KANSAS CITY, Kan. (Oct. 14, 2016) - Chase Briscoe officially clinched the 2016 ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards championship when he steered his No. 77 Big Tine Ford up onto Kansas Speedway in practice. While he was there, the Mitchell, Indiana rookie put down the fastest lap in practice.
"The championship is cool, but I'm thinking about this race right now...I want to win this race," said Briscoe.
Briscoe, in his first Kansas appearance, circled the mile-and-a-half track in 30.635 seconds, an average speed of 176.269 mph.
"I mean, it's a lot like Chicagoland to me. Honestly, it's a lot narrower than Chicagoland but similar as far as driving style. You're gonna drive them both the same."
Briscoe thinks his Cunningham Motorsports team left some speed on the table.
"I didn't think we were spectacular...we can definitely make some gains. Not sure where it's gonna be at night with these composite bodies."
Michael Self, in a Ranier Racing with MDM Chevrolet, was second on the board in the No. 28 Sinclair Oil Chevy at 176.246 mph.
Self had been working with Sinclair over the last year to bring them into racing. Self will introduce Sinclair in tonight's Kansas 150.
"This has been a year in the works putting this deal together," said Self. "This is all about having a successful night and making it make sense for Sinclair."
Self is a bit of a Cinderella story, having not raced in more than a year.
"I'm a little surprised I'm up there on the board. I haven't driven in a full year. I'm surprised in myself, but I'm not surprised in the team. This is nothing different for Ranier Racing...they're fast everywhere. This is nothing different...just another phenomenal Sinclair Chevrolet."
Self couldn't help but notice how much the handle on the car changed over the course of the hour-long practice as a result of air temperature, which increased dramatically throughout the session.
"That's the biggest thing...how we started off when it was a lot cooler. But the car changed because we picked up nearly 20 degrees over that practice which caused us to get really tight. When we race tonight, it's gonna go back to cool, so we can't think too much into this."
Shane Lee, in the No. 32 Win-Tron Racing Toyota, was third on the board at 176.137 mph.
"I think we're going to be pretty good in the race," said Lee. "I'm more nervous about starting 23rd."
Menards Pole Qualifying presented by Ansell was cancelled because of a heavy morning mist that kept the track wet up just past the noon hour. As a result, the field for tonight's Kansas 150 was set by current car owner points, positioning Lee deep in the field for the start.
"I'm not too worried...our car is really good. It stayed good on long runs. We just gotta stay out of trouble and get up there. We'll see what happens."
Rookie Noah Gragson, in the No. 15 SPEEDVEGAS-Alert ID Toyota, was fourth fastest overall at 175.701 mph, a car prepared from the Venturini Motorsports stable.
John Wes Townley, in the No. 05 Jive Communications-Zaxby's Chevrolet, was fifth at 175.598 mph.
Thirty-five drivers posted time and speed in practice. All will start in tonight's Kansas 150, live on FS1 at 8:30 p.m. Eastern. Look for live timing and scoring and live chat at arcaracing.com.
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