"We never gave up. That's been the story of my whole career, never giving up," Briscoe told NBC. "You never know what can change at any point. Felt like we were good enough. We came from the front to the back two or three different times. Had a really good Bass Pro Shops Tracker Toyota. Wish we could have been on an even playing field at some point.
"Obviously thankful for the opportunity. So excited to be at Joe Gibbs Racing, be able to compete for wins and compete for championships. Hate that one of us didn't get it. I thought we were both certainly capable. This wasn't our day."
On Lap 106, a caution was thrown for Shane van Gisbergen of Trackhouse Racing, who also suffered a tire failure. It was fortuitous timing for the championship-seeking 30-year-old from Mitchell, Indiana, who incurred his own tire issue simultaneously but was able to slow down entering Turn 1 and gather up his Toyota without suffering major damage. However, the No. 19 Toyota was forced to return to pit road for a second stop after reporting a vibration issue, relegating Briscoe to outside the top 25. Briscoe started Sunday's race from 12th position, working his way up to fifth before the tire issue. He suffered a flat left-rear tire during Friday's 50-minute practice session, limiting him to just 24 laps of track time. During the final stage, Briscoe was up to second and running down William Byron for the lead. Fellow Championship 4 competitor Kyle Larson suffered a flat tire, and a lap later, the No. 19 Toyota had another tire go down. Briscoe made it to pit road without further incident. Briscoe was still scored on the lead lap after the incident. He climbed back inside the top five with under 30 laps to go, but on older tires, faded late. Byron crashed from second with under five laps to go, shaping up a wild NASCAR Overtime in which Larson prevailed for his second title. It's a bitter ending for Briscoe right now, but he expects more Championship 4 berths in the future. MORE: Hear from Briscoe"Certainly we think we can get back here. James (Small, crew chief) and I were talking; we don't even feel like we're at our full potential yet," Briscoe said. "I definitely feel confident we can get back.
"This year to prove to myself and certainly a lot of other people, too, that I feel like I belong here, right? So yeah, looking forward to obviously building on that. Really this year I felt like we gave the field half a season head start because we were learning so much throughout the process. We'll start on an even playing field next year, see if we can be better."
No. 19 crew chief James Small said on the team radio and post-race that he'd chalked the tire issues up to debris and not overly aggressive strategy with air pressures. After the final pit cycle, Briscoe lined up 15th for the overtime restart and never made up the lost ground. "I think we had a good shot there," said crew chief James Small. "Yeah, should have made a different call at the end and known better. (Expletive) happens, I guess." The call he says he should have made? "(Expletive) take right-side tires, like we should have done," Small said, "but he thought he could make it work on four, which was never going to happen. Anyway, I've learned my lesson. So, all good."