Chase Briscoe sees “a lot of comers and goers” with Next Gen car
Briscoe, who went winless and completed 23rd in the sequence standings final season, acquired his very first vocation earn before this thirty day period at Phoenix Raceway.
The debut of the Next Era car in the collection has coincided with an abrupt turnaround in effectiveness by the 27-12 months-previous native of Mitchell, Ind., who struggled via his rookie time in 2021.
By way of the initial 6 races of this period, Briscoe is by now locked in the playoffs with his get, has two-5 and two top-10 finishes and is ninth in the sequence standings.
Briscoe, who drives the No. 14 Ford for Stewart-Haas Racing, believes being new to the Cup Series himself could have been an added profit with introduction of the Following Gen auto.
“I really do not really feel like I’m actually executing anything various,” Briscoe mentioned about his driving design with the new car or truck. “The last handful of weeks, the car or truck has driven really identical to the outdated Cup vehicle – not the 550 (horsepower) stuff, but the 750 (hp) package.
“I sense like just as a group we’ve gotten better. We have experienced additional velocity in our race cars wherever very last yr was definitely a struggle but, to me, the cars and trucks don’t push a whole good deal diverse. I really do not know if other men just have more practices to break, where I didn’t definitely have a great deal of matters I necessary to modify as considerably as from an practical experience standpoint.”
What is changed for Briscoe and SHR?
Briscoe said the Subsequent Gen car feels like “a hybrid” involving what he’s pushed in the Xfinity Sequence and the Gen-6 Cup vehicle.
Mostly importantly, he thinks ongoing gains by SHR may possibly be contributing to his robust begin, and the improving upon performances of teammates Aric Almirola and Kevin Harvick this calendar year.
“I just feel our autos have been definitely very good. We’ve had a good deal of velocity and we’ve been equipped to capitalize on that,” he said.
“Last 12 months we hardly ever had the pace we wanted a ton of the time, and the races we did have speed and ran up front, we didn’t have it continuously like we have this 12 months, so significantly.”
Briscoe may perhaps be among the greatest positioned motorists getting into this weekend’s race at Richmond (Va.) Raceway.
When Richmond (at ¾-mile lengthy) may technically be the to start with brief keep track of race of the 2022 period, might motorists think the 1-mile oval at Phoenix – the website of Briscoe’s victory – races incredibly substantially like a short keep track of.
Be expecting tire falloff at Richmond
One issue Briscoe expects to appear into perform once again this weekend is tire falloff. Richmond – like Car Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif. – has experienced significant falloff in recent decades and the Upcoming Gen car’s new tire compounds and 18-inch wheels really should insert to that.
“Richmond, I don’t really know what to be expecting. I do think this car or truck almost certainly makes a small additional grip than the previous vehicle does at places like Richmond, but I honestly never know what to assume when we get there,” Briscoe mentioned.
“I feel that we haven’t genuinely witnessed this auto on a correct small track. Indeed, Phoenix is a short track, but there’s not a large amount of tire falloff, in which at Richmond there is a ton of falloff, so we have to see how this car reacts to that.
“It’ll absolutely be fascinating to see how this motor vehicle impacts tire saving and fellas going really hard and things like that.”
Briscoe believes the tire falloff this year has added to the entertaining racing merchandise on the monitor and the unpredictable outcomes.
“With this motor vehicle, everywhere you go we go there are a whole lot of comers and goers,” he stated. “You have fellas that are exceptionally excellent on the small run, men that are superior on the long operate, and with this auto you are just continually modifying positions.
“You throw in the tire falloff side of things at Richmond and it is likely to be fascinating, for positive.”