“Unacceptable,” Tony Stewart declared this year about his team’s faltering performance. Stewart-Haas Racing arose 26 years ago out of Stewart and Gene Haas’ simmering dreams. And they laid a long-lasting legacy with their star-studded ventures. However, every good thing has an end, and SHR lagged behind in the last few years, and even Kevin Harvick could not win a race last year.

So Stewart and Haas gradually lost faith in their team until finally declaring it would cease to exist. Yet their drivers held strongly to the faith that things would look up. And one of them proved it—not only did Chase Briscoe break his winless streak but he also raised the value of his Cup ride.

Tony Stewart’s driver raises his team’s standard

Ever since the 2024 season flagged off, racers have grown conscious of what they are actually worth. Given NASCAR’s jittery charter system that guarantees no security to teams, financial crises are multiplying. The news of SHR’s demise highlighted this issue, as charters ultimately determine a team or its car’s future. One team executive ominously said, “Feelings are going to get hurt. Because no one actually wants to hear what they’re really worth. Unless you’re Jeff Bezos, it’s never as much as you think.”

Yet Chase Briscoe has raised the worth of his crumbling team. He beat a heavily-charging Kyle Busch to clinch his second career victory at Darlington Raceway. Not only did he punch his way into the playoffs, but gave crowning glory to SHR. Not only in terms of a trophy but also financially. Journalist Matt Weaver explained the situation on X. “We need to figure out where each sold charter went. What is now the 14 charter now will finish no worse than 16th and the rolling three year average is what determines value and it has a 9 and 30 the past two years before that. But this charter increased its value tonight.”

Last year, NASCAR charters reached a peak of value, as a charter purchase ensued under astronomically high terms. Spire Motorsports bought a charter from Liv Fast Motorsports for $40 million. In comparison, the price fell this year when SHR sold one of its charters to Front Row Motorsports for $20-25 million. However, now Chase Briscoe may uplift that number yet again for the No. 14 Ford car. The monetary benefits will be reaped by the Haas Factory Team, to become active from next season.

So despite Tony Stewart’s damning declaration in the beginning, Briscoe offered some respite to the crumbling SHR fold. The latter had adopted an optimistic approach despite Stewart’s ominous talk.

Chase Briscoe held it together

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After Kevin Harvick and Aric Almirola left last year, the No. 14 driver was under pressure. At age 29, Chase Briscoe became the eldest statesman in the SHR’s four-team contingent, as he also entered his 4th season this year. Couple that with Tony Stewart’s words: “I’m tired of taking the blame for everybody (for) why the cars aren’t running (well)…I give these guys the tools to do the job and we just haven’t got it done the last couple of years.” However, Briscoe weathered the storms with ease.

Long before he scripted his Southern 500 victory, Briscoe professed his optimistic attitude. Entering the season-opening Daytona 500 this February, he expected good things from the season. “I definitely feel really good about where we’re at. We have a great opportunity this year with all the change we’ve had and throw in the fact that (the Ford Mustangs) have a new body this year and I’m excited. It’s hard to say where we’re really going to stack up and be once the season starts but I definitely feel like we’re in a much better place than we were last year.”

Things did not go as well as he expected, as SHR is bound to shutter soon. Nevertheless, that did not stutter Briscoe’s speed and progress as a driver which he showcased at Darlington.