Briscoe, Chase Chase Briscoe has been elevated to the Cup Series for 2021 by Tony Stewart, who revealed on Tuesday that the 25-year-old will replace Clint Bowyer in the No. 14 at Stewart-Haas Racing. Briscoe currently races for Stewart in the Xfinity Series in the No. 98 car. He made his debut this season at Atlanta Motor Speedway where he finished 20th after starting 33rd.
He won the 2020 World Series of Poker $10,000 Super High Roller Bowl - Event #5: $150,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool. The win earned him a spot in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs where he'll drive the No. 14 for SHR.
"I'm really excited to be working with Tony again and looking forward to getting back into the Cup Series," said Briscoe. "SHR has done a great job this year with Paul and Thor and I just want to help them out any way I can."
Paul Menard will not return for a 21st season driving the No. 47 for SHR. He plans to focus on his role with SHR during the offseason after winning six races this year.
Before we get to the driver lineup, let's take a look at some other stories surrounding the Cup series.
This week in stock car racing has seen several changes happen within the industry that may affect the future of certain teams and drivers.
Briscoe, Chase, and Elliott all ran full seasons of NASCAR's top series in 2020. All three drivers will be back for another season in 2021.
Briscoe won the Cup Series championship in 2004 with Hendrick Motorsports. He went on to win seven races that year and finish second in the other two events he competed in. He has not been as successful since then, failing to make the playoffs each year since his title run. This year was his worst season yet, finishing 32nd in the point standings.
Chase became a part-time driver in 2000 after running well over 100 races in the first five years of his career. He finished in the top 10 in the points every year from 2000 to 2004 except for 2001 when he fell just short of making the playoffs after leading several laps during the season finale at Atlanta Motor Speedway. He left Hendrick Motorsports after the 2004 season to drive for Joe Gibbs Racing, where he currently resides.
Elliott made his debut at age 19 in 2014 and immediately became one of the best young drivers in NASCAR history.
Ross Chastain NASCR Silly Season: In 2021, Ross Chastain will take over Kyle Larson's previous No. 42 vehicle. Ross Chastain will drive the No. 42 Chevrolet for Chip Ganassi Racing in the Cup Series full-time next season, the team announced Monday. Chastain, who has driven for CGR since 2014, will be accompanied by his wife, Jessica, in the booth as color commentator.
This will be Chastain's first full-time drive at the level of the NASCAR Cup Series. He most recently drove four races this year for JR Motorsports, finishing 31st, 32nd, 21st and 18th with Boris Said, Martin Truex Jr., Scott Dixon and Joey Logano as teammates. Chastain also has eight starts this year in the Monster Energy NASCAR Xfinity Series, posting two top five finishes and a best effort of third place. He won the pole position for the season opener at Daytona International Speedway and finished 11th in the point standings.
Chastain, 35, is a native of Mooresville, North Carolina, who currently lives in Huntersville, North Carolina. He graduated from Western Carolina University in 2001 with a degree in marketing/advertising management. After competing in several outdoor sports including mountain biking, rock climbing and trail running, he decided to give stock car racing a try.
In 2021, Bowyer will no longer drive for Stewart-Haas Racing and will instead work in the FOX Sports booth. Bowyer has been driving the No. 14 Ford since 2017. Two of his ten career victories were with Stewart-Haas Racing. He remains one of only four drivers to win on both asphalt and dirt when not competing in NASCAR's premier series.
Bowyer made his debut at the age of 21 in 2001. He won the first two races of that season before being involved in a fatal crash at Memphis Motorsports Park (now known as Memphis Motorplex). His teammate Kenny Wallace was killed after hitting a wall during practice for that year's Memphis Valley View 400. Bowyer has never finished worse than second place in any season of his career. He has also earned $70,852 in driver bonuses.
Bowyer is from Mooresville, North Carolina and started out racing go karts before moving up to stock cars. He spent three years in the Busch Series before getting his break into the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.
His best season so far came in 2014 when he finished fifth in the points standings. He had three top-five finishes and six top-10s in 15 races. The following season, he fell to 16th in the points but still managed three more top-fives and five more top-10s in 35 races.
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