INDIANA- Mitchell native Chase Briscoe was hoping to remain in the championship hunt, but a broken steering rack at the Charlotte Motor Speedway in Sunday’s Bank of America Roval 400 ended his day early, along with aspirations for a title this season.
Briscoe said of the event:
“The steering rack or something broke. I don’t really know, to be honest. Realistically, we probably weren’t going to move on anyway, but on those restarts in turn seven, we all kind of got stacked up, and they all kind of stopped in front of me, and it ripped the wheel out of my hand. I could turn to the left, but as soon as I got to the right-hander, my car just went straight. I about hit the wall on the backstretch chicane, and then on the frontstretch chicane, I hit the 3 car just because I literally couldn’t turn. It’s an unfortunate way for it to all come to an end. It’s part of it, part of racing. We just didn’t have a very good three weeks when it all boils down to it. We have four more races left to try to go win and send Stewart-Haas Racing out with a win. It’s tough to have all the momentum that we had, and to have it come to an end as it did is unfortunate. I wish we could have kept going for it. I am sure all the guys that get eliminated wish they could keep going for it, right? We knew, I think, as a team even, going into it, that if we could get through this round, we could get to the final four, but we weren’t able to get through this round. It’s unfortunate. We still have a lot to race for. We can still go win four more races and that is what we will try to do. It’s four really good tracks for us, so I feel really good about it. I wish we were racing for a championship, still. It’s just one of those days. Honestly, kind of one of those weeks with everything that has happened. I am ready for Monday. It stings. Not even really for myself, just all the employees at Stewart-Haas. They were all kind of living through the 14-car, and the environment we have had these last few weeks has been really exciting to be a part of. I hate that it’s coming to an end. I know what that means for Stewart-Haas not to be racing for a championship anymore. But we have four races left, and we are going to give it everything we’ve got. It has definitely been a tough week with the highest of highs, but then everything that Marissa (Briscoe, wife) was going through, and the playoffs, too. The racing is one thing, but I am more worried about my family, at the end of the day, and making sure Marissa is OK. I would have loved to keep racing for a championship. It’s unfortunate the way the week ended, but life could be a lot worse. I have three healthy kids at home, and a wife that is hopefully getting healthy, and I get to drive racecars for a living, so at the end of the day, you can’t be upset just because you don’t have a chance to race for a championship. I still have an incredible life, and I am certainly blessed.” – Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 14 Ford Performance Racing School Ford Mustang Dark Horse
