BRISTOL, TN. – Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 14 Rush Truck Centers/Cummins Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), makes his third start on the high-banked, half-mile concrete oval at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway Saturday night.
As a driver Briscoe has been locked into the playoff field in prior years but now is an observer.
“There is definitely a difference. We always race with intensity – it’s what makes NASCAR so great – but when the playoffs start, everything goes to the next level,’ said Chase Briscoe. “I think I noticed that being part of the playoff field, but it’s a different kind of intensity when you aren’t in and you’re watching the guys who are going at it. When you’re in the middle of it, you’re probably getting a little more forceful and you justify it but, watching it now, there are guys making moves for track position where you’re like, ‘Wow, it’s a little early for that.’ It’s a lot better to be in the middle of it and racing for your spot in the Championship 4, but it’s still a good challenge to try to beat those guys.”
The 28-year-old has a best finish of 13th earned in his first Bristol start in 2021.
Bristol is one of the races Briscoe looks forward to.
“Bristol is a great chance for us to get back on the right side of things,” said Briscoe. “We’ve been strong on short tracks this year and we know that we had a really good car at Bristol last year. This is one of those times when not being in the playoffs might work to our advantage. Those guys are going to be doing everything they can to make it to the next round at the end of the night, to where we can just focus on staying out of the mess and being there with a shot at a win in the end.”
Last year at Bristol, Briscoe qualified second to start on the front row alongside his SHR teammate Aric Almirola. He entered the race, the third and final event of the opening Round of 16 of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, as a playoff contender but sitting below the top-12 cutline. He overcame the points deficit with finishes of fourth and third in the opening two stages, respectively. And after several other playoff contenders saw their nights end early, the No. 14 team elected to push for a strong finish rather than a win, ultimately advancing to the Round of 12 with a 14th-place result. Briscoe would go on to advance to the Round of 8 and nearly made his way into the Championship 4 after leading laps in the season’s penultimate race at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.
The No. 14 team has been strong on the short tracks the last two years, but Bristol isn’t a short track that can be compared to others. What makes it so much harder to get dialed in?
“Everything. The banking, the concrete, the tire wear,” added Briscoe. “Pit road is difficult to manage. There are just all these things that, when you add them up, make it such a tough track. The car has to be good, but so does the team and the driver. One thing goes wrong, and it can ruin your race, so it’s really about putting it all together and not taking yourself out early.”
In September 2020, Briscoe claimed his first Bristol NASCAR Xfinity Series victory after leading only 11 laps. It was his sixth Xfinity Series start at the Tennessee short track. The Mitchell, Indiana, native also has two NASCAR Truck Series starts there – one on the traditional concrete surface on which he earned a 12th-place finish in 2017, and one on the dirt surface in 2021 that resulted in a fifth-place finish.
14 Years Together:
Rush Truck Centers returns to the No. 14 Ford Mustang this weekend at Bristol as the company and SHR continues a 14-year partnership, with Rush Truck Centers serving as a primary sponsor for 11 of those years. All of the SHR cars travel from race to race in haulers from Rush Truck Centers, the premier service solutions provider to the commercial vehicle industry. Those haulers are supported by the RushCare Customer Support team of parts and service experts, who also provide concierge-level service for scheduling maintenance, technical support, mobile service dispatch, roadside assistance, help in locating the nearest dealer, and more. Rush Truck Centers is the largest network of commercial vehicle dealerships in North America with 150 locations in the United States and Ontario, Canada, and takes pride in its integrated approach to customer needs – from vehicle sales to aftermarket parts, service, and body shop operations, plus financing, insurance, leasing and rental, as well as alternate fuel systems and other vehicle technologies.
Rush Truck Centers is proud to employ 2,500 talented service technicians throughout the largest network of commercial truck and bus dealerships in North America, operating in 23 states and Ontario, Canada. At Rush Truck Centers, service technicians are the heartbeat of its dealerships, and the company is always looking to add the best and brightest technicians to its team. Service technicians interested in taking the next step in their careers can find additional information and listings of open positions on the Rush Enterprises Technician Careers page.
Cummins joins Rush Truck Centers for this weekend’s race. Cummins Inc. is a global power technology leader that designs, manufactures, distributes, and services a broad portfolio of power solutions. These solutions include advanced diesel, natural gas, hybrid, electric, fuel cell, and other technologies. Cummins powers the future through innovations that make people’s lives better. From buses that get kids to school, to the trucks that carry essentials, to construction, mining equipment, trains and ships, and critical backup power for places like data centers and hospitals, Cummins is doing it with the cleanest solutions available. Learn more at Cummins.com.
