Sprint car racing fans across the country will be treated to a familiar paint scheme during Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway.
Chase Briscoe, driving the No. 14 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing, will sport a throwback scheme to honor his family’s deep ties in dirt racing.
With a simple white base color and red accents, Briscoe’s No. 14 was designed to replicate Briscoe’s father’s sprint car he wheeled during his career. During that time, Kevin Briscoe notched more than 200 feature wins and won the 1993 track championship at Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt, Ind.
Briscoe scored five track titles at Bloomington (Ind.) Speedway, including a run of three straight (2004-’06) after winning championships there in 1991 and 2001.
For Chase Briscoe, growing up watching his dad was a unique experience. Even on the nights he wasn’t able to attend a race, Briscoe always knew if his father won.
“I always tell the story about when I wouldn’t go, I’d wake up Sunday morning and turn the corner and he’d always put the trophy on our kitchen counter, so that’s how I always knew if he won or not,” Briscoe said.
“And it literally felt like every single weekend there was a trophy on our kitchen counter.”
Looking further back at the Briscoe family history, it all started with Chase’s grandfather, Richard Briscoe.
The patriarch of the family, Briscoe founded Briscoe Racing in 1976. Along with his son Kevin, Briscoe fielded entries for some of sprint car racing’s all-time greats.
Some of those names include Chuck Amati, Dale Blaney, Dave Blaney, Steve Butler, Dave Darland, Dick Gaines, Jack Hewitt, Rickey Hood, Randy Kinser, Steve Kinser, Danny Smith, Jeff Swindell, Rich Vogler and Doug Wolfgang.
Thirty-seven different drivers delivered more than 500 wins to the team’s famed No. 5 race car.
While looking back through records, Chase Briscoe found that 14 National Sprint Car Hall of Famers raced for his grandfather.
“When you look at the list, there are only 40 or so drivers who ever drove for him, so nearly half have been Sprint Car Hall of Famers,” Briscoe said.
“It’s pretty cool just to know the history that my grandpa has been able to have with multiple drivers, and to have a lot of my heroes on the hood of our car who have all driven for my grandpa, that’s pretty special.”
Notably, Briscoe has followed in his grandfather’s footsteps in owning a sprint car team. In charge of Chase Briscoe Racing, Briscoe fields a red-and-white-painted sprint car with the same number, No. 5, on the wing panel and tank.
Briscoe and Karter Sarff tentatively split a 35-race national schedule, with Briscoe’s father Kevin serving as crew chief.
For Chase Briscoe, the scheme has added significance because as he described it, it allows him to “give back to the only reason I’m racing at all.”
“If it wasn’t for my grandpa in 1976 kind of getting bit by the racing bug, then my dad doesn’t get involved in it, and if my dad’s not involved in it, then probably I’m not involved in it,” Briscoe said.
“So, it’s pretty cool to be able to do that and have all three generations still alive to be able to see it. Not many families can say they have three generations of race car drivers, and the way my son is, I’m probably in trouble because we’ll probably have four generations.
“It is really cool and really special,” Briscoe continued. “I’ve been fortunate that, pretty much every year of my career, Darlington throwback weekend I’ve been given the opportunity to kind of do what I wanted, and I’ve wanted to do this for a long time and this year it just all came together.
“I’m really excited for it and can’t wait to see it on track.”