UPDATE October 20, 2020 — 8:15 AM ET
Stewart-Haas Racing has officially announced Chase Briscoe as the successor to Clint Bowyer in the No. 14 car for the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season. Here is the full story:
Chase Briscoe Officially Announced as Driver of Stewart-Haas No. 14 Car For 2021
Original story: October 19, 2020 — 4:30 PM ET
Chase Briscoe, who has eight wins in the 2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series season, will move to the NASCAR Cup Series for 2021 and will drive the No. 14 entry for Stewart-Haas Racing, according to a report from Motorsport.com’s Jim Utter. The Motorsport.com report cites, “multiple sources,” who disclosed the information, and stated that an announcement could come as early as Tuesday. Stewart-Haas Racing has yet to release a statement on the report.
Briscoe, 25, has been a member of the Ford Driver Development program and has racked up 12 NASCAR National Series wins (10 in the Xfinity Series, two in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series) in his young career.
Before the season started, Briscoe boldly claimed that if he had any hopes of moving to the NASCAR Cup Series for 2021, he would need to record at least eight wins.
Briscoe achieved that goal and now, the Indiana-native will now have a chance to drive the final NASCAR Cup Series car that his childhood hero — Tony Stewart — drove in his illustrious NASCAR Cup Series career.
The No. 14 machine became vacant when Clint Bowyer officially announced last week, that he would not return for the 2021 season. Instead, Bowyer will retire from full-time competition and will head to the announce booth for FOX Sports to make up a three-man booth with Mike Joy and Jeff Gordon.
Briscoe, who finished fifth in the NASCAR Xfinity Series point standings in 2019, sits first in the standings in 2020 with just four races remaining in the season. Briscoe has been an absolute dominating force this season and it should come as no surprise that he will be elevated to be a teammate with Kevin Harvick, Aric Almirola and Cole Custer next year.
