HighPoint.com Driver Advances from 32nd Starting Spot Despite Handling Issues
- Date: March 31, 2024
- Event: Richmond 400 (Round 7 of 36)
- Series: NASCAR Cup Series
- Location: Richmond (Va.) Raceway (.75-mile oval)
- Format: 400 laps, broken into three stages (70 laps/160 laps/170 laps)
- Start/Finish: 32nd / 18th (Running, completed 407 of 407 laps)
- Race Winner: Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
- Note: Race extended seven laps past its scheduled 400-lap distance due to a green-white-checkered finish.
Overview
It was an up-and-down night for Chase Briscoe and the No. 14 HighPoint.com Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing during Sunday’s Richmond 400 at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway. After starting 32nd, the native of Mitchell, Indiana, made steady forward progress in the 400-lap event that began in damp conditions with competitors sporting wet-weather tires during the opening 30-lap stint. But once the track dried and racing commenced on the traditional Goodyear Racing slicks, Briscoe and the No. 14 team just couldn’t find the right balance to improve upon their early race gains around the .75-mile oval. Still, the team was able to hang onto a hard-fought finish among the top-20.
Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 14 HighPoint.com Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:
“It wasn’t our best night, by any means. I felt like, by far, our worst race of the season. We were able to run in the top-20, even though that’s not really our goal. We definitely just struggled all weekend. We could never get the balance how we wanted it to be. We could never get the front to turn, and then we just unhooked the back, so it was just kind of a frustrating weekend from getting it to do what we wanted it to do. It was just an up-and-down night for us. We definitely have a lot of work to do, which is a little head-scratching just because of how good we’ve been here in the past. We’ve always kind of been in the mix. We’ve got to go back and do our homework and come back better.”
Notes
- Denny Hamlin won the Richmond 400 to score his 53rd career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his second of the season and his fifth at Richmond. His margin of victory over second-place Joey Logano was .269 of a second.
- There were five caution periods for a total of 54 laps.
- Twenty-two of the 36 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.
- Martin Truex Jr., remains the championship leader after Richmond with a 14-point advantage over second-place Kyle Larson.
Next Up:
The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Cook Out 400 on Sunday, April 7 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. The race begins at 3 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FS1 and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
