Chase Briscoe earned his third win of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season in Sunday's YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, punching his ticket to the Championship 4 in the process.
Briscoe is set to join Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin in competing for his first Cup Series title, as well as two other drivers who are yet to be determined. Given his strong history at Phoenix Raceway, which includes a win in 2022, his Championship 4 berth immediately catapults him to the top of the list of championship favorites.
Yet, there's something about the idea of a Briscoe championship that doesn't quite pass the smell test. Oh, right; he's not leading those all-important full-season standings.
Chase Briscoe's 2025 season is the ultimate case study in improving throughout the year
If Briscoe still doesn't sit right as a potential champion, it's because he wasn't a driver on anybody's radar as a title threat at any point in the season until the playoffs started.
He was 13th in points after 11 races. Even at the conclusion of the regular season, he was eighth with only one win, that being a fuel strategy-induced victory at Pocono Raceway.
Now he's tied for fourth with Ryan Blaney, only 41 points back of Kyle Larson. He has the most top five finishes of any driver with 15 and the second-best average finish at 11.8.
Those two metrics may be what save him from generating the same hostile reaction as the typical Joey Logano championship, should he capture the trophy at Phoenix in two weeks, but they shouldn't have to be. For the past four months, Briscoe has been as good as any driver in the Cup Series.
Getting better throughout the season, as Briscoe has, should matter. It's one of the biggest and most understated reasons to advocate for a playoff format (maybe just not this playoff format), not only in NASCAR, but in any sport. In his case, he spent the start of the year adjusting to a new team, and once things clicked between him and crew chief James Small, he hasn't looked back.
Yet, as decreed by the court of NASCAR fans, only the driver who scores the most points all season is allowed to be considered a valid champion. No exceptions. If Blaney wins at Martinsville Speedway at next week for the third consecutive year, you know the complaints are going to come raining in. Forget that he'd likely be running away in those standings if not for eight DNFs as a result of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
So, are we doing the "not deserving enough" thing with Briscoe? We'll just have to wait and see.