Column By: BOBBY CHALMERS / RPW – LOUDON, NH – Chase Briscoe went back to his roots on Friday night in the Granite State with the help from Matt Tanner and his crew.
In his first start with the Sprint Cars of New England, the NASCAR Cup Series driver for Stewart-Haas Racing showed everyone how it was done, winning the $3,000 top prize during the Dirt Duel on New Hampshire Motor Speedway’s Flat Track.
Driving a car prepared by the Matt Tanner Racing stable, Briscoe drove from his eighth starting position to quickly take the lead away from Mark Cole on the 14th circuit.
From there, he showed why he was the class of the field, taking the victory in front of the packed fan base at the dirt track.
“The track ended up being pretty good tonight in the feature,” Briscoe said. “In hot laps, it was pretty slick and as it moved in, it kept getting tackier and rougher so we were definitely “cowboyin’ up.”
On the rough racing surface, that saw multiple cars end up flipping over including Ron Davis Jr., Floyd Billington and Caleb Lamson, did Briscoe expect the type of conditions the racers were given?
“I was about out of breath after ten laps,” he said. “I really had to work tonight with as much as we were bouncing around out there.”
Now being one-for-one in his career with the Sprint Cars of New England, Briscoe was ecstatic with winning, but was more amazed at the size of the crowd that was at the track to enjoy the action.
“I really appreciate all of the fans that came out tonight,” he said. “The crowd is unbelievable. I came last year as a fan and was blown away with how many people were here. I appreciate everyone that spent their hard-earned money to come tonight. Hopefully we gave them a good enough show.”
How did this deal all come together? How did Chase find his way to one of Matt Tanner’s cars?
“Matt (Golslant) from the race track actually reached out and said if we’re going to run sprint cars at the dirt track, if you want to run one I have a guy that you can run for,” he said. “I appreciate Matt Tanner for letting me run his other car.”
How does it feel to get back behind the wheel of a sprinter?
“This was actually the first sprint car race I’ve run all year,” he said. “I was pretty excited about it. This place was definitely unlike any place I’ve ever run one of these cars on. It was as flat as flat could be and I thought I was going to be real rusty.”
For Tanner, he very nearly made it a one-two MTR (Matt Tanner Racing) sweep, but in the end, had to settle for third.
“To bring a car here for Chase, his first time in it, and he wins, that’s pretty good,” Tanner said. “That’s a testament to the team we have. I really thought we had something for him there.”
Unfortunately, at the last restart, while sitting in the runner-up spot, one slip ended up costing Tanner second.
“I thought we had something for him,” he said. “Then, on that restart, I hit the hole in turn two and shot up but I’m glad we were able to get third. This is a great event and any night you can put two cars in the top three, it’s pretty good.”
While Tanner felt like he had something for his teammate, did he need a few more laps or maybe another caution to try and correct his mistake?
“The last couple of laps, I started to run the top,” he said. “I was just trying to do something and it was actually pretty good. I probably should have moved up there earlier.”
After struggling in his heat race, to finish in the top three has to feel like a win for Tanner.
“From where we started the night to the track at the end of the feature, I’m happy,” he said. “It was pretty impressive what the officials did with this place.”
Sandwiched between the two MTR machines was defending winner of the event, Jordan Fornwalt.
Fornwalt drove a great race and maybe with another caution after he got to second, he might have had something for Briscoe but it was not to be.
However, with two top 2 finishes in the last two races, Fornwalt seems to love the little track in Loudon.
“This track’s awesome,” Fornwalt said. “The original start was a little bit funky there but we’ll take it. We have to thank the series sponsor, all of my sponsors and New Hampshire Motor Speedway for putting on this show. It’s definitely a highlight. That’s for sure.”
Rookie Jason Goff was having a stellar night aboard his #19J machine until a left rear flat tire ended his great run.
Goff won his heat race and had taken second away from Matt Cole on a lap 15 restart but unfortunately the flat tire cut his great night short just a few laps later. He was credited with 18th at the finish.
Other winners on the night at the Flat Track included Chase Rodgers in the Granite State Mini Sprints 600 feature, Seth Carlson in the Dirt Midget Association (DMA) A-Main and Jake MacIntrye in the Granite State Mini Sprints 500 feature.