Chase Briscoe gives Joe Gibbs Racing 2nd spot in NASCAR finale - ESPN

TALLADEGA, Ala. — Chase Briscoe gave Joe Gibbs Racing its second spot in NASCAR's championship-deciding season finale with an overtime victory Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway.

Briscoe raced to his first career superspeedway victory to join teammate Denny Hamlin as Toyota drivers guaranteed slots in the four-driver winner-take-all finale at Phoenix Raceway in two weeks.

Briscoe was sixth on the restart — a two-lap sprint in overtime to the finish — and Hendrick Motorsports drivers William Byron and Kyle Larson split the front row and lined up side-by-side for the Chevrolet drivers to control the restart.

Byron was getting help from behind from fellow Chevrolet driver Carson Hocevar, a driver for Hendrick aligned Spire Motorsports. Larson's push was from Toyota driver Bubba Wallace, who did get Wallace into the lead.

But Larson appeared to run out of fuel and dropped dramatically off the pace and Byron, who is in danger of playoff elimination, lost his chance at victory when his push from Hocevar was too strong and it caused Byron to spin.

Briscoe, meanwhile, had no problems with all his help coming from JGR driver Ty Gibbs, the only one of his teammates not eligible for the championship.

«Ty Gibbs, just incredible teammate there. I mean, I honestly would not have won that race without Ty,» Briscoe said. «This is an amazing team effort. I can't believe I won a superspeedway race. I haven't done it at any level.»

There are two open spots left in the championship field to be determined next week in the finale of the third round of the playoffs. Larson and JGR driver Christopher Bell are above the elimination line, while Byron, Hendrick teammate Chase Elliott, and Team Penske drivers Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney are below