Chase Briscoe to replace Bowyer in Stewart-Haas NASCAR Cup Series line-up
NASCAR Xfinity Series points leader Chase Briscoe will move up to the Cup Series next season at Stewart-Haas Racing to replace the outgoing Clint Bowyer, Autosport has learned
25-year-old Briscoe will drive the No. 14 Ford from the 2021 season and replace Bowyer, who earlier this month announced he is retiring at the end of this year and moving to the Fox Sports broadcast booth next season. The 41-year-old has raced full-time at Cup Series level since 2006, winning 10 times in 536 starts with Richard Childress Racing, Michael Waltrip Racing and SHR.
SHR presented Briscoe with a contract for the race seat shortly thereafter and an official announcement of the move could come as soon as Tuesday, multiple sources have confirmed.
Stewart-Haas Racing did not immediately return a request for comment.
Briscoe, who began his racing career on dirt, has been competing regularly in stock cars since 2016 and has quickly developed into one of NASCAR's top up-and-coming talents.
He has won a series-best nine races so far this season in the Xfinity Series and currently leads the playoff standings heading into Saturday's race at Texas Motor Speedway. He is already guaranteed to be one of the four drivers competing for the series title in two weeks at Phoenix.
In his relatively brief stock car racing career, Briscoe won six races and the ARCA Menards Series championship in 2016, while he's won a pair of races in the Truck Series and finished sixth in the series standings in 2017. To date he has 11 Xfinity wins in 78 starts dating back to 2018.
Briscoe began his racing career in sprint cars and at the age of 13 became the youngest driver to win a 410 sprint car race, breaking the record set by NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon by one year.
He continues to race occasionally on dirt, entering his own midget car at this season's Chili Bowl Nationals in January.
Kansas NASCAR: Logano secures championship race spot with victory
NASCAR to lift suspension on Kyle Larson from 2021
The ex-F1 driver taking on NASCAR with a new team
Saddled with uncompetitive Minardi machinery, Tarso Marques didn't manage to score points in his three partial seasons of Formula 1. But now the Brazilian has the chance to show what he can do in NASCAR, and explains the story of his comeback with new Cup Series entrant Team Stange
The early benefits and challenges of NASCAR's Next Gen car
NASCAR’s new stock car generation is encouraging an influx of fresh blood into its top tier. But there are concerns that parts are in short supply as the entire paddock tries to build up stocks at the same time
How Penske's rookie sensation opened NASCAR's new era in style
After holding his nerve and hip-checking his team-mate on the run to the line, Austin Cindric made a perfect start to life as a full-timer in the NASCAR Cup Series by winning the Daytona 500. Here's how the Penske Ford man emerged first across the line in the first points-scoring race for the much-anticipated Next Generation cars
Six key themes to follow in the 2022 NASCAR Cup season
There are plenty of uncertainties ahead of the 2022 NASCAR Cup season as an all-new fleet of cars take to the track for the first time. Ahead of this weekend's Daytona 500, our experts explain what you need to know
How NASCAR had to learn a harsh lesson ahead of its Next Gen arrival
The NASCAR Cup kicks off with the Daytona 500 this weekend, but a major overhaul and a subsequent mountain of work has been required to be ready for the arrival of the Next Gen cars
How Larson took the long way round to NASCAR Cup glory
From villain to hero, Kyle Larson’s journey to the 2021 NASCAR Cup title comes straight from the Hollywood blockbuster scripts. While Larson had to reach his lifelong goal the hard way and go through a very public shaming after a ban for using a racial slur, his talents shone long before his name grabbed the headlines for both the right and the wrong reasons
How NASCAR is gearing up for its "biggest change" in 2022
It’s not just Formula 1 that’s set for upheaval in 2022, as the NASCAR Cup Series adopts its Next Gen cars that will cast any in-built advantages aside and require teams to adopt a totally new way of operating. Far more than just a change of machinery, the new cars amount to a shift in NASCAR's core philosophy
Why Bubba Wallace’s Talladega win is such a big moment for NASCAR
Bubba Wallace claimed his maiden NASCAR Cup Series at Talladega on Monday to become the first Black victor in the category since Wendell Scott in 1963. Both Wallace and Scott had faced obstacles and racism in their paths to their breakthrough wins, and NASCAR is trying to put it right with its range of diversity programmes