Stewart-Haas swaps pit crews to boost Briscoe's playoff chances
Today at 01:32 PM
Stewart-Haas Racing is swapping pit crews ahead of Sunday's race at Kansas Speedway — the start of the Round of 12 in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.
Chase Briscoe, who is still championship eligible and the only Stewart-Haas driver who earned a postseason berth, will be pitted by the crew that had been on Josh Berry's No. 4 Ford Mustang. Briscoe's crew, who had been with him on the No. 14 Ford Mustang, will go to work with Berry.
"It’s been humbling, just from the whole company, all embracing the 14 car and doing everything they can to make have the best potential to win the championship," Briscoe said Saturday. "That’s been cool — to have employees literally feel like they’re on your back and riding with you every single weekend. Then, just as a company, SHR from the day I’ve been there, has never worked as well as they have right now, all four crew chiefs, all four drivers. We even saw it last week. Noah was genuinely excited for me to make it onto the next round of the playoffs and and the 10 car has been going to the racetrack identical to us every week for the last three weeks, and even this week now the as well.
"I do think that’s a little unique where, since I am the only car in, and even our situation with the whole team shutting down, all the resources, all the effort, all the focus, everything they got is on us right now. That’s different. No other team can say that. Penske still has three cars, and they’re all three trying to make the next round, where for us, especially at a place like Talladega next week, I do think it’ll make a difference just because I’m going to have three teammates that are super committed to doing everything they can to help me."
The crew pitting the No. 14 Ford Mustang for Briscoe beginning this weekend will be Daniel Smith (rear changer), Daniel Coffey (front changer), Evan Marchal (fueler), and Mason Flynt (tire carrier), but it’s not an entirely unfamiliar crew to Briscoe.
In 2022, Stewart-Haas put some of his crew on Kevin Harvick's car as the latter tried to make the postseason. The change occurred in June before the Nashville Superspeedway race. This most recent swap between the No. 4 car, which Berry now drives following Harvick's retirement, brings those members back to Briscoe on the No. 14 car.
"I’m back kind of with my original guys," Briscoe said. "It’s tough — they’ve been able to be there and get us to this point, and that’s a decision that truthfully is made above me. I didn’t even know it was happening until they called me on Monday. The big thing I think for me is I just told those guys — I texted them all — ‘Look, you guys are just as much of the 14 team as you were last week. I know it probably doesn’t feel that way right now, but obviously, and everybody at SHR felt like that’s what gave us the best opportunity to try to move on and try to advance to the next round.’"
Briscoe was one of six playoff drivers (of the 12 who have advanced to the second round) to earn two top-10 finishes in the first round of the playoffs. His average finish in the round was 16.7.
As the second round begins, Briscoe is seven points below a transfer spot.
