Chase Briscoe is currently on a serious heater in the NASCAR Cup Series Chase presented by Mobil 1. Two wins and a fourth-place finish in the past three races have put him firmly in the championship conversation, sitting just behind his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell, with all of them chasing Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports for the points lead. Naturally, with only four races remaining, most would assume this battle comes down strictly to JGR and Hendrick Motorsports.
“I don’t know if I would say that,” Briscoe cautioned after his Charlotte victory. “I think Penske is still very much in the mix.”
There’s no doubt you’re going to have to win a couple from here — which, hey, that’s the way the playoffs work.
Lurking at the back of the top five is Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney, sitting 85 points behind Larson and 20 markers back from the trio of JGR drivers ahead of him. Meanwhile, Team Penske’s three-time Cup Series champion Joey Logano holds sixth place, 92 points behind the leader. History shows that Team Penske knows how to wake up late in the postseason, using critical wins and strong performances at Phoenix Raceway to advance. Wins for either Blaney or Logano could completely flip the script with Phoenix up next on Sunday.
Blaney has won each of NASCAR’s past two trips to the Arizona venue, alongside three victories at Talladega Superspeedway and two consecutive fall wins at Martinsville Speedway, the exact two tracks on the schedule immediately following Phoenix.
“When you think about Phoenix, they’ve been almost untouchable,” Briscoe said. “You go to Martinsville, I mean, Blaney has been absolutely unreal. So I feel like Penske is still very much in play.”
The 2023 champion also brings recent momentum. Blaney has finished inside the top five in each of the last three races, notching three straight top fives for the first time this season on intermediate ovals—the exact tracks that worried Team Penske when The Chase began. Team Penske competition director Travis Geisler acknowledged that this stretch was vital for any championship aspirations, noting that while a small margin remains to be closed, the team has successfully narrowed the gap.
“He’s certainly got to get wins,” Geisler said of Blaney’s title hopes. “There’s no doubt you’re going to have to win a couple from here — which, hey, that’s the way the playoffs work.”
Logano also refuses to count himself out, conceding that he likely needs to secure multiple victories before the season wraps up. For now, Blaney keeps his eyes locked forward on Phoenix, armed with the best run of form he has enjoyed all year and ready to chase down the leaders.
