Hoosier Daddy Wins Brickyard 400 Pole
Photo by Karl Zemlin/Penske Entertainment
By Dennis Krause
Immediately after winning the pole for Sunday’s Brickyard 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Indiana-native Chase Briscoe admitted he was holding back the tears.
“Super, super special today – just to qualify on the pole here. The Daytona 500 one was cool, going three in a row was cool, but being able to set on the pole here is just so special. I got out of the car, and hearing the crowd screaming – I don’t have that happen anywhere else, so it is just so cool to experience that.
“I was on the other side of the fence when Tony (Stewart) and (Ryan) Newman, and those other guys were doing it – being one of those Indiana kids, cheering for their Indiana driver, so now to be on the other side of the fence is special for sure.”
The Brickyard 400 week allows Briscoe to get back home and see family and friends, something that he doesn’t get to do other than at Christmas.
“Totally is just a fun week for me, because outside of Christmas, is the only week that I get to go home. My entire family still lives in Mitchell, so for me to go back and be able to see my grandparents and everything – I think it honestly helps me recharge my batteries. I was able to come up on Tuesday night and have some time, and my sister got married last night, so that was fun, too.
“It has just been a really fun week to be able to come up here and do all of the things we have done, and even Brooks (Briscoe’s son) is old enough to know what is going on. He’s an Indianapolis Colts fan, and a Pacers fan – he understands what Indiana is and the significance is to it, for myself and our families, so that makes it fun for sure.”
Photo by Chris Jones/Penske Entertainment
Racing in front of your hometown family and friends can be added pressure to perform. For Briscoe, it’s anything but pressure
“It honestly is not pressure. For me, you just find this extra 5, 10 percent. I’ve talked Tony (Stewart) about it. When you are from Indiana, and you come here – you’ve seen it with Tony and (Ryan) Newman. Jeff Gordon was kind of a transplant to Indiana, but certainly with Tony – you just find that, like I said, extra five, 10 percent that you didn’t know you had and you really put that pressure on yourself when you come here.
“I think a lot of it is because of the Hoosier fan base gets behind you unlike anywhere else. There is no other race track that we go to, when I hear a driver from that state does the crowd go nuts. It is different in the state of Indiana, and for me to be that guy for the fans here, it is just really, really cool.”
Photo by Titus Slaughter/Penske Entertainment
Even with all the distractions that Briscoe has this week, the driver of the No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing has been able to maintain his focus.
“Honestly, I enjoy it,” Briscoe said. “I don’t really go to any other race track throughout the year where people are screaming my name, so it is kind of cool just to get to experience that for a weekend, every single year, but honestly, I think having all of those people around me is kind of what helps you find that five, 10 percent.
“I can’t speak for Tony (Stewart) obviously, but Tony would come here, he would have a ton of family and friends as well. You don’t get to race in front of them very often, so when you do, you want to put on a good show for them, and give them a good result and give them something to cheer for. I think it just definitely helps put things into perspective. Without that support, you probably don’t get where you are at, a lot of times, so for me, it is always enjoyable when I can have them around.
“My life is full of distractions. I feel like I’m pretty good at managing all of that, but it is nice to have all of those people here and have that support when you go to get in the car.”
Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images
A five-time pole winner this season, Briscoe is the first driver to lead the field to the green flag for the Daytona 500, the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway and now the Brickyard 400 in the same season. A pole at the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway in September would mean a sweep of the four Crown Jewel events on the Cup Series schedule - something Briscoe would very much like to do.
“I mean, yeah, for sure. I try every week to go qualify on the pole. I don’t know if anyone has ever done all four. It would be cool if not to do it, but it doesn’t matter if we are going to St. Louis or the Southern 500, I want to be on the pole. It would be really, really special to do it.
“The Southern 500 is on a track I feel really, really good about. I will say this year, that has by far been the worst race for the 19 team, but I know when we go back later in the year, we will be really, really good. It would be really special to start on the pole there too, but I would trade them all in for race wins.”
For Briscoe, a Brickyard 400 win would be a career achievement.
“Yeah, if I was able to win the Brickyard 400, it would be the biggest win of my career. I don’t think I could ever win another race that would mean more to me that I know I’ll realistically run. You know, the Indy 500 would mean more, but I’m not going to run that.
“I would put this race over the Daytona 500 because of the significance, about how many times I came to this place as a kid and what it means to me. So yeah, for me, to win on Sunday, there’s no race I’d rather win in the world, and it’d be so special to do it.”
Dennis Krause has spent decades covering all forms of motorsports, including over 40 Indianapolis 500s, with stints at WIBA Radio, PIT PASS - Radio’s Premier Motorsports Magazine and Motorsports Minute. Follow him on X @DennisKrause500 or motorsportsminute.bluesky.social or motorsportsminute on Threads or MotorsportsMinute+ on Facebook.