SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (August 23, 2016) - At a glance, Chase Briscoe had a banner day on the Springfield Mile Dirt Sunday afternoon, especially considering he had never driven a stock car on a dirt track, nor had he ever raced at the historic Illinois State Fairgrounds.
Looking back through the course of events, the Mitchell, Indiana rookie was fastest in practice, started from the pole, led the most laps (62), came out with a top-five finish and padded his championship points lead with just five events remaining. He should be thrilled, right? Wrong.
“To say I’m disappointed is an understatement," Briscoe said. "I feel bad for all of the guys…I completely gave away a win.”
Briscoe, who had dominated the day, was leading Josh Williams by 10 lengths inside of 20 laps remaining when his No. 77 Big Tine Ford slid high in turn three negotiating lapped traffic while Williams powered underneath for the lead.
“Growing up racing on dirt you know that once the track ‘rubbers up’ you can’t run out of the rubber. I made the mistake of trying to go around a lapped car out of the rubber, which just gave the lead away. This race will definitely be one that I look back on throughout my entire career.”
Despite the disappointment, Briscoe went out on a high note.
"It was nice to get back on the dirt, where I felt like I had the upper hand, experience-wise. As far as the big picture goes, it was a good day for us."
Indeed it was. Briscoe, aided by the late-race crash that prevented Williams from winning or finishing, stretched his point lead to 510 unofficially over Williams.
Briscoe's Cunningham Motorsports teammate at Springfield, Ken Schrader, finished fourth in the No. 22 Cunningham Motorsports Ford, one spot in front of Briscoe.
“This definitely wasn’t what I was hoping for, but we ended up having an alright day," Schrader said. "It turned out to be a solid day, finishing higher than we ran all day. It was a great opportunity to run with the Cunningham organization.”
Schrader will vacate the 22 car for the next race at DuQuoin opening up an available ride in the 22 car. Stay tuned for that driver announcement coming soon.
The ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards heads to the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds Mile Dirt next for the General Tire GRABBER 100 Sunday night, September 4, marking the first night race for the ARCA tour at DuQuoin.
DuQuoin Raceday Schedule
Practice for the September 4 General Tire Grabber 100 is scheduled from 2:30 - 3:30 p.m., with Menards Pole Qualifying presented by Ansell following at 5:30. The 63rd General Tire Grabber 100 starts at 8:00. All times are local.
Media Coverage
The race will be tape-delayed on the American Sports Network. The race will also feature live timing and scoring and live chat for all on-track activity at ARCAracing.com, as well as live flag-to-flag audio race coverage.
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