Chase Briscoe Is Attempting a Tony Stewart-Style NASCAR Championship Comeback

Two consecutive victories have transformed Chase Briscoe from a long-shot championship contender into one of the most dangerous drivers in NASCAR. Now he faces the same challenge his childhood hero conquered in 2011.

Three weeks ago, Chase Briscoe looked like a driver who might spend the remainder of NASCAR's Chase fighting for a respectable championship finish rather than the title itself. Kyle Larson was beginning to separate himself from the field, and Briscoe's early postseason results had left him with a deficit that appeared increasingly difficult to overcome. Strong finishes would help, but they weren't going to be enough. Briscoe needed to start winning races, preferably while collecting as many stage points as possible.

He has done exactly that.

After finishing fourth at Kansas, Briscoe dominated Las Vegas and followed it with another victory at Charlotte, becoming the first driver to win consecutive Chase races in 2026. The results have reduced his championship deficit from 123 points entering Las Vegas to 65 following Charlotte, a 58-point improvement in just two races. More importantly, Briscoe has emerged as one of the fastest drivers in the field at exactly the point in the season when speed matters most.

The comparison to Tony Stewart is almost impossible to ignore, particularly because Briscoe has repeatedly identified Stewart as his racing hero. Stewart's legendary 2011 championship run remains one of the most remarkable postseason performances in NASCAR history. After struggling through much of the regular season, Stewart entered the 10-race Chase without a victory and proceeded to win five of the final 10 races, ultimately claiming the championship over Carl Edwards in one of the closest title fights NASCAR has ever seen.

Briscoe isn't following an identical path, but the similarities are becoming increasingly interesting. Both drivers entered the championship stretch needing a dramatic improvement in results, and both suddenly found the speed that had been missing earlier in the year. Briscoe has also demonstrated the ability to challenge Larson directly, something that was on display at Kansas before becoming even more obvious during his victories at Las Vegas and Charlotte.

The Charlotte win may ultimately say more about Briscoe's championship potential than the dominant performance at Las Vegas. At Kansas, Briscoe briefly took the lead from Larson before struggling with the handling of his Toyota and losing the advantage. At Las Vegas, he controlled the race for most of the afternoon and held off Larson's late charge. Charlotte presented a completely different challenge, with Briscoe needing to survive a long green-flag run while Bell steadily closed from behind.

That kind of situation tests more than outright speed. It requires a driver to manage tires, adapt to changing handling conditions and trust the people making decisions on pit road. Briscoe's No. 19 team delivered on every part of that equation. The pit crew completed the three fastest stops of the race, including the crucial final stop that allowed Briscoe to take the lead from Bell. The driver then spent 61 laps protecting that advantage before surviving the final-lap battle that produced the closest Cup finish of the season.

There is something fitting about Briscoe finding this form while driving the No. 19 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing. The organization has demonstrated competitive speed throughout the season, but Briscoe has become the driver turning that speed into the kind of victories that define championship runs. Bell remains ahead of him in the standings, and Hamlin is still Larson's closest challenger, yet neither has been able to match Briscoe's recent results. Over the last two weeks, the No. 19 has become the car everyone else is measuring themselves against.

The difficult part is that Larson refuses to go away. Despite Briscoe winning both races, Larson finished second at Las Vegas and sixth at Charlotte, collecting enough points to expand his lead over Hamlin. That has kept Briscoe from making an even larger jump in the standings. The gap is closing, but with only four races remaining, 65 points is still an enormous amount of ground to recover against a driver who has been remarkably consistent throughout The Chase.

The upcoming schedule will test whether Briscoe's recent run is something special or simply a dominant stretch on intermediate tracks. Phoenix comes next, followed by Talladega and Martinsville before the championship concludes at Homestead. Briscoe has demonstrated the speed to win at traditional mile-and-a-half tracks, but he will need to carry that performance into several different styles of racing. Phoenix requires a different approach, Talladega introduces a level of unpredictability that can destroy an afternoon without warning, and Martinsville rewards drivers who can manage track position while surviving the inevitable contact.

Homestead may provide the most interesting opportunity if Briscoe can remain close enough to Larson over the next three races. The championship finale returns to another intermediate oval, the type of racetrack where the No. 19 has recently looked nearly unbeatable. If Briscoe enters that event within striking distance, there is every reason to believe he could challenge for the race victory and potentially the championship.

That possibility is exactly why the Tony Stewart comparison has become such an appealing storyline. Stewart didn't win his 2011 championship by slowly accumulating respectable finishes. He got hot, started winning and refused to let anyone stop him. Briscoe is attempting something similar, although the current NASCAR scoring system and Larson's consistent results create a very different mathematical challenge.

There is also something refreshing about a championship fight where a driver can overcome a difficult beginning through sheer performance. Briscoe wasn't given a reset to erase his deficit. NASCAR didn't advance him automatically because he won Las Vegas. He had to earn every point at Charlotte, and he will have to continue doing that through the remaining four races.

Whether he ultimately catches Larson remains an open question. The No. 5 has been remarkably consistent, and Briscoe is still relying on the possibility that something eventually goes wrong for the championship leader. But the No. 19 has already accomplished something important by turning what looked like a lost championship opportunity into a legitimate storyline.

Tony Stewart needed five wins in 10 races to complete his legendary comeback.

Chase Briscoe has two straight.

Now we get to find out how far he can take it.