Chase Briscoe climbed in the #14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang this season with a tonne of responsibility on his shoulders. Being the longest tenured driver in Tony Stewart’s camp after the departure of Kevin Harvick and Aric Almirola, he is expected to lead and perform to take the team back to winning ways. However, ten races into the season, adding further pressure on him is his contract situation.
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The 29-year-old driver is currently in his option year at the team. That is, Stewart-Haas Racing can decide if it wants to retain him after 2024 or not based on other interests. With talks of the team downsizing to a three-car operation beyond the ongoing season gathering momentum, Briscoe is unquestionably in a tough spot. However, he believes that the situation is still in his hands.
Talking to Fox Sports reporter Bob Pockrass in a recent interview, he expressed that winning races is the solution to whatever predicament that exists. “Obviously, there’s a ton of rumors going around,” he said. “I texted all of our team guys and just said ‘Look, if we can just focus on what we can focus on week in and week out, I can assure you if we’re winning races, no matter what shakes out, we’re going to be totally fine.”
He continued that he would be able to overcome whatever obstacle that came his way by running up front every week. Briscoe’s model to follow on this front is team icon Kevin Harvick. He’d spoken in an earlier interview with Pockrass about how Harvick was able to lead SHR by being the outfit’s best driver and that he hoped to do the same. He reiterated the same in their recent conversation.
Briscoe’s aspiration to follow on the footsteps of Kevin Harvick to lead SHR
Briscoe’s belief is that people listen to a driver who is able to perform on the track and accept him as a leader. He attributes Harvick’s stature in SHR to the same ability. He acknowledged to Pockrass that his long presence in the garage alone doesn’t warrant enough for him to be called the leader and that he will have to display his potential on the race track for that.
He said, “That is my goal. Just because I’m there the longest doesn’t make me the leader. The leader is going to be the guy that is running up front the most, and that’s the guy they’re going to listen to.” Going forward, Briscoe’s goal is to lead by example. Despite the lack of a win this season, he trusts that he is on the right path to not only extend his contract but also to step into the shoes of Harvick.
