Stewart-Haas Racing will make changes to the pit crew for its No. 14 Ford Mustang Dark Horse team, after driver Chase Briscoe advanced into the ‘Round of 12’ in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.
The organization will be swapping the pit crews from the No. 4 and No. 14 teams, beginning with Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway, the opening race in the second round of the postseason.
Daniel Coffey (front changer), Daniel Smith (rear changer), Mason Flynt (tire carrier), Evan Marchal (fueler), and Brandon Banks (jackman) will spend the final seven races of the year working alongside Chase Briscoe and Richard Boswell on the No. 14 team.
Josh Berry, driver of the No. 4 Ford Mustang Dark Horse, will have Shayne Pipala (front changer), Dakota Ratcliff (rear changer), Jon Erik Bernal (tire carrier), Corey Coppola (fueler), and Kapil Fletcher (jackman) performing pit stops for the remainder of the year.
Although the No. 14 pit crew has been pretty solid all year, the No. 4 team has consistently had the highest-ranked pit crew out of the Stewart-Haas Racing stable, making the decision a no-brainer as Briscoe looks to advance into the ‘Round of 8’.
During the final pit stop in last Saturday’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol, the No. 14 team had a miscue on pit road, dropkicking Briscoe down to 15th in the running order, after putting a top-five run together throughout the opening 300-plus laps of the event.
The Mitchell, Indiana native was able to drive through the pack rather quickly, eventually moving back into the top five. In the closing laps of the race, after the longest green-flag run of the night, the No. 14 dropped back to finish in eighth place, a result good enough to bring him to the next round of the Playoffs.
Josh Berry did not qualify for the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, making this pit crew swap more feasible. However, Berry is locked in a battle for Rookie of The Year honors with Carson Hocevar, where he sits 56 points behind the Spire Motorsports driver.
The Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway will take place on Sunday, September 29th at 3:00 PM ET. Coverage of the event will be on USA Network, the NBC Sports App, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90).
