Following the conclusion of the race at the at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course, NASCAR announced they would review Cole Custer’s last lap block, However, they also noted that no matter what the review discovers it wouldn’t affect the playoff field.
Cole Custer, Austin Dillon, and Chase Briscoe via NASCAR YouTube
On the last lap of the race, Chase Briscoe had just made a pass on Eric Jones and was beginning to work on Austin Dillon. His Stewart-Haas racing teammate Cole Custer just happened to be the next car ahead of Dillon. Going into one of the turns, Briscoe drove it in hard to the inside to pass both Custer and Dillon.
Custer appeared to brake early, putting a block on Dillon and Jones and giving Briscoe some breathing room.
During the race, Dale Earnhardt Jr. commented, “Cole Custer throwing a block right there on everybody.”
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Briscoe ended up finishing the race in ninth and it secured him the final playoff spot going into the Round of 8 by just two points over defending NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson. Custer ended up finishing 24th.
Not only was Larson eliminated, but so was Austin Cindric, Daniel Suárez, and Alex Bowman, who did not start the race due to a concussion he suffered at Texas.
Chase Briscoe via NASCAR YouTube
Following the conclusion of the race, NASCAR announced they would be reviewing Cole Custer’s actions on the final lap.
A statement from NASCAR read, “NASCAR is reviewing data, video and radio transmissions from the 41 car following its incident on the backstretch during the final lap.”
“NASCAR will communicate the results of the review early this week. Any potential penalties would not affect the Round of 8 field,” it concluded.
Erik Jones, Cole Custer, Austin Dillon, Tyler Reddick, and Chase Briscoe via NASCAR YouTube
Whether or not Custer did indeed block Briscoe doesn’t really seem to matter given NASCAR noted it would not affect the Round of 8 field. It’s possible they could dole out some kind of punishment, but it’s hard to imagine the punishment would actually deter other teams from having their drivers perform similar actions moving forward.
Regardless of what NASCAR rules, this statement confirms that you can and should have your teammates helping you advance to the next round or even win the championship at Phoenix later this year.
Chase Briscoe via NASCAR on FOX YouTube
As for whether Custer did block Dillon and Jones, NBC Sports analyst Parker Kligerman noted that Briscoe drove it in extremely hard and braked very late going into the chicane.
He shared a graph of Briscoe’s braking patterns and wrote on Twitter, “For those of you who do not think Chase Briscoe braked late into the back stretch chicane on the final lap. He started braking 1 second later than his fastest lap at 160 mph. He also was going almost 5 mph faster by the time he released the brake at the end of braking zone.”
Parker Kligerman Twitter
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Following the race, Briscoe was ecstatic saying, “Just proud of my race team to stay in it, keep me in it, and yea we got a little luck there at the end. We were going to move on if it wasn’t for that debris caution and had some crazy stuff happen those last five or six laps, but just super proud of us as a race team to believe in ourself when I don’t think anybody else believed in us. Just proving people wrong, looking forward to this Round of 8 and hopefully trying to get to Phoenix.”
Specifically detailing his emotions he said, “I think that’s the most motivated I’ve ever been in my life inside a race car. That last restart or not the last restart, but the one where we all had old tires. I think I restarted ninth and I think I was able to get to fourth or fifth by turn 2 or 3 and thought I was in a really good spot and went in to the back stretch and the three just dumped me. You go from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows.”
“I think that’s the most motivated I’ve ever been in my life inside the race car.” – @ChaseBriscoe_14 pic.twitter.com/reQsNT1ovb
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) October 10, 2022
The Round of 8 moves to Las Vegas Motor Speedway next weekend. It also includes Homestead-Miami Speedway, and concludes at Martinsville Speedway.
The eight drivers fighting for the chance to be in the Championship race at Phoenix Raceway include Chase Elliott, Joey Logano, Ross Chastain, Christopher Bell, Ryan Blaney, William Byron, Denny Hamlin, and Chase Briscoe.
NASCAR Twitter
What do you make of NASCAR announcing this review, but also noting it wouldn’t affect the Round of 8 field?