Briscoe looking for turnaround at Stewart-Haas Racing
Stewart-Haas Racing team owner Tony Stewart didn't hold back during a SiriusXM interview last Tuesday night, calling his organization's performance over the past two years, "unacceptable."
And he went further.
“I'm tired of taking the blame for everybody (for) why the cars aren't running (well). I think the fans need a reality check and a reminder that I'm not the crew chief, I'm not the engineer, I don't dictate the setups on the cars. I give these guys the tools to do the job and we just haven't got it done the last couple of years.”
So, Chase Briscoe, how ya feelin' entering the 2024 season?
"I think there's definitely pressure," Briscoe said via phone interview the next day. "This is the most pressure-packed I've felt going into a Cup season just with everything on the line."
There's a good case to be made that no driver in the sport is feeling the squeeze quite like Briscoe entering Sunday's Daytona 500.
With Kevin Harvick's retirement and Aric Almirola's departure, Briscoe, at age 29, is the elder statesmen of the SHR four-team contingent in terms of Cup Series experience as he enters his fourth season. His victory in the spring of 2022 is the only Cup win of any driver in the organization.
"I knew that Kevin, realistically, wasn't going to be around forever but I didn't expect him and Aric to leave in the same year," Briscoe said. "I figured (the leader) would be Aric for a while and truthfully, I'd be eight or nine years into it before I'd be that guy if I was even still here.
"It's a unique situation I never thought I'd find myself in for a really long time but it's a great opportunity and one that hopefully, we can capitalize on this year."
Just four years ago, Briscoe won nine races piloting one of the organization's Xfinity Series cars. Coming into a Cup Series program that has won 69 races since 2009 and a pair of Cup Series titles (Stewart in 2011, Harvick in 2014) the future couldn't have seemed brighter.
And yet, slowly, the bottom has dropped out from under SHR. Briscoe's win in 2022 and a resulting playoff berth, in which he finished ninth, was certainly the highlight. But while Harvick made the postseason last year, being eliminated in the Round of 16, the other three SHR entries finished outside the top 20 in points and the entire organization was winless.
With the weight more on his shoulders than ever and with the boss man unhappy, one would think Briscoe may be in a dark place. But to the contrary, he's more than optimistic entering what could be a career- and organization-defining season.
“I definitely feel really good about where we're at,” Briscoe said. “We have a great opportunity this year with all the change we've had and throw in the fact that (the Ford Mustangs) have a new body this year and I'm excited. It's hard to say where we're really going to stack up and be once the season starts but I definitely feel like we're in a much better place than we were last year.”
Change is evident everywhere Briscoe looks. In the driver lineup around him, the paint on the walls in the race shop, even in the Stewart-Haas logo that adorns the cars and fire suits. And for an organization trying to leave the past couple of years in the rearview as soon as possible, maybe an overhaul is a good thing.
But as much as Stewart wants a company turnaround, Briscoe is right with him and enters 2024 feeling like a driver that still has much to prove.
“I'm more determined and focused than ever,” Briscoe said. “I definitely know what I'm capable of doing and I want to show that. Hopefully, we'll have all the pieces put together this year and we can finally go show what we can do.”
Daytona was one of the bright spots for Stewart-Haas in 2024
The good news for the Stewart-Haas cars?
Perhaps the brightest spot of the season in 2023 as an organization came the last time NASCAR visited Daytona International Speedway.
Briscoe won the pole for last summer's
Coke Zero Sugar 400 and led a race-high 67 laps with the four Stewart-Haas cars combining to lead 84.
“Last year especially, the Fords were quick. The Stewart-Haas cars specifically, we would always qualify up front,” Briscoe said.
Unfortunately, last year's summer Daytona race may be remembered most for how a Stewart-Haas car finished, with Ryan Preece enduring a horrific crash on the backstretch in the latter stages that Briscoe was alo swept up in. Briscoe and Preece finished 30th and 31st respectively.
But that's part of superspeedway racing, something Briscoe knows all too well. So, when it comes to his chances this weekend, he's optimistic but cautious.
“It's hard to understand what you put yourself through and what you're willing to do to win these superspeedway races but that's why we all sign up to do it,” Briscoe said. “If I get out at the end and we didn't crash, I definitely enjoyed it more than if we were to have crashed.”