DARLINGTON, S.C. (AP) Chase Briscoe made a big statement Sunday night with his second straight Southern 500 victory that hes a serious contender for the NASCAR Cup Series title.
Briscoes team, Joe Gibbs Racing, and his manufacturer, Toyota, also made statements at Darlington Raceway that this postseason would not be a Penske-paloooza runaway like the past few.
I think a night like tonight really gives Chase the confidence that he belongs, crew chief James Smalls said of the first-year JGR team.
That was obvious to anyone who watched the crown jewel race. Briscoe, who qualified second, moved in front early and rarely left the front, leading for 309 of 367 laps and outlasting Tyler Reddick to back up last years surprise victory at the track nicknamed Too Tough To Tame that got him into the playoffs at the last possible moment.
The win a year ago gave soon-to-be-closing Stewart-Haas Racing a final shot at playoff participation. Briscoe wanted to set a strong tone early this time around and did just that on perhaps the most difficult of NASCARs 10 postseason tracks.
Ive always just loved high-pressure situations, he said. I feel like I just perform better for whatever reason. I feel like my whole career has always been a high-pressure situation, right? There was no backup plan. You might only get one race (and) youve got to perform, show your worth.
Now, thats on top of the playoff standings as powerhouse JGR looks to win its first NASCAR Cup Series crown since former Gibbs racer Kyle Busch did it in 2019.
Since then, Rick Hendrick Motorsports won titles in 2020 and 21, with Team Penske capturing the past three.
JGR owner Joe Gibbs said Briscoe showed up as strong as any of past Cup Series winners. Starting up front, then to kind of dominate the race, Gibbs said. I think what he showed is great speed.
Just like many of the highest-profile Toyotas.
Briscoes teammate, Denny Hamlin, edged him out for the pole in qualifying Saturday, then overcame problems in the pits to rally for seventh. Hamlin, considered by many to be the best driver without a title, is second in playoff standings and in strong position to advance.
Hamlin also saw his playoff drivers Reddick and Bubba Wallace Hamlin co-owns 23XI Racing with Michael Jordan finish second and sixth in Toyotas. Both are in the top five in the playoff standings and poised for strong runs.
In all, there were six Toyotas among the top seven finishers. It was the manufacturers third top-four sweep since it came to the Cup Series in 2007.
As far as the others power players? Defending champion and three-time series winner Joey Logano is 13th and among the first four out without an improvement at World Wide Technology Raceway outside of St. Louis next week or at Bristol Motor Speedway on Sept. 13.
2020 series champion Chase Elliott finished well behind the leaders and when asked about his chances of a better run next race said, Well, I just finished 17th.
Wallace, the 23XI racer, thought he, Reddick and the Toyota drivers came through when it mattered most. Hes confident that will continue throughout the playoffs.
To show up here and put together two solid races for our team, got to keep that going. Check that off the list. Nine more to go, he said.
Briscoe insisted he thought little of the big picture before, during and after his huge weekend at Darlington. His crew chief was focused enough for the whole team.
Smalls was asked if the No. 19 team had the pieces to take the trophy this year in Briscoes first season in the cockpit after taking over from Martin Truex Jr.
Oh, 100%, he said. It was difficult, new situation for everybody. We had a little bit of learning to do, some new people on the team as well. We had some speed. Just took a little bit to jell and get everybody on the same page, understanding of what were trying to achieve every week.
If Briscoes JGR Toyota keeps stacking performances like this, the result could be NASCARs biggest prize.
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AP auto racing:
【美联社南卡罗来纳州达灵顿电】蔡斯·布里斯科（Chase Briscoe）周日晚以连续第二场南方500大赛的胜利强势宣告——他已成为NASCAR杯系列赛总冠军的有力争夺者。
布里斯科所在的乔·吉布斯车队及其制造商丰田也在达灵顿赛道发表声明，称本赛季后赛不会像过去几年那样成为潘世奇车队（Penske）一家独大的局面。
车队主管詹姆斯·斯莫尔斯（James Smalls）在评价这支新加入乔·吉布斯车队（JGR）的成员时表示：“像今晚这样的夜晚，确实能让蔡斯（Chase）确信自己属于这里。”
对于观看这场焦点赛事的观众而言，这一结果显而易见。排位赛位列第二的布里斯科（Briscoe）起步便抢占领先位置，并几乎全程领跑——他在总计367圈中主导了309圈，最终力压泰勒·雷迪克（Tyler Reddick），再现了去年在这条被誉为“难以驯服”的赛道上爆冷夺冠的辉煌。正是那场胜利让他在最后关头跻身季后赛。
一年前的胜利为即将关闭的斯图尔特-哈斯车队提供了最后一次冲击季后赛的机会。这次布里斯科决心早早确立优势，他确实做到了——而且是在纳斯卡10条季后赛赛道中最艰难的一条上完成的壮举。
“我一直都钟爱高压环境，”他说道，“不知为何，我总觉得自己在这样的状态下表现更出色。回顾整个职业生涯，仿佛始终处于高压之中，不是吗？根本没有退路可言。可能你只有一次机会（比赛），必须全力以赴，证明自己的价值。”
如今，强队JGR（乔·吉布斯车队）在季后赛积分榜上名列前茅，正力争自2019年其前车手凯尔·布希夺冠后，再度问鼎NASCAR杯系列赛总冠军。
此后，瑞克·亨德里克赛车运动（Rick Hendrick Motorsports）在2020年和2021年夺冠，而潘世奇车队（Team Penske）则包揽了过去三年的冠军头衔。
JGR车队老板乔·吉布斯（Joe Gibbs）表示，布里斯科的表现与以往杯赛系列冠军得主同样出色。吉布斯说：他从一开始就领先，随后几乎统治了整场比赛。我认为他展现出了惊人的速度。
正如许多备受瞩目的丰田汽车一样。
布里斯科的队友丹尼·哈姆林在周六的排位赛中险胜对手夺得杆位，随后又克服了维修区的故障，最终奋起直追获得第七名。被许多人视为无冕之王的哈姆林目前在季后赛积分榜上排名第二，晋级形势一片大好。
哈姆林（与迈克尔·乔丹共同拥有23XI车队）麾下的季后赛车手雷迪克和布巴·华莱士分别驾驶丰田赛车获得第二和第六名。两人目前位居季后赛积分榜前五，有望在后续比赛中延续强势表现。
最终，前七名完赛车手中丰田占据了六席。这是该制造商自2007年参加杯赛以来第三次包揽前四名。
其他实力选手表现如何？卫冕冠军、三届系列赛冠军得主乔伊·洛加诺目前排名第13位，若下周在圣路易斯郊外的世界广域科技赛道或9月13日的布里斯托尔汽车赛道无法提升成绩，他将成为首批淘汰的四名车手之一。
2020赛季总冠军蔡斯·埃利奥特（Chase Elliott）在本站比赛中远远落后于领先车手。当被问及下一站比赛是否有机会取得更好成绩时，他回应道：“呃，我刚刚只拿到第17名。”
23XI车队赛车手华莱士认为，他与雷迪克以及丰田车队的车手在关键时刻表现出色。他坚信这种状态将在整个季后赛中持续下去。
他说：“能来到这里并为车队完成两场稳健的比赛，必须继续保持这种状态。这项目标已完成，接下来还有九场要拼。”
布里斯科坚称，在达灵顿度过那个重要周末的前后过程中，他几乎没有考虑全局。他的车队主管已为整个团队倾注了足够的专注力。
有人询问斯莫尔斯，19号车队在布里斯科接替小马丁·特鲁克斯的首个赛季中，是否具备夺冠的实力。
“哦，百分之百是的，”他说道，“对每个人来说，这都是一个艰难的全新处境。我们需要进行一些调整学习，团队中也加入了一些新人。我们具备一定的速度优势，只是花了一点时间磨合，让所有人达成共识，理解我们每周努力实现的目标。”
如果布里斯科（Briscoe）的JGR丰田车队能持续保持这样的表现，他们或将问鼎NASCAR的最高奖项。
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