Chase Briscoe Closes the Deal at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service

LAS VEGAS – Before the 2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series season started, Chase Briscoe suggested he could win as many as eight to 10 races this year.

In Sunday’s rain-delayed Boyd Gaming 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Briscoe got No. 1 in his second start of the season, winning the battle between the only two Fords in the race.

The driver of the No. 98 Stewart-Haas Racing Mustang held the lead after the final restart on Lap 170 of 200 and won going away, beating fellow Ford driver Austin Cindric to the finish line by 2.874 seconds.

The victory was Briscoe’s third in the series and his first at a 1.5-mile intermediate speedway.

Ryan Sieg finished third, followed by Noah Gragson and Harrison Burton.

“It’s definitely nice to get one early,” Briscoe said. “Now maybe we can go to California next week and win on a two-mile track (Auto Club Speedway).

The race was delayed by rain after completion of the first stage, won by Briscoe, on Saturday afternoon. The resumption came at 4:50 p.m. PT Sunday after completion of the Pennzoil 400 NASCAR Cup Series event, with Joey Logano taking the checkered flag in NASCAR’s premier series.

Justin Allgaier took the lead after the start of Stage 2, but Cindric grabbed the top spot on Lap 124, powering past Allgaier on the inside near the start/finish line. Cindric retained the lead after a cycle of green-flag pit stops, but when contact from Gragson’s Chevrolet sent Myatt Snider spinning on the frontstretch on Lap 162, Briscoe had the opportunity he needed to regain the lead on the final  restart.

Allgaier led 63 laps and Cindric 39. Briscoe leaves Las Vegas with a seven-point series lead over Gragson, last week’s winner at Daytona.

“Obviously, we were hoping to win sometime this year—we expected to—but to get it before Phoenix is nice because we can go there (in two weeks) and try some stuff,” Briscoe said. “That’s one place that we need to get way better at.

“That being said, it’s nice to get the points lead. It’s early in the season, yeah, but it’s a big confidence boost for all the guys.”

NASCAR Xfinity Series Race – 24th Annual Boyd Gaming 300

Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Las Vegas, Nevada

Saturday, February 22, 2020

1. (2)  Chase Briscoe, Ford, 200.
2. (6)  Austin Cindric, Ford, 200.
3. (32)  Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, 200.
4. (7)  Noah Gragson, Chevrolet, 200.
5. (3)  Harrison Burton #, Toyota, 200.
6. (9)  Brandon Jones, Toyota, 200.
7. (8)  Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 200.
8. (4)  Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 200.
9. (12)  Riley Herbst #, Toyota, 200.
10. (25)  Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 200.
11. (19)  Brandon Brown, Chevrolet, 200.
12. (11)  Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 199.
13. (20)  Josh Williams, Chevrolet, 199.
14. (22)  Jesse Little #, Chevrolet, 199.
15. (13)  Brett Moffitt(i), Chevrolet, 199.
16. (1)  Myatt Snider, Chevrolet, 199.
17. (18)  Ray Black II, Chevrolet, 199.
18. (23)  Alex Labbe, Chevrolet, 198.
19. (14)  Joey Gase, Chevrolet, 198.
20. (15)  Joe Graf Jr #, Chevrolet, 198.
21. (34)  Chad Finchum, Toyota, 198.
22. (5)  JJ Yeley, Chevrolet, 197.
23. (17)  Robby Lyons II, Chevrolet, 197.
24. (21)  David Starr, Chevrolet, 196.
25. (26)  Matt Mills, Chevrolet, 196.
26. (29)  Timmy Hill(i), Toyota, 195.
27. (31)  Joe Nemechek(i), Chevrolet, 193.
28. (27)  Vinnie Miller, Chevrolet, 192.
29. (28)  Mason Massey, Toyota, 190.
30. (33)  Kyle Weatherman, Chevrolet, 190.
31. (16)  Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, Rear Gear, 178.
32. (35)  Tommy Joe Martins, Chevrolet, Engine, 144.
33. (24)  BJ McLeod, Chevrolet, Ignition, 132.
34. (30)  Stephen Leicht, Toyota, Suspension, 101.
35. (10)  Daniel Hemric, Chevrolet, Suspension, 34.
36. (36)  Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, Vibration, 31.

Average Speed of Race Winner:  128.817 mph.

Time of Race:  2 Hrs, 19 Mins, 44 Secs. Margin of Victory:  2.874 Seconds.

Caution Flags:  5 for 28 laps.

Lead Changes:  17 among 7 drivers.

Lap Leaders:   M. Snider 0;C. Briscoe 1-2;J. Allgaier 3-19;A. Cindric 20;R. Sieg 21;C. Briscoe 22-46;A. Cindric 47;J. Graf Jr # 48-51;C. Briscoe 52-76;J. Allgaier 77-91;A. Cindric 92;J. Allgaier 93-123;A. Cindric 124-143;C. Briscoe 144;N. Gragson 145-146;R. Black II 147-148;A. Cindric 149-164;C. Briscoe 165-200.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  Chase Briscoe 5 times for 89 laps; Justin Allgaier 3 times for 63 laps; Austin Cindric 5 times for 39 laps; Joe Graf Jr # 1 time for 4 laps; Ray Black II 1 time for 2 laps; Noah Gragson 1 time for 2 laps; Ryan Sieg 1 time for 1 lap.

Stage #1 Top Ten: 98,10,22,19,7,1,20,9,11,18

Stage #2 Top Ten: 7,22,98,1,20,10,39,18,19,21