Stewart-Haas Racing is going all-out for Chase Briscoe, aren’t they? Even though the team is ceasing operations at the end of the 2024 season, there is a sense of excitement and anticipation going into the Round of 12. After all, Briscoe did the unthinkable at Darlington Raceway by defeating Kyle Busch to secure a playoff spot. There is a real sense of self-belief that the 29-year-old could go all the way to Phoenix Raceway and lift the championship trophy, giving everyone involved the fairytale ending they deserve.

With the 2024 Hollywood Casino 400 on the horizon, Stewart-Haas Racing has swapped Briscoe’s pit crew with Josh Berry’s to give the 29-year-old driver a better chance at Kansas Speedway. The internal shuffle made the No. 14 Ford Mustang driver remember the good ol’ days with Kevin Harvick, while he was attempting to make the playoffs in 2022.

Chase Briscoe’s pit crew comes full circle

Chase Briscoe enters the Round of 12 as a major underdog, defying expectations by advancing this far. Despite limited resources at Stewart-Haas Racing, his performance has been inspiring. But his championship hopes are precarious—Briscoe narrowly made it past the first round and now needs consistent top finishes or an unexpected win at Kansas, Talladega, or the Charlotte Roval to keep his title chances alive.

While the performance on track is beyond his team’s control, they are giving Chase Briscoe the best chance of progressing into the Round of 8 with a pit crew swap. Acknowledging that the decision would be a tough one for the existing No. 14 personnel, Briscoe said in the pre-race press conference, “Yeah, you know, the pit crew thing is tough because the guys I’ve had have been on it for the last year and a half really. Well, they got changed whenever Harvick was in the playoffs so I’m back kind of with my original guys. Yeah, tough you know. They’ve been able to be there and get us to this point right and that’s a decision that truthfully is made above me.”

In 2022, Stewart-Haas Racing reassigned some of Chase Briscoe’s pit crew to Kevin Harvick’s team to help Harvick’s playoff bid, starting from the Nashville Superspeedway race. Since then, Briscoe hadn’t worked with those crew members, who later supported Josh Berry’s No. 4 Ford. However, ahead of the race at Kansas, the team has decided to reunite Briscoe with some of his original crew members. Daniel Smith (rear changer), Daniel Coffey (front changer), Mason Flynt (tire carrier), and Evan Marchal (fueler) will now be assisting the No. 14 car at the 1.5-mile track.

Despite the stakes being as high as they are, Chase Briscoe isn’t in unfamiliar territory. Two years ago, he was in the same position, vying for a place in the Round of 8 despite being written off by experts and fans. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver proved them wrong by progressing into the next playoff round against all odds and finishing the season in ninth place.

Could he do better this time around and potentially be in contention for the title at Phoenix Raceway? While unlikely, it’s not impossible.

Briscoe hoping for improvement at Kansas Speedway

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Chase Briscoe is fighting an uphill battle. He is currently seven points below the elimination line, occupying last place amongst drivers who are eligible to challenge for the title. However, he is also a fighter, being the only driver in the Round of 16 who was outside the picture to claw his way in.

While the odds will be stacked against him at Kansas Speedway, a track where he hasn’t finished in the top ten in his last seven appearances, that won’t be stopping him from having the self-belief that he can overturn his bad fortune on the 1.5-mile oval.

Highlighting his expectations at the 2024 Hollywood Casino 400, Briscoe said, “This has probably not been our best race track so we got some work to do but I’m confident that we’re gonna be probably the best we’ve been here in a long time. I feel like we’ve made a lot of gains on our mile-and-a-half stuff. Hopefully, we can come out of here and qualify good starting today and it just makes your life so much easier tomorrow, getting stage points and things like that. Definitely need to start this round off right…kind of the opposite of what we did last round.”

It seems like Chase Briscoe got his wish. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver will start the race in ninth place, ahead of Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott, and will look to build on his advantage going into the race. With Talladega Superspeedway being a wildcard and Charlotte Roval a hybrid road course/oval track, Kansas Speedway might be Briscoe’s best opportunity to secure a top-five result. The 29-year-old will be going into the Round of 12 with a lot of positives, knowing he has nothing to lose and everything to gain in the upcoming playoff races.