While it might just seem a tier up from the NASCAR Xfinity Series to the Cup Series, but it comes with a lot of new challenges.
Stewart-Haas Racing’s No.14 driver Chase Briscoe can attest to this fact. Having recorded nine Xfinity race wins last season, Briscoe is finding it hard to compete at a level anyplace near his last season’s performance in NASCAR’s top tier.
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After all, he is now competing against the best races in the country. Also, the fact that he has to drive a new car with distinct rules packages with a new crew chief, a new team in races that are 100 to 200 miles longer doesn’t help either.
“It’s all tougher,” Briscoe said. “In the Xfinity Series, I felt like on a bad day, we would still run seventh or eighth, where now, if you have a bad day, you run 25th to 30th.”
Given that he is a rookie, Briscoe feels that he is treated in a different way than other veteran drivers.
“As a rookie, I feel like you get raced a little bit different,” Briscoe said. “You got to earn your respect in a sense.”
Nonetheless, Briscoe is not expected to deliver wins after wins this season. He is just starting out in NASCAR’s top tier and his experience this season will be useful for him to toughen for all the seasons to come.