Revealed: The real reason why Chase Briscoe didn’t join Hendrick Motorsports
Chase Briscoe has won the Rookie of the Year award in all three national series.
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Chase Briscoe
Chase Briscoe is the future of Ford giants Stewart Hass Racing. The No: 14 Mustang driver is the heir to team legend Tony Stewart and is expected to take the No:1 driver role after Kevin Harvick’s retirement at the end of the season. But the youngster could have ended up in the SHR rival Hendrick Motorsports garage if Rick Hendrick had made the right call.
Briscoe first garnered the NASCAR team’s attention in the 2016 ARCA series while driving for Cunningham Motorsports. He scored 6 wins, including a 4 race-win streak. During the final race of his win streak, Briscoe was contacted by NASCAR legend and HMS Vice Chairman Jeff Gordan. Both parties were interested in signing the deal as the talks continued.
But Gordan put forth one demand in front of young Chase Briscoe. He should bring in some sponsorship money with him. The talk collapsed as the youngster couldn’t secure the required sponsorship. If the deal had materialized, Briscoe could have got an eventual opportunity to race for JRM in the Xfinity Series and HMS in the premier division.
“I can’t remember what week it was — maybe Michigan or Watkins Glen or something — but I remember there was a rain delay in a Cup race, and Jeff was texting me about still trying to get me to Hendrick. But obviously, they needed some sponsorship money, and I didn’t have any sponsorship money to bring at the time,” Briscoe told The Athletic about the deal.
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Chase Briscoe’s journey to the Cup series
The youngster moved to the NASCAR Truck series in the following season with Brad Keselowski Racing. He scored 1 win and 9 top 5 finishes that season and finished P6 in the championship. His solid performance inspired RFK Racing and SHR to give him part-time opportunities in the Xfinity series in 2018.
Briscoe drove in 12 races for RFK that year and scored the best finish of P9 at Indy and Chicagoland. He started 6 races for SHR the same year and scored his first win at Roval. The next year, he was given a full-time opportunity, scoring 1 win and 13 Top 5 finishes earning P5 in the championship. He bettered his tally the next season 9 wins and P4 finish in the championship.
He was promoted to the Cup series in 2021, and in his rookie season, he scored 3 top 10s for SHR and earned the Rookie of the Year award. Last year was his second full-time Cup stint, he scored his maiden and only Cup race win last year, Phoenix, and finished P9 in the championship.
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Justin P Joy
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