LONG POND, Pa. – Chase Briscoe weathered Ross Chastain in overtime to win an accident-ridden Xfinity Series race at Pocono Raceway, the second of NASCAR’s three on-track races on Sunday.
Pocono became the first track to hold a Truck, Xfinity and Cup race on the same day. Kevin Harvick, who won the Pocono Organics 325 on Saturday, will be looking for Cup wins on consecutive days on the track.
Chastain, an eighth-generation farmer and fourth-generation watermelon farmer, and Briscoe traded leadership in a fantastic battle on the stretch until a ninth precaution grabbed the field and sent the race to OT.
Briscoe pulled away from there in the No. 98 Ford and won his fourth race of the season and his second in three races.
“Ross and I were so much fun,” said Briscoe. “He is always one of the hardest guys to compete in.”
Chastain won the jackpot with his second place. He won the $ 100,000 Dash 4 Cash award given to the best classifier among the four eligible drivers.
“It’s hard to be upset with the second one, but I am,” said Chastain. “They are the memories we carry with us, not the money.”
Maybe, but cash does help.
“It’s more money to take home and splurge,” said Chastain.
Jeremy Clements was third, followed by Myatt Snider and Michael Annett.
Pocono became a shipwreck festival for the second race in a row, as the nine warnings that tied Trucks’ track record were fled earlier in Xfinity.
There was a big one within the remaining 40 laps that brought together several contenders for the checkered flag and rocked a serious race. Stage winners Austin Cindric and Justin Allgaier were caught in the crash. Same as Noah Gragson, pole winner Daniel Hemric and Ryan Sieg.
“I hate being out of the race early, but I also hate having a race-winning car and not being able to capitalize on it,” said Cindric.
Briscoe even regrouped after turning with the lead due to a tire problem at the end of the race. Briscoe, 25, is now halfway through his eight-win preseason goal.
The crash course was established around the time the green flag fell.
Brandon Jones, the winner of the truck, hit the wall on the first lap and was eliminated from the race. More drivers followed and the race was marked for 21 minutes with only 16 laps completed. Alex Labbe tagged the wall moments after the race turned green.
Harrison Burton, who has two Xfinity wins this season, broke free and took a brutal hit on the inside wall.
“The way I turned made me feel like there was oil, but I’m always the person who likes to think about what I could have done better and I’ll have to look back and see if I let go or what,” Burton said. “That hit seemed harder than it was, so I’m fine.”
Justin Haley received the rare penalty when NASCAR stopped him for two laps on pit road for aggressive driving after hitting Riley Herbst on the main straight. Haley insisted on the team radio that the hit was unintentional, although the two have gotten tangled on the track at times this season. Haley and his crew chief were called to meet NASCAR after the race.
“The level of respect in this race is very disappointing to me,” Cup driver Erik Jones tweeted.
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