-flag delays for lightning. When the race returned to green, Briscoe resumed his position among the top-three until he pitted for four tires prior to the final stage break. While that strategy placed Briscoe in 15th at the end of the second stage, it allowed him to restart in sixth for the final stage. With three laps remaining in the 45-lap race around Road America’s 14-turn, 4.048-mile layout, Briscoe was back in third. With back-to-back caution periods on laps 41 and 43, Briscoe took the opportunity to pit for four fresh tires to make one last challenge for the lead. When the green flag waved on the final restart, Briscoe attempted to pass A.J. Allmendinger and Austin Cindric – just as he had done at Indianapolis – but the duo was able to hold off Briscoe’s charge. Cindric pulled away from Allmendinger with the lead and Briscoe fell in line to finish comfortably in third. It was Briscoe’s sixth top-five in the last seven races.

Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 98 Henry Repeating Arms Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:
“We got some nose damage early in the race, which made our Henry Repeating Arms Ford Mustang tighten up. The lightning and then rain came and we were still tight, but I felt like we were capable of winning at that point. We could drive up through the field better than anyone else, but once the dry track conditions came back we were just a third-place car. We didn’t really have anything for the first two. On new tires they were able to get a little bit more out of the car, and it would take until their tires start wearing out for me to be faster than them. It was just one of those days. Hopefully, Daytona next week will be a little bit better. No one really knows what to expect, so hopefully we’re the ones to hit it right.”

Notes:
• Briscoe’s third-place result bettered his previous best finish at Road America – seventh, earned last year.
• Briscoe earned his 11th top-five of the season and his 25th top-five in 68 career Xfinity Series starts.
• Briscoe finished third in Stage 1 to earn eight bonus points.
• Cindric won the Henry 180 to score his sixth career Xfinity Series victory, his fourth of the season and his first at Road America. His margin of victory over second-place Allmendinger was 1.318 seconds.
• There were seven caution periods for a total of 15 laps.
• Twenty-six of the 37 drivers in the Henry 180 finished on the lead lap.
• Cindric remains the championship leader after Road America with an 11-point advantage over second-place Briscoe.

Next Up:
The next event on the NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the UNOH 188 on the road course at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. The race begins at 3 p.m. EDT with coverage on NBCSN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Event: EchoPark 250 (Round 5 of 33)
Date: March 14, 2020
Location: Atlanta Motor Speedway
Layout: 1.54-mile oval

Chase Briscoe Notes of Interest

● The EchoPark 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway is the fifth event on the 33-race NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule. It will mark Briscoe’s 55th career Xfinity Series start and his third at Atlanta.

● Briscoe comes into Atlanta second in the championship standings, just three points behind series leader Harrison Burton after a sixth-place finish last Saturday at Phoenix Raceway. It was Briscoe’s third top-10 of the season and his third top-10 in three career Xfinity Series starts at Phoenix.

● Briscoe won the 2019 rookie-of-the-year title in the Xfinity Series and is racing for a championship in 2020. The Mitchell, Indiana-native is a three-time winner in the Xfinity Series and the 2016 ARCA Racing Series champion. Briscoe finished fifth in the Xfinity Series championship standings last year, narrowly missing out on advancing to the Championship 4 and competing for the series title.

● Briscoe has two Xfinity Series starts at Atlanta, both resulting in 15th-place finishes (2018 and 2019). He also made a NASCAR Truck Series start at the track in 2017.

● HighPoint.com returns to Briscoe’s No. 98 Ford Mustang as the primary sponsor for Atlanta. The IT infrastructure and solutions company made its debut with Briscoe in the season-opening race at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, where Briscoe finished fifth.

CHASE BRISCOE, Driver of the No. 98 HighPoint.com Ford Mustang:

You finished 15th at Atlanta last year and, as the season went on, your progress at intermediate tracks was evident, with it all coming to fruition earlier this year when you won at Las Vegas. How confident are you in your return to Atlanta?

“We were having a good day last year at Atlanta. We were running third or fourth and we blew a right front (tire) with about 15 to go. So, I’m really confident going there that we’ll be able to not just pick up where we left off before that issue, but be able to come out with a top-five or a win. It’s another one of those places that’s kind of slick and worn out, and I love that type of track. It plays into my dirt-racing background, and it’s just a lot of fun to be on those low-grip tracks. I’ve always had speed at Atlanta. I just haven’t had the results to show for it. So, confidence is high there and I know our HighPoint.com Ford Mustang is going to be really good. We were pretty fast there last year and we’re off to a good start with a win on a mile-and-a-half track already this year.”

How much of your performance at Las Vegas can carry over to Atlanta, or are the tracks just completely different?

“The tracks themselves are certainly different, and I feel like our strong suit is the worn-out mile-and-a-halves, although we still do pretty well at the high-grip tracks. I think the biggest thing is to set the tone early, and if you can go to the first mile-and-a-half and show that you’re going to be the guy to beat, hopefully it’ll carry on. We’ve done that now with the win at Vegas, but we’ve got to get back on the right track and finish out the strong runs we’re having. Obviously, trying to run well at the beginning of the year is huge for confidence, not only for myself, but the entire team. When you start winning early, it kind of makes you hungry to keep winning throughout the year, but it also makes it that much more difficult when you have one slip away.”