With four Chase races left to run, has Briscoe become NASCAR's dark horse?

Chase Briscoe felt he had to go on a Tony Stewart-esque run to win the NASCAR Cup Series championship, and he just might do it.

Briscoe made the comment on Sept. 27 after losing the race at Kansas Speedway in the final laps. At the time, Briscoe felt the race could have decided his championship hopes because he didn’t close the gap enough. He fell 123 points behind Kyle Larson, and while he admitted it wasn’t impossible, he felt he would need to do what his former boss and idol, Stewart, did in 2011: win multiple races down the stretch.

In the two races since, Briscoe is undefeated and has closed the gap to 67 points. While he still has a tall hill to climb, Briscoe and his team have given themselves a chance.

“Even when we were 123 out, you’re still going to the racetrack just to win, and the points are going to be what they are,” Briscoe said. “Ultimately, in our situation, I feel like you’re just going to the racetrack and trying to win the race because [Kyle Larson] can maintain what he’s been able to do and average a top three or top five running position, and the only way you’re going to cut into that gap is you have to win races and get that big chunk of points on him.

“I think we are certainly in contention; we probably need to win another race or two, but we at least have put ourselves in the ballgame, and that’s all you can ask for. It’s sickening knowing that I can count literally, in four laps, 75 points that I’ve given up in the last five weeks, and to be able to be 65 points out is still a great thing. But definitely a little bit of what could have been, right? We never know how it’s going to look in four weeks from now, but we just have to keep going to the racetrack and winning races ultimately, and if we can do that, the points are going to be what they’re going to be at the end.”

Meanwhile, Larson continues to have the days he needs to control the championship. Larson has finished no worse than sixth in the Chase and again extended his point lead.

Here are the Chase standings after the sixth race:

1. Kyle Larson
2. Denny Hamlin – 49
3. Christopher Bell – 51
4. Chase Briscoe – 65
5. Ryan Blaney – 85
6. Joey Logano – 92
7. Tyler Reddick – 114
8. Austin Cindric – 145
9. Ty Gibbs – 156
10. Carson Hocevar – 180
11. Bubba Wallace – 185
12. Chase Elliott – 185
13. William Byron – 208
14. Daniel Suarez – 215
15. Chris Buescher – 216
16. Ryan Preece – 227

Next stop: Phoenix Raceway. It is no longer the championship race, and this will be the first time the fall race has been run in October since 2001.

Ryan Blaney won at the track in the spring.