Chase Briscoe wins Indy road course Xfinity race

Chase Briscoe
Chase Briscoe

It was Hoosier Heaven at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway after a wild finish to the Pennzoil 150 at the Brickyard.

Indiana native Chase Briscoe earned a long-sought victory on his home track, holding off fellow Hoosier native Justin Haley by 1.717 seconds in the Pennzoil 150 at the Brickyard NASCAR Xfinity Series race Saturday. It was the first NASCAR race on the 14-turn, 2.439-mile road course at the Racing Capital of the World, capping a doubleheader that featured Scott Dixon winning the GMR Grand Prix for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES to start the day.

Briscoe, a native of Mitchell, Indiana, became the first Hoosier to win an Xfinity Series race at IMS and just the third Indiana native to win a NASCAR race at the Brickyard, joining Big Machine Hand Sanitizer 400 Powered by Big Machine Records winners Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman. Briscoe drives for Stewart-Haas Racing, co-owned by Stewart.

The finish also marked the first time Indiana natives finished 1-2 in a NASCAR race at IMS.

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]“My hero in racing is Tony Stewart and to get to drive for him and watch him win the Brickyard, that was always his signature thing," Briscoe said. “I just wanted to do it. It’s not the same prestige as winning on the oval, but you still won at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It doesn’t matter if you’re racing on the oval, the road course, the dirt track or even the parking lot, it’s special when you win here.

“Growing up and coming here all the time, it’s unbelievable to think I just won here."

Briscoe led 30 of 62 laps in the No. 98 Highpoint.com Ford after starting 12th, but the race for the victory was anyone’s guess over a crazy seven-lap dash to the checkered after the final caution period of the race.

On a restart on Lap 56, Briscoe drove down the middle lane of the front straightaway while cars around him darted left and right, going nearly seven-wide into Turn 1. Briscoe used that open lane to climb from seventh to the lead, with AJ Allmendinger second and Noah Gragson third.

Briscoe was holding off a closing Allmendinger on Lap 59 when he went wide in Turn 10, and Allmendinger and Austin Cindric squirting past him to take first and second, respectively. Briscoe recovered on Lap 60, and he, Allmendinger and Cindric were three-wide, fighting for the lead when they crossed the Yard of Bricks start-finish line to start Lap 61.

As the trio charged into Turn 1, Briscoe dove to the inside for a lead he would keep until the checkered flag. Any final challenge Allmendinger could muster in the No. 16 Digital Ally Body Cameras Ford evaporated when he went off track in the infield on Lap 61, with Winamac, Indiana, native Haley jumping to second in his No. 11 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet.

Noah Gragson then passed Allmendinger and Cindric for third in the No. 9 Switch Chevrolet for third. Allmendinger ended up fourth, with Cindric fifth in the No. 22 Menards/Richmond Ford.

Cindric, son of Team Penske President Tim Cindric, looked to be the driver to beat in the first half of the race. He led 21 of the first 30 laps before he received a drive-thru penalty for jumping a restart on Lap 29. That dropped Cindric to 27th, 38 seconds behind leader Briscoe.

But Cindric charged through the field to become part of the four-way scrap for the win in the closing laps. His spirited drive was matched by Allmendinger, who started 30th.

The NASCAR Cup Series steps into the spotlight Sunday, as the Big Machine Hand Sanitizer 400 Powered by Big Machine Records starts at 4 p.m. (ET). The 160-lap race on the IMS oval will be televised live on NBC.

Results

Pos Str No. Driver Team Laps Status Led
1 12 98 Chase Briscoe Highpoint.com Ford 62 Running 30
2 11 11 Justin Haley LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet 62 Running 0
3 8 9 Noah Gragson Switch Chevrolet 62 Running 0
4 30 16 AJ Allmendinger Digital Ally Body Cameras Chevrolet 62 Running 2
5 10 22 Austin Cindric Menards/Richmond Ford 62 Running 21
6 9 10 Ross Chastain Chevy Accessories Chevrolet 62 Running 0
7 5 7 Justin Allgaier Klondike Chevrolet 62 Running 2
8 22 90 Alex Labbe Prolon/VRVictroriaVille.com Chevrolet 62 Running 0
9 2 1 Michael Annett Pilot/Flying J Chevrolet 62 Running 0
10 19 36 Preston Pardus Chinchor Electric/Danus Chevrolet 62 Running 2
11 24 68 Brandon Brown BMS Chevrolet 62 Running 0
12 38 26 Brandon Gdovic WindstaxEnergy Toyota 62 Running 0
13 21 51 Jeremy Clements RepairableVehicles.com Chevrolet 62 Running 0
14 17 7 Jade Buford Big Machine Distillery Chevrolet 62 Running 0
15 27 47 Kyle Weatherman Stand For The Flag Chevrolet 62 Running 0
16 26 93 Myatt Snider # Louisiana Hot Sauce Chevrolet 62 Running 0
17 4 39 Ryan Sieg CMRRoofing.com Chevrolet 62 Running 2
18 13 4 Jesse Little # JD Motorsports Chevrolet 62 Running 0
19 34 13 Timmy Hill(i) ROOFCLAIM.COM Toyota 62 Running 0
20 7 21 Anthony Alfredo Lucas Oil Chevrolet 62 Running 0
21 28 61 Stephen Leicht JANIKING Toyota 62 Running 0
22 20 92 Josh Williams Alloy Employer Services Chevrolet 62 Running 0
23 36 99 Josh Bilicki Insurance King Toyota 62 Running 0
24 14 0 Mike Wallace Market Scan Chevrolet 62 Running 0
25 6 20 Harrison Burton # DEX Imaging Toyota 62 Running 0
26 29 8 Joe Graf Jr # Bucked Up Energy Chevrolet 62 Running 0
27 37 66 Chad Finchum MBM MOTORSPORTS Toyota 62 Running 0
28 31 52 Kody Vanderwal # ADVANCED DAIRY SERVICE Chevrolet 61 Running 0
29 15 6 BJ McLeod JD Motorsports Chevrolet 61 Running 0
30 33 5 Matt Mills Thompson Electric Chevrolet 61 Running 0
31 1 8 Jeb Burton LS Tractor Chevrolet 60 Running 1
32 35 78 Vinnie Miller Koolbox Chevrolet 60 Running 0
33 23 18 Riley Herbst # Monster Energy Toyota 57 Running 0
34 32 74 Bayley Currey(i) Stand For The Flag Chevrolet 54 Running 0
35 25 44 Tommy Joe Martins AAN Adjusters Chevrolet 51 Axle 0
36 16 2 Brett Moffitt(i) Fr8 Auctions Chevrolet 44 Running 0
37 3 19 Brandon Jones Toyota Service Centers Toyota 34 Oil Line 2
38 18 15 Jeffrey Earnhardt FlexFit Chevrolet 9 Chassis 0