UPDATE: January 6, 2020 (10:30 AM ET): A Stewart-Haas Racing team representative, has confirmed with TobyChristie.com that the organization has yet to finalize the car No. for Briscoe in 2020. While Briscoe very well could be back in the No. 98 yet again, it is still under discussion. The car No. could be different for 2020.
OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE
After winning the 2019 rookie-of-the-year title in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Chase Briscoe will race for an Xfinity Series championship in 2020 as he returns to Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR).
Briscoe is a two-time winner in the Xfinity Series, with both of his victories coming in SHR-prepared Ford Mustangs. The 25-year-old from Mitchell, Indiana, finished fifth in the championship standings in 2019, earning a berth in the NASCAR Playoffs with a win, two poles and 13 top-five and 26 top-10 finishes in his first full season of Xfinity Series competition.
“This is the first time I’ll be able to run back-to-back, full seasons with the same team, and I couldn’t be happier to do it with Stewart-Haas Racing,” said Briscoe, a development driver with Ford Performance. “Their faith in me means a lot, and I want to reward them and Ford with more wins and a run for the championship.”
“We are thrilled to continue Chase’s development program with a second full season running the Xfinity Series for Stewart-Haas Racing,” said Mark Rushbrook, global director, Ford Performance Motorsports. “Chase has proven himself well so far and we’re looking forward to continuing his progression as he competes for an Xfinity Series championship for SHR and Ford.”
Briscoe is a third-generation racer whose career began on dirt tracks in and around Indiana. Since he was 13, Briscoe has followed in his grandfather’s and father’s footsteps, racing sprint cars on the rough and tumble bullrings of the Midwest. It’s a lineage that makes Briscoe a natural fit for SHR, as the Xfinity Series team is co-owned by three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Tony Stewart, an Indiana native who also began his career on dirt.
“We’re very proud to have Chase back with Stewart-Haas Racing,” said Stewart, who co-owns SHR with Haas Automation founder Gene Haas. “Chase is an Indiana kid with a dirt-track background who has shown he can race on asphalt as well as he can on dirt. We think very highly of him and look forward to a strong season in 2020.”
Briscoe has thrived in his transition to NASCAR, which began after a six-win campaign in the 2016 ARCA Racing Series earned him the championship by a whopping 535 points. He advanced to the NASCAR Truck Series in 2017, earning four poles and winning the season-ending Ford EcoBoost 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Briscoe’s 10 top-five and 14 top-10 finishes allowed him to make the playoffs, finish sixth in points and score the series’ rookie-of-the-year and most popular driver awards.
Briscoe parlayed a limited Xfinity Series schedule in 2018 where he drove for both SHR and Roush-Fenway Racing into a full-time drive in 2019 for SHR. He earned his first career Xfinity Series victory on Sept. 29, 2018 in just his 14th career start when he won the inaugural race at the Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway Roval. Briscoe scored his second Xfinity Series win in his 36th career start July 27, 2019 at Iowa Speedway in Newton.
