NASCAR: 5 possible Stewart-Haas Racing drivers for 2021

Possible 2021 Stewart-Haas Racing drivers: Chase Briscoe

During the last four seasons in which Stewart-Haas Racing have made exactly one change to their four-car driver lineup each year, they did not originally go with particularly young drivers. Clint Bowyer was 37 years old in 2017 and Aric Almirola was 33 in 2018.

But in the last two years, they have drifted in the opposite direction. Daniel Suarez, who had driven in the Cup Series for only two years, was still not exactly a “youth movement” driver at 27 years old in 2019, but Cole Custer was only 22 at the start of 2020.

Hiring Chase Briscoe would be a combination of Suarez and Custer, their two most recent hires. He is currently in his second season as a full-time Xfinity Series driver for the team, but he is already 25 years old. He also does not have any Cup Series experience.

With the departure of the “Big 3” from the Xfinity Series to the Cup Series ahead of the 2020 season, Briscoe was expected to be one of the championship favorites at NASCAR’s second highest level this year, and thus far, he has lived up to that billing in what is still a super deep pool of talent that promised a season full of parity and has delivered thus far.

Briscoe is the driver most closely associated with the Tony Stewart and Gene Haas-owned Cup Series operation among those not currently driving one of their four Cup cars, and a successful Xfinity Series season could place him in one of those cars.

But if they opt not to turn to the Xfinity Series pool for the second straight year, there is another driver who is associated with the team to whom they could turn.