DARLINGTON, S.C. — There’s something special about going to Darlington Raceway for Chase Briscoe.
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver, who won last September’s Southern 500 at the unique 1.336-mile track, has a fondness for the Track Too Tough To Tame.
Briscoe believes it’s a driver’s track.
“I feel like of all the race tracks we go to, this (Darlington Raceway) is definitely one as the driver, you feel like you make a little bit more of a difference,” he explained. “You know, it’s still very car-dependent for sure, but as a driver, I feel like this is one of those tracks that’s kind of similar to Homestead (Homestead-Miami Speedway) where you can carry it multiple positions, because the (pause) what you do inside the race car is constantly changing.
“Nobody’s car is driving good, there’s just things you can do in the car to find more than a tenth sometimes even two tenths, whereas at another tracks, you’re just very hand-tied by what you’re doing inside the race car. So, this track is definitely one of those tracks where you can do different things in the race car and I feel like this is also track where you see guys that typically run well here their entire career just because there’s little things about this race track.”
Briscoe says the balance of the race car is important at Darlington.
“I would say for me the hardest thing is just been trying to understand the balance of the short run versus long run, and how hard to go at the beginning to not burn yourself up at the end,” Briscoe said. “Still definitely don’t have that figured out but I feel like it’s always kind of been my biggest challenge here and felt like that especially in the Xfinity Series, I would be extremely fast on the short run, but I would pay for it in the long run. Just trying to do as much as I can to study you know the guys like Denny Hamlin and other guys that are so good, always here on the long run. So that’s kind of I feel like my biggest challenge at this place, but you know there’s a lot of challenges about this place as well.”
Briscoe said returning to Darlington also brought back memories of his Southern 500 triumph last year during his final season with Stewart-Haas Racing.
“Honestly, it’s still like a pinch me moment and one of those things that like I find myself every single week being like, ‘man I can’t believe I won that race!’ It’s a major, it’s a crown jewel,” Briscoe said. “I was telling somebody the other week, ‘I look at the names on the trophies and like I just feel like I’m very undeserving. There’s all these Hall of Famers and like icons and legends of the sport, and then it says 2024, Chase Briscoe. Like the heck?’ It’s weird truthfully.
“Yeah, it’s definitely crazy. I feel like when I came back, like anytime you go when you won somewhere, you just walk in, you’re a little more confident, you feel that difference. But I definitely think this place, it changes your confidence level more than anywhere else just because the respect within the garage and within the NASCAR community whenever you want it at Darlington, there’s just a different level of appreciation for your talent,” he noted. “And that’s something that I didn’t realize until after I won the Southern 500 truthfully.
“I remember the next week being on pit road at Atlanta and Dale Jarrett and all these guys come over to me just tell me how incredible it was. You just don’t have that at other race tracks after you win a race. It definitely is a place where, when I pull in, especially now being the first time back, it’s definitely brings back a lot memories.”
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