NASCAR: One driver saw this coming from a mile away

Chase Briscoe predicted late last season what we are currently seeing in the NASCAR Cup Series Next Gen era, and he has played a key role in it.

The last 12 NASCAR Cup Series races, including the first six of the 2022 season, have been won by drivers under the age of 30, an all-time record — and by several races.

A key component of this streak has been the introduction of the Next Gen car. While half of this 12-race span includes the 2021 season, four of those six playoff races were won by eventual champion Kyle Larson.

To start the Gen 7 era, there has been a level of parity at NASCAR’s top level, specifically among the rising stars, that not many could have predicted. The first six races of the 2022 season have produced six different winners.

However, one driver predicted last fall that the “youth movement” would be on full display with the new car.

That driver, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Chase Briscoe, has played a key role in that success, scoring his first career victory at Phoenix Raceway in mid-March.

As a rookie last year, he finished in 23rd place in the championship standings without a single top five finish. Through six races this season, he sits in ninth in the point standings with that victory and another third place finish.

“I’m excited,” Briscoe admitted last fall when asked about the prospect of driving the Next Gen car. “I’m kind of nervous at the same time. It’s going to totally be different than anything we’ve driven in the past. There’s going to be a big learning curve to kind of figure out.

“But at the same time, it’s exciting, because with me being one of the more inexperienced guys out there in the Cup Series, it will be nice to kind of have a clean slate with everybody and just try to figure out who can be the fastest and figure it out quickly.”

Of the six drivers to win a race this year, three had never won before.

While Briscoe would never disrespect the many years of experience had by some of the series veterans, including two of his three teammates, he admitted that limited time in the older car could play to the advantage of some of the other talented but inexperienced drivers in the field, as they don’t have to get rid of old habits.

“I think a little bit [of an advantage],” he said. “All these guys are so good that they’re gonna all figure it out in about the same timetable, I feel like. I might not have as many habits, I guess, as some of the other guys that have run this car for 15, 20 years.

“But at the same time, the 15, 20 years they’ve run, they’ve run so many miles at these race tracks and so many laps that I almost think that’s invaluable. I don’t know; I think there’s a plus side to it, but there’s also negatives. To not having those habits, I guess, but at the same time, it’d be nice to have that kind of seat time and experience.”

So far, it has proven to be an advantage for the younger drivers who don’t need to unlearn old habits. Veteran drivers Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski sit in 14th, 22nd, and 34th place in the standings; Keselowski would still only be in 17th without the recent 100-point penalty. Only one driver in the top six in the standings, Joey Logano, is over the age of 30.