Chase Briscoe Gets First Cup Series Win! Who’s Hot after Four Races?

The NASCAR Cup Series concluded its west coast swing at Phoenix Raceway for the Ruoff Mortgage 500 where we ended up seeing the second first-time winner in the Cup Series just four races into the 2022 Season.

Ryan Blaney and Denny Hamlin led the field to the green flag as the race featured different leaders and a few incidents and close calls. One was on lap 39 when Kyle Busch got into Austin Dillon coming off turn two, both were able to keep going despite losing a few positions. The first caution came out when Corey Lajoie lost a tire and made a hard impact in the wall after the dogleg. Cody Ware also ran over the tire that escaped Corey Lajoie’s car. William Byron, Chase Briscoe, and Chase Elliott looked to have strong cars during the first stage, as Byron would win stage one. With 66 laps to go, Christopher Bell’s early-season struggles continued as he went for a spin in turns one and two. Ryan Blaney was able to hold off Chase Elliott to win stage two after dominating most of the stage. Then with 92 to go, last year’s race winner, Martin Truex Jr, slammed the wall hard coming off turn two. Kyle Larson also ended up with a tough result as his car suffered a broken valve spring, which ended up parking him for the day around 60 laps to go in the race.

Chase Briscoe looked to have the best car late in the race as Erik Jones went for a spin with 27 laps to go. The race restarted with 20 laps to go as Ross Chastain attempted to steal the lead from Chase Briscoe, however, Briscoe had a huge surge coming off turn two to hold on. Chastain continued to battle hard with Tyler Reddick sneaking into the picture, as all three drivers were chasing their first Cup Series win. Everything looked great for Briscoe until a caution with nine laps to go, thanks to a Chase Elliott spin. Then came the restart with four laps to go as Chase Briscoe worked to hold off Tyler Reddick. Briscoe was able to pull away and in his 40^th career start, Chase Briscoe got his first career Cup Series victory in the #14 Ford for Stewart Haas, Briscoe’s childhood idol. This is also the first time the #14 has been to victory since 2018 with Clint Bowyer and Briscoe becoming the 200^th different winner in NASCAR Cup Series history. Austin Dillon was also turned by Daniel Suarez coming to the checkered flag. Kevin Harvick has tied Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt for the most consecutive top-ten finishes at one racetrack. Briscoe joins Austin Cindric as the second first-time winner this season.

“It’s unbelievable. I was crying the whole last lap,” Briscoe told Regan Smith of Fox Sports. “This is definitely a team win, but I’ve got to thank everybody that’s gotten me to this point. Seven years ago, I was sleeping on couches, volunteering at race shops, and was literally driving home (to Indiana) to give up. And (ARCA car owners) Briggs Cunningham and Kerry Scherer and Beth Cunningham gave me an opportunity and it’s led to this.”

For Chase Briscoe, from starting out driving in ARCA for Briggs Cunningham, racing in trucks for Brad Keselowski, then being picked up by his idol Tony Stewart, it’s been a dream come true for this Indiana native. Briscoe won 9 races in the 2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series season before moving up to Cup and taking Rookie of the Year honors in 2021.

After four races into the season, let’s take a look at who’s hot and who’s not.

Who’s Hot: Ross Chastain

Chastain gets his second top-five in a row and was once again seen contending for the win this weekend. He also looked strong at California before wrecking late in the race. He and Team Trackhouse certainly have to be one’s to watch in the coming weeks as even his teammate Daniel Suarez came close to winning at California. I think soon we will see Chastain earn his first Cup Series victory and smash a watermelon. The momentum is certainly on his side moving forward and for a team in their second season, Justin Marks and Pitbull’s team are off to a great start.

Who’s Hot: Tyler Reddick

Despite having seat issues and losing feeling in his legs, that didn’t seem to be the issue this weekend. Reddick swept both stages at California before having a tire go down and wrecking, then earns a seventh-place finish at Las Vegas, and a third-place finish at Phoenix. Reddick might be finally coming into his own and like Chastain, I think a win is coming soon for him. He’s had a solid start and I think Richard Childress Racing should be a team to keep your eyes on in the coming weeks as well. Reddick was in the mix chasing his first career win at Phoenix along with Chastain and eventual winner Chase Briscoe.

Who’s Not: Brad Keselowski

After winning one of the Duel races at Daytona and finishing ninth in the Daytona 500, Keselowski has struggled quite a bit since then. He had incidents at California and Las Vegas then placed a 23^rd place finish at Phoenix. It is still early in the season and this is a new world for Brad as he is moving to a team that hasn’t seen victory lane since 2017, plus now being a co-owner. I still believe it will take time but I think Brad will get into a rhythm soon.

Who’s Not: Christopher Bell

Christopher Bell has had a struggling start to the 2022 season, the opposite of last season when he won the second race of the season at the Daytona Road Course. Bell has looked fast as he scored the pole at Las Vegas last week but has also had all sorts of incidents as well. I think he might be struggling with the new car as he has had moments of getting loose and losing control of the car. Bell currently sits 30^th in the standings, but with four races in, he has time to make it up.

The NASCAR Cup Series heads next to the Atlanta Motor Speedway with a 2:30 pm EST start. Atlanta has undergone a reconfiguration since the last race took place in July 2021 and with its new progressive banking, could feel more like a mini-Daytona.