With his victory at Talladega Superspeedway, Chase Briscoe ensured Joe Gibbs Racing will lock up half of the Championship 4 field in the NASCAR Cup Series.
Briscoe earned his third win this season and second of the playoffs to join teammate Denny Hamlin in being eligible for the title in the Nov. 2 season finale at Phoenix Raceway.
After winning only twice in his first 160 Cup starts, Briscoe has won three of the past 18 races with victories at Pocono Raceway, Darlington Raceway and Talladega.
MORE: Click here for Talladega Superspeedway results l Click here for the cumulative report l Click here for the penalty report l Click here for race notes
He became the 11th different winner in the past 11 races at Talladega, etending a track record at the 2.66-mile oval. It’s also the first superspeedway win for Briscoe, who clinched a title berth after entering Talladega at 15 points above the cutline.
Despite being penalized for speeding in the pits, Briscoe rallied to lead seven times for 16 laps — winning with a last-lap pass of Bubba Wallace for the lead.
Hamlin and Briscoe have clinched two of the four title-eligible spots for the Nov. 2 season finale at Phoenix Raceway, where the top finisher of the remaining playoff drivers will win the championship.
The final two spots in the Championship 4 field will be set in the Oct. 26 race at Martinsville Speedway with at least one determined by the points standings.
Heading into the Round of 8 finale, Christopher Bell (37 points above the cutline) and Kyle Larson (plus-35) are above the cutline. William Byron (minus-36), Joey Logano (minus-38), Ryan Blaney (minus-47) and Chase Elliott (minus-62) are below the cutline.
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver joins teammate Denny Hamlin in the title race.
Logano, Blaney and Elliott all have wins at Martinsville
Here’s the finishing order at Talladega Superspeedway
1. Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Toyota
2. Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Ford
3. Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Toyota
4. Bubba Wallace, No. 23 Toyota
5. Cole Custer, No. 41 Ford
6. Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Chevrolet
7. Tyler Reddick, No. 45 Toyota
8. Christopher Bell, No. 20 Toyota
9. Zane Smith, No. 38 Ford
10. Brad Keselowski, No. 6 Ford
11. Shane Van Gisbergen, No. 88 Chevrolet
12. Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Chevrolet
13. Ross Chastain, No. 1 Chevrolet
14. John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Toyota
15. Ryan Preece, No. 60 Ford
16. Joey Logano, No. 22 Ford
17. Michael McDowell, No. 71 Chevrolet
18. Casey Mears, No. 66 Ford
19. Kyle Busch, No. 8 Chevrolet
20. Ty Dillon, No. 10 Chevrolet
21. Anthony Alfredo, No. 62 Chevrolet
22. Austin Hill, No. 33 Chevrolet
23. Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Ford
24. Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Toyota
25. William Byron, No. 24 Chevrolet
26. Kyle Larson, No. 5 Chevrolet
27. Austin Dillon, No. 3 Chevrolet
28. BJ McLeod, No. 78 Ford
29. Alex Bowman, No. 48 Chevrolet
30. Chris Buescher, No. 17 Ford
31. Cody Ware, No. 51 Ford
32. Riley Herbst, No. 35 Toyota
33. Josh Berry, No. 21 Ford
34. Austin Cindric, No. 2 Ford
35. Erik Jones, No. 43 Toyota
36. Noah Gragson, No. 4 Ford
37. AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Chevrolet
38. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Chevrolet
39. Justin Haley, No. 7 Chevrolet
40. Chase Elliott, No. 9 Chevrolet
