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Chase Briscoe jump-starts Career with Eldora Win

Eldora Dirt Derby

Chase Briscoe just jump-started his NASCAR career. If it wasn’t already considered to have a lot of potential, Briscoe’s career definitely does now.

Chase Briscoe jump-starts Career with Eldora Win

The Indiana native beat out Grant Enfinger in a two-lap shootout to win the sixth annual Eldora Dirt Derby on Wednesday night, cementing himself in the dirt-tracks brief but impressive NASCAR history. And, by the way, it was a heck of a finish.

The victory at Eldora is one of the most prestigious ones that a driver can earn outside of the top division in NASCAR.  Just look at the past champions of the derby: Cup series regulars Darrell Wallace Jr. and Kyle Larson once took the crown as well as Daytona 500 champion Austin Dillon back in the event’s first year.

The winners of the Derby have gone on to have some big moments in their careers, and this one for Briscoe could not come at a better time. In 2016, Briscoe rolled to a dominant six wins in 20 races to earn the ARCA championship before he would take a truck ride with Brad Keselowski Racing the next season.

However, once BKR shut down, Briscoe found himself in the same spot that past ARCA champions had found themselves in. Each of the past four ARCA champions; 2014’s Mason Mitchell, 2015’s Grant Enfinger, and 2017’s Austin Theriault are all without a weekly ride in any of NASCAR’s top three series.

None ever came back to run a full ARCA season to try and defend their titles. With the dirt derby victory under his belt, Briscoe has some momentum to lean on. Whether a big team will notice it is still yet to be determined, but don’t be surprised to see him in another truck or Xfinity series car soon.

With four races to go…

For the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, there is just four races to go until the playoffs get underway at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in September.

As far as the playoff grid goes, the top eight are pretty much set. With the trio of Noah Gragson, Ben Rhodes, and Justin Haley each garnering one win, the top five spots in the bracket are filled.

That leaves Enfinger, Stewart Friesen, and two-time series champion Matt Crafton qualifying for the postseason on points, and by a fair margin at that. Although, that doesn’t mean we won’t see an upset. Rookies Todd Gilliland and Myatt Snider are two of the more intriguing potential winners.

After missing four of the first eight races, Gilliland has battled back up to 13th in the point standings with his best finish at Gateway with a P2. In a Kyle Busch Motorsports truck, it’s not hard to imagine victory lane eluding the talented, second-generation driver for much longer.

As for Myatt Snider, the 23-year old has accumulated five top 10’s in 13 starts in his first season behind the truck. His best finish also came at Gateway, where he earned P4. With his gap to the playoffs being 99 points, Snider would jump at a late-race opportunity for a win.

The truck series will take back to the asphalt in its next race as the drivers and teams head to Pennsylvania for the Gander Outdoors 150 at Pocono.

Playoff Grid
Four races to go before the Playoffs
1. Johnny Sauter (4 wins)
2. Brett Moffitt (3 wins)
3. Noah Gragson (1 win)
4. Ben Rhodes (1 win)
5. Justin Haley (1 win)
6. Grant Enfinger +120
7. Stewart Friesen +111
8. Matt Crafton +99
Playoff Cutoff
9. Myatt Snider -99
10. Cody Caughlin -113
11. Dalton Sargeant -128
12. Austin Hill -140

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