HOMESTEAD, Fla. (Nov. 17, 2018) – Chase Briscoe finished out the NASCAR Xfinity Series season for the No. 60 team with a 13th-place finish in the Ford EcoBoost 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
“I think we did a really good job all weekend long and just continuing to build on it,” said Briscoe. “Even in qualifying I felt like we made really good gains round to round and then at the start of the race we weren’t necessarily great and we continued to make it better and better. We still weren’t quite where we needed to be, but from the start of the weekend to the end of the weekend it was a lot better, so hopefully we can come back next year and be a little bit better.”
Briscoe’s steady Saturday started by advancing to the second round of qualifying and putting his Nutri Chomps Ford Mustang in the 13th position to begin the 300-mile race. After struggling to find the balance on handling all weekend, Briscoe continued to battle in the first segment of the race. He would complain of a loose handling car, ultimately finishing 16th at the stage break.
Crew chief Mike Kelley brought Briscoe down pit road at the caution for four fresh tires, fuel and chassis adjustments to help with handling. The changes made Briscoe’s Mustang tighter in the corners, and he slid through turn four on the first lap of stage two before collecting himself. He would surrender several positions after the slide, but on the long green flag run started to see the benefits of the changes. He would conclude stage two in the 17th position.
Briscoe would come down pit road again in the stage intermission for four tires, fuel and air pressure adjustments to fine tune his turning, leaving pit road in the 18th position. The Nutri Chomps Ford Mustang sprang to life in the final segment, and Briscoe began to motor forward through the field. Briscoe was clocked running lap times similar to the top five contenders in the race, and was able to work his way back up to 13th as the final segment ran caution-free.
