Better late than never in the case of Chase Briscoe, who won last Sunday's Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway to clinch a spot in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs in what was the final race before the playoffs commence.
Furthermore, Briscoe's last-ditch win to get into the playoff comes against the backdrop of him being one of the four Stewart-Haas Racing Cup Series drivers whose rides end following this season, as the race team is shutting down its operations.
Briscoe elaborated on what the win means for him and his team on the latest edition of "Kevin Harvick's Happy Hour."
"It was an unbelievable night," Briscoe told host Kevin Harvick about the win. "To be able to do that in the fashion that we did it and the circumstances we're in. All the people there have every excuse to, honestly, kind of throw in the towel. Every other race team in the sport right now, all they worry about is how to bring the fastest car to the racetrack every single week. In our place, they're trying to do that, but on top of that, they're trying to figure out how they're going to pay their house payment, how they're going to provide for their family, where they're going to work next year, so many distractions.
"The fact that we were able to go to the last race of the regular season and win at a place that is probably the hardest race of the year to win from just an execution standpoint. Your car has to be good. Your pit stops have to be good. It takes everything and for us to be able to go there and win in our last chance to make the playoffs is a huge morale boost for SHR."
The win at Darlington was Briscoe's second career victory on the NASCAR circuit. With 26 laps to go, Briscoe made a sharp move to the outside to take the lead —
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