Chase Briscoe is a third-generation race car driver, who has advanced from racing grassroots dirt track events in his home state of Indiana to the highest level of motorsports, the NASCAR Cup Series. From sleeping on couches while trying to make a name for himself in the NASCAR ranks, his story reads like a movie script. Scrapping and clawing to get to where he is today, Chase now competes for his childhood hero, fellow Indiana-native and NASCAR Hall of Famer, Tony Stewart, driving the No. 14 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing.
Chase was born in Mitchell, Indiana, on December 15th, 1994 to Kevin Briscoe, a mobile home salesman and part-time dirt racer, and Jamie Briscoe, a homemaker. Chase's grandfather owned dirt sprint cars driven by such legendary names as Dave Blaney, Jack Hewitt, Steve Kinser and others. His father raced for over 20 years and won more than 150 feature events, plus claimed track championships at Tri-State Speedway (Haubstadt, IN) and Bloomington Speedway (Bloomington, IN).
Chase's first experience behind the wheel came in 2001. Driving a quarter midget, he won his first heat race and then won the feature event later that evening. Chase moved on to mini-sprints and, when he was only 13 years of age, stepped into a powerful 410 sprint car. He finished 10th out of 40 cars, in his first race. After 37 starts in his first season, Chase racked up 8 top-5 finishes, 17 top-10 finishes and broke Jeff Gordon's record of the youngest driver ever to win a 410 sprint race.
Chase continued to race sprint cars throughout the midwest until he was 19 years old. At that point, the financial burden of team ownership for the Briscoe family racing team nearly ended Chase's racing career. On a whim, Chase clicked an advertisement for the PEAK Stock Car Dream Challenge. The program was billed as "a chance to join Michael Waltrip Racing as a rookie stock car driver". Despite having no experience in a stock car, and never had driven a vehicle with a manual transmission, Chase applied and was selected as one of the nine prospects to participate in the program of over 700 total applicants. He would win all but one of the on-track competitions but would fall short of winning the promotion. He was able to race in two regional NASCAR events and, in the process, catch the eyes of several NASCAR team executives. With a boost of confidence, Chase knew that he had what it took to eventually make it in the NASCAR ranks.
Staying eager to make it in stock car racing, Chase decided to move to North Carolina, where the majority of the stock car racing teams were based. He slept on the couch of a friend while working for free for lower-funded teams within the industry, gaining more knowledge about the sport and developing connections along the way. In 2015, Chase started working for Cunningham Motorsports, an ARCA team. After volunteering for the majority of the year, team owner Briggs Cunningham III rewarded Chase's work ethic by allowing him to race in two ARCA races, the first at Lucas Oil Raceway, in Clermont, Indiana, and the second at Salem Speedway, in Salem, Indiana. Chase finished 10th at Lucas Oil Raceway and 5th at Salem. But it wasn't enough to earn a full-time opportunity.
The following offseason, Chase had all but given up on his dream of competing in NASCAR. He began the journey back home, to Indiana, but made a quick detour to Cunningham's home in Kentucky, to personally thank him for the two-race opportunity earlier in the year. Just wanting to shake his hand and show Cunningham his appreciation, the quick stop turned into an hours long conversation and a more solid friendship developed. The next day, Chase received a call from Cunningham, who offered him a full-time driving position in the Cunningham Motorsports No. 77 car for the 2016 season. Chase would make the most of the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity by rewarding Cunningham with six victories and the 2016 ARCA Series championship, an incredible feat for a driver with limited stock car racing experience.
Boosted by the ARCA Series championship, Chase advanced to the NASCAR Truck Series in 2017 with the backing of Ford, where he would compete for NASCAR Cup Series champion, Brad Keselowski, and his Brad Keselowski Racing team that had become a proving grounds for young, Ford talent. Chase finished sixth in the final standings, with four poles, ten top-5 finishes and a victory in the season finale event at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The strong season allowed him to make the next step, with a part-time driving role in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, split between Stewart-Haas Racing and Roush-Fenway Racing. In just his 14th career NASCAR Xfinity Series start, competing for Stewart-Haas Racing, Chase won the inaugural race on the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval configuration. It was another monumental accomplishment that would catapult him into a full-time NASCAR Xfinity Series ride with Stewart-Haas Racing for the 2019 season, pressing him one step closer to his dream of competing in the NASCAR Cup Series.
Chase would capture his second NASCAR Xfinity Series win at Iowa Speedway in 2019, while also securing Rookie of the Year honors in the division. In 2020, he was immediately viewed as a favorite to win the championship. At the start of the season, he commented that he would need to likely win "at least eight races or so" to be considered for a promotion to the next level, the premier NASCAR Cup Series. He would proceed to win an incredible nine races and would battle for the championship at the season finale at Phoenix Raceway, ultimately finishing 4th in the final standings.
Although the success he needed to make the next step was present in 2020, a few other pieces needed to come together to make it happen. In the final months before the start of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season, sponsor HighPoint decided to take the step and continue the journey with Chase. In an emotional moment captured on social media, Chase was invited to the Indiana home of his childhood hero and team owner of Stewart-Haas Racing, Tony Stewart, where he and his family would be surprised with the news that he would be taking over driving duties of the No. 14 car in the NASCAR Cup Series, the same car that Stewart himself guided to the 2011 NASCAR Cup Series championship. After a successful initial season in the series, Chase would earn Rookie of the Year honors, a feat that Stewart accomplished in his rookie season of 1999.
A little over a year after earning the promotion to compete in the NASCAR Cup Series, Chase would find Victory Lane for the first time, winning the fourth race of the 2022 season at Phoenix Raceway. He would enter the history books as the 200th overall winner in the NASCAR Cup Series. The win would provide him the opportunity to compete in the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs and a shot at the championship. After marching through the first two rounds of the playoffs, Chase's Cinderella-type run would come up short and he would finish an impressive 9th in the final standings.
With Stewart-Haas Racing announcing plans to close at the conclusion of the 2024 season, Chase has been tapped by Joe Gibbs Racing, and sponsor Bass Pro Shops, to take over driving duties of the No. 19 car, beginning in 2025.
