The Days to Daytona countdown is approaching single digits. 11 days are all that is left between NASCAR fans and Daytona 500 qualifying. A team many fans will love to see improve in 2024 is the #14 Stewart-Haas Racing team. After starting 2023 off with a moderately solid start, Chase Briscoe slowly fell down the leaderboard. Add in a massive 120-point penalty and the 14 team’s season went up in smoke. 2024 is the season of opportunity for this unit.
#14 Stewart-Haas Racing
Driver: Chase Briscoe
Crew Chief: Richard Boswell
Sponsors: Mahindra Tractors, Rush Truck Centers, HighPoint.Com, Ford Racing Performance School
2024 Season Preview
Leader of the Organization
With the retirement of Kevin Harvick, Stewart-Haas Racing is missing their clear top driver. While some are pointing to Josh Berry (with Rodney Childers) to take that mantle, is the better bet not Chase Briscoe? Briscoe is entering his fourth season in the Cup Series. He has advanced to the Round of 8 before. Despite the struggles in 2023, the team was a playoff contender until the penalty killed their chances. It is understandable if there is skepticism about Briscoe and the 14 team. Fans will find it difficult to put full faith behind a team that has disappointed for the majority of three seasons. Still, the safe bet is that Briscoe will emerge as the top driver at SHR in 2024.
Reunited with Boswell
Richard Boswell guided Chase Briscoe through his Xfinity Series career. Together, the pair turned the 98 car into one of the most dominant entries in NASCAR’s second series. Briscoe’s final season before his Cup callup saw him rattle off 9 wins, 16 Top-5s, and an average finish of 8.4. After the penalty last year, Boswell replaced Johnny Klausmeier for the last 20 races. Although the pairing did not find immediate success, an offseason to plan for the full 2024 should help. Plus, the lack of soul-crushing penalty will be gone so there will be a clean slate to work from.
Expecting More
Now, Chase Briscoe’s Cup career has coincided with the falloff of Stewart-Haas Racing. Even Kevin Harvick was not immune to the struggles. It seems that the organization was cursed after Harvick failed to make the Championship Four in 2020. With that said, Briscoe’s Cup career has been a bit underwhelming thus far. Although Briscoe’s 2022 was a bit of an improvement, his Round of 8 showing was better than how the team performed. A lot of fans are still waiting to see the Chase Briscoe from his 2019-2020 Xfinity seasons. If SHR can provide the level of equipment necessary to be competitive, Briscoe has the talent to elevate the 14 team. With that said, how many more seasons do fans give Briscoe before losing hope of lofty expectations?
Daytona 500 Chances
At this point in his NASCAR career, Chase Briscoe has yet to win a superspeedway race. While he has come close, superspeedways have been the one track type to evade Briscoe. In his Daytona career, Briscoe only has one finish inside the Top-10 (3rd in the 2022 Daytona 500). This is not to imply that Briscoe is a poor superspeedway driver. He has flashed his skills in the draft. However, the element of luck that is required for superspeedway success has remained distant from Briscoe.
Speedweeks Outlook
2023 saw great qualifying runs out of Chase Briscoe at Daytona. For the Daytona 500, Briscoe qualified 6th. Meanwhile, the SHR driver nabbed the pole for the Coke Zero Sugar 400 in the summer. If the new Ford body does not hinder qualifying performance, it would not be surprising to see another strong effort from Briscoe. In his duel races, Briscoe has logged a couple of 15th place finishes along with a 3rd in 2022. Similar to many drivers, his performance will likely come down to the help he has. As for the Daytona 500, the strength of the Fords on superspeedways should shine through again. If Briscoe can survive to the end, there is a good chance he is in contention for the win.
Previous Days
40-36 Days: 40 – #12, 39 – #5, 38 – #24, 37 – #20, & 36 – #11
35-31 Days: 35 – #45, 34 – #17, 33 – #6, 32 – #1, & #31 – #9
30-26 Days:Â 30 – #19, 29 – #22, 28 – #4, 27 – #8, & 26 – #34
25-21 Days: 25 – #34, 24 – #23, 23 – #54, 22 – #99, & 21 – #48
20-16 Days: 20 – #16, 19 – #10, 18 – #41, 17 – #2, & 16 – #31
