Chase Briscoe 2022 season in review

Editor’s note: This continues the series of season reviews for select 2022 NASCAR Cup Series drivers. See more: Bubba Wallace, Erik Jones, Martin Truex Jr., Alex Bowman, Kevin Harvick, Tyler Reddick, Kyle Busch, Austin Cindric, Austin Dillon, Chris Buescher, Daniel Suárez Driver: Chase Briscoe Car: No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang Crew chief: Johnny Klausmeier Final 2022 ranking: 9th Key stats: 1 win, 6 top fives, 10 top 10s, 1 pole, 280 laps led How 2022 ended: While the “upset” fable might be overused, it described Briscoe’s 2022 playoff campaign quite handily, considering he was able to claw his way through the Round of 16 (+14) and Round of 12 (+2), outlasting the likes of Tyler Reddick and 2021 Cup champ Kyle Larson, to name a pair. And while the 28-year-old eventually succumbed to elimination in the Round of 8, 2022 certainly marked an improvement over 2021, where he only compiled three top-10 finishes as a full-time rookie. In other words, do not let Briscoe’s finish in the standings fool you. It might seem low, considering he was a playoff driver, but make no mistake – Briscoe’s sophomore season at the Cup level was just what the doctor ordered for the No. 14 team. Best race: Phoenix spring race. Given it was Briscoe’s first Cup victory made enough sense to warrant this selection, but other factors made this pick an easy layup. For starters, the race was Briscoe’s only 2022 performance that saw him stay inside the top 15 for the race’s entirety. Leading a season-high and Cup career-high 101 laps only further highlighted Briscoe’s dominance during the spring performance in the desert. And in the end, the result netted him a win and a playoff berth. For that, it only made sense to tally this race at the top of the list. But then again, some savvy wheel-turning at the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course to eventually sneak Briscoe into the Round of 8 wasn’t far behind, either. RELATED: Briscoe becomes 200th winner in premier series history | Chase Briscoe catches 'Hail Mary' to reach Round of 8 Other season highlights: Scrappy, not flashy, can sometimes reap more benefits. One could immediately come to that conclusion when looking at Briscoe’s postseason stretch. While the No. 14 driver didn’t come away with a win during the 10-race campaign, he finished inside the top 15 in eight of those 10 races and inside the top 10 in six of those eight. And keep in mind, this was after Briscoe began postseason play with a 27th-place finish at Darlington to begin the Round of 16. If not for finishing 36th at Homestead-Miami in the Round of 8, it is possible Briscoe even finds a way into Championship 4 consideration, given he finished fourth and ninth during the two other Round of 8 races (Las Vegas and Martinsville, respectively). Talk about a what-if. Stat to know: 13.2 average start. Briscoe started inside the top 10 in 13 different races and inside the top five in 11 of those 13, including a start on the pole at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway in June. Briscoe only started inside the top 10 once in 2021 (Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course). Should Briscoe clean up his average finish just a pinch – which marked out at 17.3 in 2022 – the No. 14 team could take an even greater leap in positive production come 2023. Quotable: "For me, it's kind of been like that my whole career, you know? Nobody expected me to ever get to this point. Nobody expected I'd make it into the Truck Series. And, you know, we've just scratched and clawed and never gave up, and it's kind of the same." – Briscoe on embracing underdog role during NASCAR postseason RELATED: Chase Briscoe embraces underdog role through NASCAR Playoffs Looking ahead: Third time’s the charm, right? That is exactly what Briscoe and the No. 14 team will go with as 2023 looms large. A resurgent sophomore season following a disappointing rookie campaign was the first step toward positive production, and in the end, it helped find Briscoe deep in the championship hunt in 2022. With a touch more consistency from start to finish, Briscoe could very well take another jump forward. Perhaps having an “underdog” ideology helps, too.