Chase Briscoe Talladega Advance

Chase Briscoe, Driver of the No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang Dark Horse, Wearing the Fleddermann von Rieste Hanoverain in Charcoal Grey, Photo Credit – Justin Potter 

Talladega marks the 10th race of the season and you came into this year as the most tenured Stewart-Haas driver. How has it been so far this year with two new teammates in Josh Berry and Noah Gragson?

“It’s been really good. Honestly, it’s probably been my favorite year at Stewart-Haas. All of my teammates are relatively the same age as me. We’re all kind of the same, where we’re at career-wise, and it’s just been a lot of fun from the camaraderie side and just getting to know them better. I just feel like from a teamwork standpoint, we’re way better than we’ve ever been as far as working together. I would say 10 races in we’re farther ahead from a teamwork standpoint, so hopefully we can continue to grow that.”

Six career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Talladega and only one finish outside of the top-15. That’s some good, solid consistency at a track where all too often you can leave the race early with your car on a hook. What’s allowed you to be so consistent at Talladega?

“I have no idea. There’s nothing really I do there that I feel is special. It’s just one of those things where luck’s on your side or the man upstairs is looking out for you. We’ve been just fortunate to miss the wrecks there and have good days. Hopefully, with where we’re at from a points standpoint – we’re literally back and forth on this cutline all throughout the season, and Talladega is one of those places where you can lose a lot of points really quickly. Hopefully, we can just have one of those solid days. Obviously we’re going there to win the race, but Talladega is one of those places where if you can just come out of it with a top-15, you’re almost happy just because you didn’t bleed a ton of points.”

Was there anything you learned at Daytona earlier this year that you can apply to Talladega?

“I don’t know if you can learn a whole lot from Daytona. But I definitely feel like Atlanta with just how racey we were and how comfortable I felt in the draft and making moves and being extremely aggressive, I’m going to take that same mentality to Talladega. It’s a little bit different because your balance doesn’t make as big of an impact as it would at Atlanta, but I definitely felt like being on the aggressive side was better than being on the patient side. I feel like I learned a little bit there and just felt more comfortable. That was probably the most comfortable I’ve ever felt in one of those speedway-style races, so hopefully that’ll translate to Talladega.”

So Atlanta also figures into that mix to where it might give you an idea of what you could have at Talladega?

“I don’t think it really translates from a car standpoint. Talladega is such an even playing field for everybody – very similar to Daytona – where at Atlanta the balance of your car definitely comes into play. But just from a standpoint of being comfortable making moves and being aggressive, for whatever reason, at Atlanta the moves just felt like slow motion to me, like everything had slowed down. I’ve never had that happen before, so I’m hoping it’ll be the same at Talladega where everything just kind of feels slower and my mind can process things a little easier.”

What’s the atmosphere like at Talladega?

“It’s probably the most unique one in all of NASCAR. You really just have a party where a race just so happens to be. I mean, they’re there to watch the race, right? But they’re really going there to just hang out, camp out and have a good time. Both of Talladega’s races are at that perfect point of the year for camping, like you have the end of the spring and you have the end of the fall, too. It’s just one of those cool racetracks where everybody’s there to have a good time. If you’re having a bad time at Talladega, I don’t know what to tell you.”

How did racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series prepare you for racing in the Cup Series at Talladega?

“Honestly, I don’t think it really prepared me at all. Just the aggressive level of the Cup Series is so different from what you have in the Xfinity Series. The Cup Series, you have 20 guys who are just really, really good plate racers who know how to make moves and manipulate the air. And on the Xfinity side, you’re only racing against two or three of those guys, and if you put them in the Cup field, they’re kind of on the tail end of those top-20 guys. And the cars drive so differently now, too.”

It seems like there’s always a plan to start the race, and oftentimes it’s driven by the manufacturers. But when the race is underway and variables pop up and split decisions need to be made, how are you able to stick to that plan?

“You stick to the plan because Talladega is one of those places where if you get off the plan, it kind of just ruins your day. Like, you can pit by yourself, but then you’re just hung out to dry. You have to have a plan, but I also I feel like that plan never plays out. You’re constantly calling audibles the whole race because it’s constantly changing. One lap, you might be running 10th, and then you get shuffled and you’re running 28th, and now your plan’s completely different than it was two laps ago. So, you’re constantly calling audibles there. It’s one of those races where the crew chief is super important, and just our communication from an IT standpoint is extremely important when we go to places like that. There are just a lot of variables that go into Talladega.”