Chase Briscoe led three times for 16 laps in the Production Alliance Group 300 Saturday at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, but a late-race spin relegated the 25-year-old racer from Mitchell, Indiana, to a 19th-place finish. Briscoe started third in the 150-lap race around the 2-mile oval and proved to be a top-five mainstay, but he and crew chief Richard Boswell continued to improve their No. 98 Production Alliance Group Ford Mustang, and their collective work took hold on lap 97 when Briscoe took the lead for the first time. A spirited battle with rookie Harrison Burton where the duo swapped the lead twice made for some nail-biting moments, but Burton ultimately pulled away on lap 118 after Briscoe got loose off turn two. Briscoe’s No. 98 Production Alliance Group Ford Mustang continued to get looser as the race wore on, and on lap 126 the rear end of his racecar came around off turn four, sending Briscoe spinning into the infield grass. The time it took to get the car refired and fitted with four new tires put Briscoe a lap down, and then a flat tire with three laps to go sent Briscoe further down the leaderboard, with the 19th-place result unrepresentative of his overall performance.
Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 98 Production Alliance Group Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:
“We had a pretty good Production Alliance Group Ford Mustang and just couldn’t ever get track position early in the race. When we finally got the track position, we had a voltage issue where the motor kept shutting off. I kept overdriving it trying to make up for it and then I just spun out off of four and that buried us, obviously. That one is on me. We definitely had a car capable of winning, or for sure running second at the absolute worst. I don’t even know where we ended up. We will have to just go to Phoenix and try to not do that again.”
Notes:
● Briscoe’s 16 laps led were his first laps led at Fontana.
● Briscoe finished second in Stage 1 to earn nine bonus points and fourth in Stage 2 to earn seven more bonus points.
● This was Briscoe’s second Xfinity Series start at Fontana and his 53rd career Xfinity Series start.
● Harrison Burton won the Production Alliance Group 300 to score his first career Xfinity Series win. His margin of victory over second-place Riley Herbst was .455 of a second.
● There were eight caution periods for a total of 36 laps.
● Only 15 of the 36 drivers finished on the lead lap.
● Burton leaves Fontana as the championship leader with a 10-point advantage over second-place Briscoe.
Next Up:
The next event on the Xfinity Series schedule is the LS Tractor 200 on Saturday, March 7 at Phoenix Raceway. The race starts at 4 p.m. EST with live coverage provided by FS1 and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
True Speed Communication on behalf of Stewart-Haas Racing
