Gamble Pays Off – Chase Briscoe Wins at Pocono

Read Time:6 Minute, 57 Second

Team Stretches Fuel Mileage to Conquer Tricky Triangle

It’s the June race at Pocono, so you all know what that means. That’s right, rain. While the race still managed to get going on Sunday afternoon, it wasn’t without delay. With no rain in the forecast, lightning in the morning forced the cancellation of morning track activities followed by a drenching rain that would push the start time of the race into the late afternoon. Also, in true Pocono in June fashion, the atmosphere would stay hot and extremely humid. The high temps and high speeds would certainly come to play a factor in the distance some drivers [cars] would be able to go throughout the afternoon.

Riley Herbst, Michael McDowell, and Bubba Wallace all suffered from a shortened day due to brake issues. It appeared that high temperatures combined with high speeds and lots of braking required lead to right front brake rotors exploding for all three drivers. Of the three cars, McDowell was the only one who did not suffer a hard hit into the outside retaining wall. Herbst would be the first to suffer this fate on Lap 41 while running 26^th when he slammed the wall in the middle of Turn 1. Fourteen laps later Bubba Wallace would suffer the same fate while attempting to battle Chris Buescher for position.

Bubba Wallace drives his car directly to the garage area with his window net down after an exploding brake caliper caused him to impact the wall in Turn 2 at Pocono Raceway during The Great American Getaway 400. (Photo by Michael Jaworecki/Myracenews.com)

“None. Was gonna battle 17 into 2. By time I pressed the pedal it just went to the floor.” “We create our own luck. I apologize to the racing gods.”, said Bubba Wallace when asked if he had felt any indications of brake issues.

It wasn’t just brake issues creating bad days for other drivers. On lap 83, Kyle Busch would have to check up to avoid running through the car of Ty Dillon coming off of turn 1, but ultimately still got into the 10 car causing Busch to lose control. Christopher Bell and Shane Van Gisbergen would also be involved in this altercation, however both would drive away with little to no damage to their cars. Van Gisbergen would later spin off of turn 1 and back his car into the outside wall, bringing out the final caution of the afternoon.

After seeing Hamlin control the race pace through the early portion of the race, leading the first 32 laps, it was Chase Briscoe that would prove to be the car to beat as the afternoon went on. Briscoe would lead the most laps with 72, as well as capture his first stage win since making the move to Joe Gibbs Racing this season. During a long green flag stretch in stage 3, Briscoe would make a fast pit stop on lap 120, which was 2.5 seconds faster than the next closest team’s pitstop time on pit road. While at the time this seemed an impressive feat, it would soon be realized that this fast time would be due to a miscommunication and Briscoe leaving the box before getting a full fuel load.

Denny Hamlin during The Great American Getaway 400 at Pocono Raceway. (Photo by: Michael Jaworecki/Myracenews.com)

While under caution for SVG hitting wall coming out of turn 1, radio communications between Chase Briscoe and his crew chief James Small indicate that he was short nearly 6 gallons of fuel, which explained the speediness of his pitstop 4 laps prior. Small would instruct Briscoe to “Save, save, save”, and save he did, averaging over a half gallon more fuel per mile higher than Denny Hamlin who was chasing Briscoe in second place.

By lap 135 [of 160], Small would again encourage Briscoe to continue to save, and was now asking him to go into full fuel savings mode by lifting off the throttle fully going into the corners. This would extend his fuel saving to nearly a full gallon per mile over his nearest competitors, all while managing to maintain a lead of a half second over Hamlin, who also was being pressured from third place Ryan Blaney.

Chase Briscoe celebrates in victory lane after winning The Great American Getaway 400 at Pocono Raceway. (Photo by: Michael Jaworecki/Myracenews.com)

In the end, the fuel savings paid off and Briscoe would bring his Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry across the line 0.682 seconds ahead of Denny Hamlin to win The Great American Getaway 400 presented by VISITPA.COM.

“To finally deliver a win is such an awesome feeling. … such a big weight off my shoulders,” Briscoe said. “I’ve been telling my wife the last few weeks, I have to win and so to come here and do, it is a great day.”

“There was a lot of pressure,” Briscoe said. “It was kind of weird. I wasn’t driving hard so it’s not like I was on the ragged edge, but it was just so hard having a guy chasing you, especially the guy that’s the greatest of all time here, to be trying to save fuel and everything else.” “Just an amazing day for our race team,” he added, “Really the first race we’ve executed all year long.”

Chase Briscoe does a burnout on the front straightaway after winning The Great American Getaway 400 at Pocono Raceway. (Photo by: Michael Jaworecki/Myracenews.com)

Fuel savings played a huge role in Briscoe claiming victory, but it can’t be ruled out that some bad luck for two other drivers had played a part as well. Ryan Blaney who ran strong all day, faced some adversity when he was caught speeding on pit road during a pitstop in stage 2 and would be sent to the rear of the field. Blaney would rebound and charge back through the field to finish in third place. Brad Keselowski, who led 27 laps, would also receive a penalty on pit road and be sent to the rear of the field with Blaney when he pitted while pit road was still closed under caution. Brad would end up charging through the field as well and bring his Ford Mustang home in ninth. Another strong run was had by Kyle Larson in the No. 5 Hendrickcars.com Chevy Camaro. Kyle struggled in qualifying and started in the 24^th spot. His team would work on the car all afternoon to find speed, allowing him to finish in 7^th. Right behind Larson in 8^th place would be the former Whelen Modified Tour champion Ryan Preece who spent a majority of the afternoon mid-pack after starting 13^th on the grid.

Final results: