NASCAR: Chase Briscoe to replace Clint Bowyer in 2021
By Asher Fair
Chase Briscoe is slated to replace Clint Bowyer at Stewart-Haas Racing behind the wheel of the #14 Ford in the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season.
Clint Bowyer confirmed two weeks ago that he would not be back behind the wheel of the #14 Ford in the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season for what would have been a fifth consecutive season with Stewart-Haas Racing.
Now Chase Briscoe, who currently competes for the Stewart-Haas Racing Xfinity Series team, has been confirmed as his replacement with HighPoint as his primary sponsor.
Here is what team co-owner Tony Stewart had to say about Briscoe’s promotion.
"“In the final three races last season, we saw a confidence in Chase that we hadn’t seen before. There was a transformation, and I think those three races last year were a preview of what we were going to see this year. He’s delivered time and time again this season and he’s definitely ready for the NASCAR Cup Series.”"
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Briscoe is currently in his third season of Xfinity Series competition and his second as a full-time driver for Stewart-Haas Racing. He landed his full-time ride in 2019 after a part-time effort in 2018 saw him secure a victory in the inaugural race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval.
After finishing in fifth place in the championship standings last season as the highest finishing non-Championship 4 driver with one victory at Iowa Speedway, the 25-year-old Mitchell, Indiana native was seen as one of the title favorites this year, and he has lived up to the hype.
Through 30 races, he leads the championship standings, and he secured his spot in the Championship 4 this past Saturday with a victory at Kansas Speedway.
He has won nine races so far this season; no other driver has won more than five. He has recorded 16 top five finishes and 20 top 10 finishes, and he has led a series-high 987 laps. His average finish of 7.9 is also the best in the series.
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Briscoe’s promotion to the Cup Series marks five straight seasons of driver changes for the four-car Ford team, and it marks two straight seasons of the team promoting one of their Xfinity Series drivers to the Cup Series. Rookie Cole Custer replaced Daniel Suarez behind the wheel of the #41 Ford ahead of the 2020 season.