Chase Briscoe Fifth in Xfinity Series Season Opener

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In: Xfinity Series News

Race Winner:  Noah Gragson of JR Motorsports (Chevrolet)

Stage 1 Winner:  Jeb Burton of JR Motorsports (Chevrolet)

Stage 2 Winner:  Justin Allgaier or JR Motorsports (Chevrolet)

 

Key Moment:

Chase Briscoe made his final pit stop under green on lap 80, taking fuel only to climb to third by lap 100 after pit stops cycled through. The driver of the No. 98 HighPoint.com Ford Mustang stayed on the track during a caution period encompassing laps 109-113, and he took the lead on lap 114 when the race returned to green. Another caution brought the field back under yellow before the completion of the lap, but when racing resumed on lap 117, Briscoe made another charge for the lead on the inside line, only to get stalled as the outside line led by Noah Gragson took control on the final lap, relegating Briscoe to fifth.

 

Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 98 HighPoint.com Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:    

“That one is going to sting for a while, for sure. I feel like we were making more moves than anybody and I thought I was going to have a really good shot there at the end. I don’t know what was up with the 19 (Brandon Jones). He couldn’t give me any help on the bottom. It was just one of those things where you wish you would’ve picked the top. We went on the bottom because, at the time, it felt like the right decision. For our first race with HighPoint.com to almost put them in victory lane here at Daytona would’ve been pretty special. We will go on to Las Vegas next week and I feel like we will have a good car there, too. This is a good way to start the season. You can bury yourself in points here, so for us to come out with a fifth-place finish and a clean racecar goes a long way.”

 

Notes:                   

● Briscoe’s fifth-place result bettered his previous best finish at Daytona – 12th, earned last February.

● Briscoe led once for five laps – his first laps led in the Xfinity Series at Daytona.

● Briscoe earned his 15th top-five and 31st top-10 in 51 career Xfinity Series starts. This was his third Xfinity Series start at Daytona.

● Briscoe finished 10th in Stage 1 to earn one bonus point and 10th in Stage 2 to earn another bonus point.

● Noah Gragson won the NASCAR Racing Experience 300 to score his first career Xfinity Series victory. His margin of victory over second-place Harrison Burton was .631 of a second.

● There were seven caution periods for a total of 28 laps.

● Only 10 of the 36 drivers in the NASCAR Racing Experience 300 finished on the lead lap.

● Gragson leaves Daytona as the championship leader with a three-point advantage over second-place Justin Haley.

 

Next Up:               

The next event on the Xfinity Series schedule is the Boyd Gaming 300 on Saturday, Feb. 22 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The race starts at 4 p.m. EST with live coverage provided by FS1 and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

 

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