Chase Briscoe sends worrying message over radio as trend emerges at Nashville
Chase Briscoe started from pole to place himself in contention to win the NASCAR race at Nashville, but he was among a group of Toyota drivers to suffer issues
Chase Briscoe nonchalantly revealed his brake pedal was on the floor of his No. 19 Toyota Camry during a frustrating moment at Nashville Superspeedway.
After Ross Chastain won the Coca-Cola 600 last week, Briscoe secured his third pole position of the season at Nashville Superspeedway, leading the field to the green flag. He was running well and in the mix to potentially deliver a first win of the season when things went wrong.
“Brake pedal’s just on the floorboard,” Briscoe - who has had car issues this season - said to the dismay of his Joe Gibbs Racing team. The issue wasn't confined to just his Toyota either, with other drivers of the manufacturer suffering from similar issues.
- NASCAR makes rule change over driver weight in middle of season
- Novak Djokovic's physio undergoes emergency surgery at French Open
Three of the Toyotas complained of brake issues with 72 laps complete, including Tyler Reddick, Ty Gibbs, and Briscoe. Reddick simply told his 23XI Racing team: “The pedal is getting spongy.”
Then, at the start of Stage 2, Chase Elliott’s Chevrolet has some brake shake. This was due to the brakes being too cool.
Briscoe managed to not have his race completely derailed by the pedal issue. He started eighth - and took three races back pretty soon after with a stunning overtake - on a restart which came following a major crash involving Noah Gragson, Alex Bowman, and Kyle Larson.
Bowman appeared to have misjudged the corner, driving up the track before collecting Gragson. Larson reports no damage but, like many on the grid, talked of lots of handling concerns.
Larson later pitted with a potential tire issue. Reddick followed suit with a similar issue, only for Corey Heim to crash out down the Frontstretch. The Cracker Barrel 400 was quickly becoming a race of attrition.
DON'T MISS
Midway through the second stage, Christopher Bell crashed on the next restart after seemingly clipping Erik Jones when both men were battling in the top 10. Bell backed into the wall hard in turns 1 and 2 and came down as Jones drove down on the bottom lane. Chase Elliott needed to take evasive action in order to avoid Bell as he spun up the track.
The first caution of the day came after Denny Hamlin had claimed Stage 1. On Lap 113, Carson Hocevar drove hard into Turn 3 and nudged Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Stenhouse spun and backed into the wall. He needed to complete a pit stop, and needed to stop again as his toe was affected.
