"Hamlin wouldn’t have hesitated": Fans react as Chase Briscoe laments P2 finish to JGR teammate at Dover 

Chase Briscoe finished second in Sunday’s (July 20) Cup Series race at Dover Motor Speedway. His Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin won it, marking his fourth win of the season and 58th overall.

Although it was a good day for Briscoe’s team, given he picked up 44 points and logged his eighth top-five of the season, the driver felt that no placing, other than the win itself, actually matters. Conveying his thoughts through a recent post on X, the Mitchell, Indiana native wrote:

“Well dang… if you ain’t first, you’re last.”

Several fans reacted to the statement, with one wondering why Briscoe had met Hamlin beat him to the checkered flag. They wrote:

“Coming to the white, you have to clear yourself. Hamlin wouldn’t have hesitated if he was in your position. So why take it easy on him?”

On that note, another fan commented:

“Too bad you cant spin out your teammate.”

Here are a few other reactions to Chase Briscoe commenting on his runner-up finish in the AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Dover Motor Speedway.

“Second is better than last,” a fan wrote. “Go get em next week Chase!” wrote another. “Such a good race you ran, though. Next time!” someone wrote. “At least you helped your teammate, win, maybe you’ll get them next week at Indy,” another added.

Briscoe’s eyes are now set on the Brickyard 400 Cup Series race at Dover Motor Speedway. Scheduled for this coming Sunday, July 27, the 400-lap race will be shown live on TNT Sports (2 p.m. ET), with radio coverage on PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Chase Briscoe opens up on racing Denny Hamlin toward the end of their Dover outing

When the field entered Turn 1 during that last-lap stretch, Chase Briscoe thought he was going to outrun Denny Hamlin, who was running on older tires. But that did not happen.

Hamlin managed to hold on to the lead coming to Turns 1 and 2, and despite Briscoe’s best efforts, he did not let go. Although not the happiest about his P2 finish, Briscoe lauded his JGR teammate, saying (via NBC Sports):

“He was able to hang right there – another two or three inches and I thought I was going to win the race. He did a great job, obviously there is a reason that guy has won nearly 60-something Cup races.” “Glad that we were able to have a good finish. Obviously would have loved to win the race but we had a fifth-to-10th place car and we ended up second, so a lot to be proud of with our Bass Pro Shops Toyota. I’m looking forward to going home next week,” he added.

Chase Briscoe will enter next week’s race eighth in the driver standings with 570 points. Denny Hamlin is fourth with 663 points, 39 behind point-leader and former Cup Series champion, Chase Elliott.

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Edited by Samya Majumdar