Briscoe is heading into this weekend’s race at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway on the heels of consecutive top-10 finishes, including a season’s-best sixth last weekend at Texas.
The strong two-week run – which included top-10 finishes in both stages at Texas and rebounding from involvement in a wreck early in the final stage – has pushed Briscoe to 12th in the series standings – highest among all four Stewart-Haas Racing drivers.
It’s also given the 29-year-old native of Mitchell, Ind., some confidence moving forward.
“Way better than sixth place (at Texas). I feel like I keep saying it is frustrating because we are way better than that speed wise but overall, it was a really solid day and really solid points day,” Briscoe said.
“I feel like our win is right around the corner. We just have to clean up a little bit of stuff.”
Talladega is as good a track as any for Briscoe’s – and Ford’s – first win of the year.
The 2.66-mile superspeedway has been good to Ford through the years with the manufacturer producing 32 Cup victories, with at least one in 11 of the last 12 seasons.
In six career Cup starts at the track, Briscoe has only one finish outside the top-15. His average finish of 14.8 is fourth best among current full-time series drivers, trailing only Chase Elliott (13.6), Todd Gilliland (14.0) and Ryan Blaney (14.5).
“Getting a Mustang in Victory Lane at Talladega would be super cool. The Mustangs have been super good at superspeedway race tracks, so it would be no better time to get one than just after the 60th birthday of Mustang,” he said.
“That is what we are going to try to do. We are going to have really fast Fords, so hopefully, one of us can put Mustang in Victory Lane.”
Ford also celebrated the 60th anniversary of the iconic sports car at a day-long event this past week at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
While his season – which included the addition of two new teammates at SHR in Josh Berry and Noah Gragson – has gotten off to a slow start, it’s been an important one in the development of Briscoe’s NASCAR career.
“It’s been really good. Honestly, it’s probably been my favorite year at Stewart-Haas,” he explained. “All of my teammates are relatively the same age as me. We’re all kind of the same, where we’re career-wise, and it’s just been a lot of fun from the camaraderie side and just getting to know them better.
“I just feel like from a teamwork standpoint, we’re way better than we’ve ever been as far as working together. I would say 10 races in we’re farther ahead from a teamwork standpoint, so hopefully we can continue to grow that.”
The are few tracks on the Cup schedule where teamwork could play as big a role in the outcome, which is another reason for Briscoe’s confidence heading into this weekend. It’s also a race where the outcome can change quickly through no fault of your own.
“You stick to the plan because Talladega is one of those places where if you get off the plan, it kind of just ruins your day,” he said. “Like, you can pit by yourself, but then you’re just hung out to dry.
“You have to have a plan, but I also I feel like that plan never plays out. You’re constantly calling audibles the whole race because it’s constantly changing.
“Hopefully, we can just have one of those solid days. Obviously, we’re going there to win the race, but Talladega is one of those places where if you can just come out of it with a top-15, you’re almost happy just because you didn’t bleed a ton of points.”
