Chase Briscoe has consecutive victoriesbut can he rally to win the title?
He has closed the gap between himself and points leader Kyle Larson from 123 two weeks ago to 65 points after winning races in Las Vegas and Charlotte.
That seems like a lot, but it means he’ll need to win two more of his last four races to have a shot. A driver on a hot streak, perhaps, could be a threat.
Here are my rankings for the Cup title with Phoenix, Talladega, Martinsville and Homestead as the only four races left in the season.
On the threshold (alphabetical order):
Chris Buescher (RFK Racing No. 17 Ford, -216 points behind the leader): Buescher finished 10th for his first Chase top-10, but he still lost 20 points to Larson.
William Byron (Hendrick Motorsports No. 24 Chevrolet, -208): Byron was caught in Alex Bowman’s wreck and lost another 48 points to Larson.
Chase Elliott (Hendrick Motorsports No. 9 Chevrolet, -185): Elliott was 12th at Charlotte, which continued a short Chase for him after losing 22 points to Larson.
Carson Hocevar (Spire Motorsports No. 77 Chevrolet, -180): Hocevar was 14th at Charlotte and will be looking to get back into the top 10. He lost 22 points to Larson.
Ryan Preece (RFK Racing No. 60 Ford, -227): Preece was 15th at Charlotte, falling another 27 points back.
Daniel Suarez (Spire Motorsports No. 7 Chevrolet, -215): Suarez was 13th and lost 20 points to Larson. A top-10 season should be the goal.
Ranking of competitors
Gibbs hit the wall early and lost seven laps while the team made repairs. A 34th-place finish (and a 46-point loss to Larson) made any slim championship hopes now non-existent. Gibbs has two top-fives in seven starts at Phoenix, including a fourth at the track in March.
9.
Wallace was an innocent victim in Alex Bowman’s crash, and his 37th day ultimately put him out of contention for the championship after losing 48 points to Larson. Wallace has never finished in the top five at Phoenix, where he posted a career-best finish of sixth in March.
8.
Cindric finished fourth and sixth in two stages, but faded late to finish 17th at Charlotte, losing another 17 points to Larson. Cindric doesn’t have a career top 10 in Phoenix, so he’ll try to put together a good day. He started third in March but finished 34th after a crash.
7.
Reddick finished eighth for the top 10, but they won’t win a title. He lost another eight points to Larson. Phoenix is not a great song for Reddick. There, he has two top fives in nine Next Gen races. He started eighth and finished eighth in March.
6.
Logano was ninth at Charlotte and the midway move hurt this team as they finished 20th, 10th and ninth since his win at Bristol. He lost another 21 points to Larson. Logano loves Phoenix, though. He won races there to capture the 2022 and 2024 titles and has led 261 laps in the last three Phoenix races. He was on pole in March, but a crash dropped him to 31st.
5.
A third-place finish at Charlotte was strong for Blaney, who still dropped five points to Larson. But a fifth, a fifth and a third in three intermediate track races is definitely something this team should be pleased with. And now they head to Phoenix, where Blaney has won the last two races and has four runner-up finishes among his eight top fives in the nine Next Generation races at Phoenix.
4.
A frustrated Bell finished second inches behind Briscoe, and he saw himself potentially just 31 points behind Larson to drop 51 points. That was a profit of just four a day. He has the chance to score points at Phoenix, where he won the 2024 and 2025 spring races. He was second to Blaney in March, where he led 17 laps. He has led 324 laps in the last four races at the track.
3.
Briscoe has cut 58 points off Larson’s lead with back-to-back wins. He’s on the move and Phoenix could be a good track for him. Briscoe earned his first career Cup victory when he won the 2022 spring race there. He has finished outside the top 15, however, in his last four starts at Phoenix, including two crashes — one of which resulted in a 37th-place finish in March.
2.
Hamlin lost another nine points to Larson despite finishing fifth. The reason? An early-race penalty at Charlotte, where a crew member fell over the pit road wall when trying to grab a tire, resulted in him not gaining any points in the opening stage. Phoenix has been kind and brutal with Hamlin. He led 208 laps at Phoenix a year ago before a late, four-tire pit stop dashed his championship hopes. He has finished second, sixth and fifth in his last three starts at Phoenix.
1.
Larson made the most of his day by scoring the third most points at Charlotte after winning the opening stage, finishing fourth in the second stage and finishing sixth in the race. He extended his lead over Hamlin to nine points, but lost four points to Bell. Larson says Phoenix isn’t a good track for him, but the stats say it’s a very good song. He has six third- or fourth-place finishes in his last seven starts at Phoenix.
WHAT YOU SHOULD READ NEXT
Mathematics has spoken. Winning cases in The Chase.
