Briscoe’s championship hopes looked in trouble early, but a comeback for the ages turned into the biggest win of his NASCAR Cup Series career.

Briscoe, driving the #19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry, overcame a mid-race pit road penalty and survived a chaotic afternoon at Talladega Superspeedway to win the YellaWood 500, locking himself into the Championship 4 for the first time in his career.

It was a typical Talladega rollercoaster ride. Midway through Stage 1, Briscoe was nailed for entering pit road too fast during green flag stops and had to serve a costly pass-through penalty.

The setback dropped him deep in the field, but his day was far from over, for moments later, the race took its first dramatic turn.

A massive crash erupted late in Stage 1 when Erik Jones nudged Noah Gragson in the corner, triggering a multi-car wreck that swept up AJ Allmendinger, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and several others.

Most notably, Chase Elliott’s day ended in the carnage, relegating the Hendrick Motorsports driver to a 40th-place finish and in a must-win position heading to Martinsville in a week at -62 below the elimination line.

Allmendinger exited his car under his own power but briefly lay beside it, catching his breath after a vicious impact to the right side.

“I feel alright — it knocked the breath out of me,” Allmendinger said.

“As I stopped, I thought the car was on fire. I got out and had to catch my breath. Hard hit for an old guy.”

Elliott kept his reaction short.

“It is what it is, all eyes on Martinsville now,” he said.

Ty Gibbs narrowly held off Tyler Reddick to win the first stage, but it was Briscoe who started clawing back in Stage 2.

After a spin by Shane van Gisbergen during green flag pit stops bunched up the field, Briscoe capitalised on the restart, powering to the Stage 2 victory.

The final stage was a high-stakes chess match among playoff contenders.

A caution with roughly 20 laps remaining set up a tense restart featuring Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, Kyle Larson, and William Byron all in contention.

Then, with just two laps to go, Chris Buescher spun from the lead, sending the race into overtime.

Strategy and fuel became the story from there, as both Team Penske cars were forced to pit, while Byron and Larson barely had enough to make it.

Briscoe, sitting in the perfect position with enough fuel, surged ahead on the restart and held off the pack to claim the win and an automatic berth into the Championship 4.

“I mean, I honestly would not have won that race without Ty [Gibbs],” Briscoe said.

“An amazing team effort. I can’t believe I won a superspeedway race. I haven’t done it at any level.”

Larson ran out of gas on the backstretch will contending for the win, and Byron got spun out coming to the checkered flag. A lot of points lost in the final lap for the two Hendrick Motorsports drivers.

For Joe Gibbs Racing, the victory was a major statement. Briscoe joins teammate Denny Hamlin as the first two drivers locked into the title round, giving JGR half the championship field with one race left in the Round of 8, and Christopher Bell in prime position to point his way into the championship.

Results: NASCAR Cup Series YellaWood 500, Talladega Superspeedway