Chase Briscoe is the story of the 2024 NASCAR postseason

Yesterday at 12:20 PM

It happens every fall.

In a way, it's become predictable in the elimination era: the NASCAR Cup Series postseason begins and with them, the favorites and headline makers take center stage. But then, somewhere along the way, a driver and team that had been overlooked or written off before the final 10 weeks began emerges and makes a bit of noise.

Chase Briscoe and Stewart-Haas Racing are those players in the 2024 postseason.

"Overall, it was a great night for us," Briscoe said Saturday at Bristol Motor Speedway. "Hopefully, people will start taking us seriously. I truthfully feel like we can battle for the championship, so hopefully (this) proved that."

Briscoe and the No. 14 team finished eighth at Bristol in the first elimination race of the postseason. It was their second consecutive top-10 finish, and Briscoe averaged a robust sixth-place running position all night, driving to as high as second place at one point. Of the 12 drivers who advanced into the next round, Briscoe is one of six who earned two top 10s in the three races that made up the Round of 16.

On one hand, every driver believes he and his team have a chance to win the championship during a long day of addressing the media on the Wednesday before the postseason begins. It's tradition (both the mid-week media day and the chorus of optimism). It's expected. And when Briscoe won the regular-season finale at Darlington Raceway to earn a postseason berth at the last minute, he began saying the same thing.

Briscoe is performing at pace as the contenders; he was the strongest car as the night at Darlington wound down, and he rose to the occasion to make the moves he needed to get to the lead. He likely would have done the same at Atlanta Motor Speedway had he not run into a wrecked Kyle Larson before the end of the first stage. And then Watkins Glen and Bristol were both solid, as-they-should-perform days that netted him a combined 79 points.

On performance and pace, Briscoe is getting the job done. He also earned the seventh-most stage points in the first round. So, in that area, the team should at least be, as he said, taken seriously.

But there is something else at work here for Briscoe and his group. Stewart-Haas Racing is shutting down in seven weeks. It's long past a rumor, and then an early summer joint statement making it a reality. It's down to crossing off days on the calendar.

For the group to remain in championship contention, and out of the first round, deserves kudos. It would be easy, and no one would blink an eye, if the productivity level decreased at this point in the season and the motivation was hard to find. Or if there was a mass exodus of employees each week as they sought their next paycheck and career chapter.

Perhaps that would have happened if Briscoe didn't make the playoffs. Maybe the resources at Stewart-Haas would be drying up quicker, and maybe Briscoe's earlier concerns about how hard it would be to get cars to the track as the termination date approached would be the reality. Instead, based on what Briscoe is showing on the racetrack, it’s hard to believe that the company will cease to exist in a little over a month.

"I feel like we can beat anybody on any given day when we put it together from start to finish," Briscoe said. "Obviously, (at Bristol) we had some hiccups, but we were still able to have a good finish, and that's what this championship run is going to be all about, so go on to the next one."

The battle gets harder from here on out for Briscoe – and every championship hopeful. But he's still got a shot and that's all that matters.

And in reality, whether Briscoe wins the championship or not will not be the story. It's a success to have made it this far and at this point, Briscoe and Stewart-Haas are the sentimental favorites.

Why not root for a driver who refuses to quit? How can anyone not want to see a company go to the distance despite the unfortunate and for those living it, sad situation they are navigating?

"I think our backs are up against the wall," Briscoe said. "No other team in this sport can relate to what we're going through and just how hungry we all are, so I think we all want to go out as winners, and we just know that we're capable of doing it when we put it together.

"I think, for us, when we finally did win at Darlington, we kind of proved that to ourselves and just the confidence that has come with that over the last three weeks has been a lot.

"So, looking forward to the next however many races we've got left."

Have yourself a postseason run, Briscoe and company. You've got plenty in your corner willing you to finish this on the highest note.