● While there is always a heightened level of anxiety when it comes to competing at superspeedways, Chase Briscoe brings a steady hand to Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, site of Saturday night’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 NASCAR Cup Series race. In the season-opening Daytona 500 back on Feb. 19, Briscoe finished a solid 10th, and in the second superspeedway race of the year on April 21 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, Briscoe finished 12th. Living by the time-honored mantra that in order to finish first, first you must finish, Briscoe has set the table for another front-running drive at Daytona.
● The Coke Zero Sugar 400 will mark Briscoe’s eighth career NASCAR Cup Series start at Daytona. The driver of the No. 14 Mahindra Compact Tractors Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing earned his best Daytona result in the 2022 Daytona 500 when he finished third in just his third Cup Series start at the high-banked, 2.5-mile oval.
● In last year’s Coke Zero Sugar 400, Briscoe won the pole led twice for a race-high 67 laps before getting ensnared in a late-race accident that left him an undeserved 30th.
● Briscoe has made seven starts at Daytona outside of the NASCAR Cup Series. He has five NASCAR Xfinity Series starts and one start apiece in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and ARCA Menards Series. In the Xfinity Series at Daytona, he finished fifth and third in the 2020 season opener and August races, respectively, while qualifying on the pole in the latter event and leading a combined 27 laps between the two races. His Truck Series outing in the 2017 season opener resulted in a third-place finish, while his ARCA start in the 2016 season opener yielded a fourth-place finish.
● Mahindra Ag North America is a proud sponsor of Briscoe and Stewart-Haas, and 2024 highlights an impressive milestone for Mahindra – 30 years of selling tractors in the United States. Houston-based Mahindra Ag North America is part of Mahindra Group’s Automotive and Farm Sector, the No. 1-selling farm tractor company in the world, based on volumes across all company brands. Mahindra offers a range of tractor models from 20-75 horsepower, implements, and the ROXOR heavy-duty UTV. Mahindra farm equipment is engineered to be easy to operate by first-time tractor or side-by-side owners and heavy duty to tackle the tough jobs of rural living, farming and ranching. Steel-framed Mahindra Tractors and side-by-sides are ideal for customers who demand performance, reliability and comfort. Mahindra dealers are independent, family-owned businesses located throughout the U.S. and Canada.
● Mahindra Ag North America is using the Coke Zero Sugar 400 to promote its newest line of sub-compact and compact tractors, which are designed with features to enhance operation for first-time buyers. Boasting comfort amenities like telematics, leather seats and USB charging ports, the Mahindra 1100 and 2100 models are designed around ease of use for acreage owners, farmers and ranchers, with features like a push-button PTO and side-by-side HST pedals. Other features include a hand throttle on the console, tilt and telescopic steering, implement quick raise and lower, and auto lift at three points while turning and backing. Every model in the 1100 and 2100 series is available in open station or cab configurations, with an HVAC system exclusive to the 2126. This line of compacts have compatible Mahindra attachments, including loaders, backhoes, mowers, snowblowers, post hole diggers and grapples. The loader on the 1100 series has a max lift of 770 pounds, while the 2100 has a max lift of 1,760 pounds.
Chase Briscoe, Driver of the No. 14 Mahindra Compact Tractors Ford Mustang Dark Horse
Tenth in the Daytona 500 and 12th in April at Talladega. Those are two solid superspeedway finishes. What are your expectations for your return to Daytona this weekend, and can you keep the momentum going at these big, drafting-style racetracks?
“We’ve been able to finish pretty well at the superspeedways and our cars have had pretty good speed at every one we’ve been to the last year-and-a-half, two years. Our balance has been pretty good too, we just haven’t been able to seal the deal all the way and get the win. That’s kind of what we have to do now, is get the win, so that’s what we’re going to try to do. We’ll try to be as aggressive as we can and still make it to the end. But, yeah, our cars have been really, really good there and we’ve been able to have good finishes, we just need to be able to finish a little better. Hopefully, we can do that. One thing that’s certainly on my bucket list is winning a superspeedway race. It’s kind of the only track I haven’t been able to win at in my career, and it’s certainly one that’s driven me crazy.”
What’s been the secret to your performance this year at Daytona and Talladega?
“It’s not really any secret, it’s just kind of how luck goes sometimes and just being at the right place at the right time. Even Talladega, we were able to finish well, but I was sideways and backwards across the line. There are a lot of variables that go into it. I just strive to, honestly, use my gut. At times, it’s steered me wrong, but more often than not it’s put me in the right situation in just trying to understand when the wrecks are coming and things like that. Just need to go there and do the same stuff I typically do and not try to do anything too fancy and see if it’s good enough.”
Describe the intensity of racing at Daytona, especially with it being the second-to-last race of the regular season where, for many, it’s the last chance to earn a playoff berth.
“It’s chaos, full-blown chaos. Just any time we go to Daytona or Talladega, the intensity is always high, and guys know it’s a great opportunity for them to win, where at other tracks they just don’t have the opportunity. Guys are more aggressive, and there are just more guys in the mix. Every time we have this second Daytona race, it’s just full-blown chaos because everybody knows that’s their final opportunity to make the playoffs. I feel like this race is always a wreck-fest, especially at the end, and not a lot of cars finish. Hopefully, we’re on the good side of things and can stay out of all of it and just be rolling at the end, and if you’re rolling at the end and don’t have a lot of damage, you’re going to have a really good shot to win the race. Hopefully, we can go there and do that.”
What’s the patience level of drivers who are racing at Daytona in August compared to the Daytona 500 in February when there’s still an entire season ahead of everyone?
“I don’t feel like the intensity is any different. I feel like the stakes are about the same, as crazy as that seems. At the Daytona 500, everybody is willing to do whatever it takes to win the Daytona 500. It’s the biggest race of the year. It’s the one that everybody dreams about winning, and guys are making extremely aggressive moves and blocks and things like that. It’s no different than when we go to this race. Everybody knows it’s their last chance to make the playoffs. It’s probably a little bit different because some of the guys who have a couple of wins, they might not put themselves in a super bad spot just to win the race because they don’t want to get crashed. But if they can win the race, they’ll throw big blocks and do whatever. I would say that it’s super, super similar between the Daytona 500 and this race just because of what the stakes are and where it’s at in the season. If this race was the 10th race of the year, then it probably wouldn’t be as intense, but the schedule makes it really intense and really close to the Daytona 500.”
Does blocking remain the necessary evil it’s seemingly always been when it comes to superspeedway racing?
“Yeah, that’s just kind of the name of the game now. Everybody kind of blocks. It’s just what you’ve got to do if you want to run up front and win the race. People are going to do it, but whether it’s lap one or the last lap changes the severity of the block. I mean, guys are going to block really from the get-go. The guy getting blocked is going to be less and less lenient of the guy doing the blocking, and that’s when you normally see the chaos start. It’s going to be a lot of blocking, a lot of pushing, and that’s the way it is whenever you go to Daytona and Talladega.”
On the last lap of a race at Daytona, how smart do you need to be and how lucky do you need to be, as it seems that last 2.5 miles is the most treacherous part of the race?
“You’ve got to be aggressive, but you’ve kind of got to shut off that part of your brain that’s telling you, ‘I don’t want to be in this position, I don’t want to be doing this.’ You’ve just got to keep the pedal down to the floor and try to make the moves that’ll put you in the best position. The hair on the back of your neck is always standing up within the last five laps of the race at Daytona or Talladega because you just know what’s coming and you just hope you’re not on the bad side of it. You kind of know what you’re going to get yourself into when you get there and you hope you end up on the good side of it.”
● Event: Coke Zero Sugar 400 (Round 25 of 36)
● Time/Date: 7:30 p.m. EDT on Saturday, Aug. 24
● Location: Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway
● Layout: 2.5-mile oval
● Laps/Miles: 160 laps / 400 miles
● Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 35 laps / Stage 2: 60 laps / Final Stage: 65 laps
● TV/Radio: NBC / MRN Radio / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
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