Briscoe apologetic for crash, content with rally to second at Iowa

Chase Briscoe thought he was in prime position for a second Cup Series win with Joe Gibbs Racing in Sunday’s Iowa Corn 350, but much like teammate Denny Hamlin after his Pocono Raceway triumph in June, Briscoe was left disappointed when William Byron hit a surprising fuel number to deny him the chance.

Briscoe came home second at Iowa Speedway after a series of final stage cautions allowed Byron to stretch his fuel 144 laps (126 miles) to the finish. The 30-year-old was able to close on Byron in traffic during the middle portion of the stage but couldn’t find a way to overcome dirty air and pass him before losing ground in the final run to the checkered flag.

“Thought I was really in the catbird seat,” Briscoe said. “I just got there and kind of stalled out.

“I kind of experienced that when I was leading earlier. I caught the back of the field and [it was] kind of the same thing. It was like as soon as I got there, I kind of died.

“Unfortunate. You’re just kind of limited on where you can go with the repave and everything, but overall, a great finish for our Bass Pro Shops Toyota. … For us to end up second was a good recovery.”

The Hoosier led the field to green after taking his sixth pole of 2025 on Saturday. While he lost the lead on the initial start to Byron, Briscoe paced the bulk of Stage 2 after his No. 19 crew got him off pit road first during the stage break.

An untimely caution during the ensuing green flag pit cycle briefly trapped Briscoe in the midfield, but it put him on the strategy that ultimately had him in position to win. He did what he could from there, fending off Brad Keselowski and Ryan Blaney in the closing laps to maintain the spot, but there were just too many cautions to force Byron to pit road.

Unfortunately for Briscoe, two of those cautions also happened to be tied to him. He was involved in separate accidents with Toyota teammates Erik Jones, Christopher Bell and Tyler Reddick shortly after restarts in the final stage.

The cause of the first accident was up for debate, but Briscoe took full blame for washing up the track and spinning Reddick into Bell.

“I just want to apologize to the No. 45 and the No. 20,” Briscoe said. “That was just a really boneheaded move on my part. Got in there, got loose and ruined their day. Just 100 percent on me.”