Chase Briscoe had an interesting day in his No. 14 Ford. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver started the race in 30th. He didn’t make up much ground at all for much of the 334 lap event. Briscoe was 27th at the end of Stage 1, then 25th at Stage 2’s finish. So how did he end up 5th in the end of the AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 500?

Survival is how.

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On a day that saw so many drivers taken out due to tires, crashes and chaos, Briscoe stayed calm and allowed his team to work on his car all race. With staying out of everyone’s way, he was scored up front when attrition struck most of the others and he just salvaged it in the end.

“The first 90 percent of the race we were struggling,” Briscoe said. “We couldn’t get the balance of the car right. We would be too loose or too tight and could never find where we needed to be.

“After that red flag, I think the nighttime coming in kind of helped us a bit. With 80 to go we were hoping to catch more cautions and make it on fuel, and we were able to get our track position that way and it ended up working out.

“We did what we needed to do for our Rush Truck Centers Ford. We were not a fifth-place car. We weren’t even a 15th-place car. To steal some points like that is huge. Going to Talladega, we are not in a massive hole, and that is the most important thing. We will go there and hopefully have a little luck go our way and see what happens.”

This was Briscoe’s first top 10 finish since the Coca-Cola 600 on May 29. That has him still alive for this year’s championship and now heads to Talladega just 4 points below the cutline.