29-year-old Chase Briscoe will be the leader of Stewart-Haas Racing’s (SHR) Cup Series line-up in 2024. Questions hover over his caliber to take after the departed icon Kevin Harvick and helm the team’s ambitions. But this one incident from the driver’s past echoes the strong sense of resilience that he possesses and champions his cause.
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A year before Briscoe broke into the Cup Series in 2021, he was a full-timer for SHR in the Xfinity Series. What began as a joyful season with some great performances on the track and the pregnancy of his wife, quickly turned downhill a day before the Toyota 300 race at the Darlington Raceway.
On May 20th, 2020 Briscoe took to social media to announce that he and his wife Marissa had lost their unborn daughter. The couple had just learned the gender of their baby but during the checkup that followed, doctors had not been able to detect a heartbeat. Briscoe, who was infield when he learned of this, was visibly broken down.
Despite what might have seemed understandable, he did not let the news affect his performance at Darlington the next day. Briscoe climbed into his #98 Ford his heart weighed down but raced like he never had before. With the reigning Cup Series champion Kyle Busch trying to outduel him in the final laps of the race, Briscoe held ground and scored the biggest win of his career.
Breaking down post-race, he said, “This is for my wife. This is the biggest day of my life after the toughest day of my life. When I took the lead with 50 laps to go, I was crying in my car. This is more than a race win.”
Around a year after the miscarriage, the couple announced in 2021 that they were once again expecting a child. In October 2021, they welcomed Brooks Briscoe into their little family.
Chase Briscoe’s tall ambitions for Stewart-Haas Racing in 2024
Following Kevin Harvick’s departure, Briscoe is now the driver with the most Cup Series experience in SHR. The team’s iconic drivers like Aric Almirola have already voiced their support for him to assume a leadership role at the outfit and Briscoe himself appears to want the same.
He said last month, “I wanna be the guy that’s running up front week in and week out and when people think about Stewart-Haas, they think of the 14 car. That’s my whole goal going into this season.”
Regardless of the driving experience he has, Briscoe displayed strong leadership character when he bounced back from the toughest day of his life and turned it into something positive. Tony Stewart could certainly benefit from someone like that championing him.
