On Tuesday morning, Stewart-Haas Racing officially announced changes to the crew chief lineups on its NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series teams.
Beginning with this weekend’s Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway, Richard Boswell will go atop the pit box of the No. 14 NASCAR Cup Series team. Boswell will be re-paired with driver Chase Briscoe. The duo won eight races together in the NASCAR Xfinity Series ranks between 2018 and 2020.
Boswell had been serving as the crew chief for Riley Herbst in the NASCAR Xfinity Series since Briscoe made the move to the NASCAR Cup Series in 2021.
Davin Restivo, who has served as the lead engineer for the No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing team in the NASCAR Cup Series since 2022, will now take over as the crew chief for Herbst and the No. 98 NASCAR Xfinity Series team.
Johnny Klausmeier, who had been the crew chief for Briscoe and is a longtime NASCAR Cup Series crew chief for SHR, will remain with the team. Klausmeier, according to a press release from Stewart-Haas Racing, will transition to a role within the company’s vehicle performance group.
The team is hoping with half of the season remaining to be raced, that the changes can help spark some improved performance within the team.
“We made these changes in the best interests of the entire organization,” said Greg Zipadelli, chief competition officer, SHR. “Different people in new positions brings new perspectives. There’s still a lot of racing left to do this year, which means there’s still a lot of opportunity. We need to seize these opportunities and make the most of them, and fresh perspectives from the top of the pit box to the preparation inside the shop will help us do that.”
Briscoe, 28, scored his first-career NASCAR Cup Series win a season ago at Phoenix Raceway and went on to finish ninth in the NASCAR Cup Series championship standings. After 16 races in 2023, Briscoe sits 31st in the championship standings, however, his team endured a massive 125-point penalty earlier in the year for a counterfeit Next Gen part.