INDIANAPOLIS — Chase Briscoe will have plenty of support in Sunday’s 30th Anniversary of the Brickyard 400, including a special group of kids from his hometown of Mitchell, Indiana.
Before the launch of Briscoe’s racing career, the Southern Indiana community was famous as the hometown of Gus Grissom, one of the original seven NASA astronauts in Project Mercury. Grissom was also part of Project Gemini but met a tragic end when he was one of the three Apollo One astronauts who died on the launch pad from a fire in the capsule during a systems check on January 27, 1967. Also perishing were astronauts Ed White and Roger Chaffee.
Grissom and Mitchell, Indiana will be forever linked.
In recent years, this town south of Bloomington, Indiana has rallied around Briscoe’s NASCAR career.
To give back to the community, Briscoe gave away 500 tickets to Saturday’s activities at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to school-age children from Mitchell.
It was arranged through the Gene Haas Foundation when Briscoe decided to donate a bike for every kid from his hometown from kindergarten to fifth grade.
“A lot of the high schoolers at my school helped build those bikes, so every kid that helped build the bikes got two tickets to come to Saturday’s race,” Briscoe said. “We had 500 tickets that we passed out for Saturday, just for the whole town of Mitchell.
“They had a spot over in the corner, so I’m going to try to sneak over there and surprise them after (NASCAR Cup Series) qualifying.”
Briscoe’s Hoosier Homecoming at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway doesn’t end there, however.
For Sunday’s 30th Anniversary Brickyard 400, he requested more than 40 pit passes from NASCAR.
“I’m pretty much out for the entire season now,” Briscoe said. “I’ve got a ton of people coming. Every time we come here, I have a ton of people just from Lawrence County, Indiana even that come that never go to another race the rest of the year.
“They’re not even necessarily NASCAR fans, but they come up here to support me. So it’s always just a really special weekend.
“Being a Hoosier driver at IMS, it’s always special. Just the whole place kind of rallies around you. So I feel like every time I come here, I can find this other gear, just because I know how many people are here watching me.
“And hopefully it’ll be the same this weekend.”
One of Briscoe’s Stewart Haas Racing teammates, Josh Berry, has put the image of the biggest professional sports hero in Indianapolis on the hood of his race car. It’s Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever of the WNBA, who has already established rookie records since becoming a professional after she was the greatest scorer in college basketball history, including men’s and women’s basketball.
“Yeah, it’s cool,” Briscoe said. “Caitlin obviously has done a ton for the sport of basketball, right? But then especially, you know, Indiana Fever games are sold out every single night now.
“So yeah, I’m jealous. I don’t think she’s coming (she will be competing at the WNBA All-Star Game). I was trying to make sure that I could meet her.
“I think a couple of the Indianapolis Colts guys are coming, which is going to be really cool. I’m obviously a big Colts fan, so I think a couple of them I’ll get to meet and hang out with.
“It’s a cool weekend to have some type of Indiana sports in the race and having Caitlin on the hood of that car is really cool. So hopefully they can give her a good run.
“Hopefully, he runs second, and I win and it’s a good weekend.”
Briscoe has already won a race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but it was on the IMS road course when the Xfinity Series competed on it for the first time in 2020.
That was the COVID year when no spectators were allowed to attend.
His family had to watch the race on television, 30 minutes away at his cousin’s house because of the restriction on spectators at the race.
Four years later, Briscoe wants to give the Hoosier fans something to celebrate with a win on the iconic 2.5-mile oval.
“I am excited to be back home again in Indiana,” Briscoe said. “It’s been nice every year to be able to come up here a couple days early and spend time with my grandparents, family and friends that I don’t get to see a whole lot, so it’s been a fun week.
“Excited to be back on the oval. Every racecar driver dreams of getting to race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway when you grow up in Indiana, it’s just that much more special. I’ve always said I don’t care what we’re racing on, I just want to race at IMS, whether it’s the road course or the oval, the dirt track over there in the parking lot.
“But I would be lying if I said there wasn’t more significance in history and just meaning running the oval. So yeah, truthfully, when I came into the Cup Series, we were already running on the road course, and I didn’t know if I would ever get a chance to run a Brickyard 400.
“So, to be able to do that this year is something that’s really, really special. It means a lot to me. To be able to do it even in the 14 car and driving for my hero Tony Stewart. At least getting to do that one time with the team shut down, this means a lot. So, excited to experience my first Brickyard 400 and a race that I came to a lot as a kid and watched when I wasn’t here.
“So yeah, special weekend for sure.”
Any trip to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was a special weekend for Chase Briscoe when he was growing up.
His father was crew chief for Damion Gardner in the USAC Sprint Car Series and the team’s sponsor was Pace Lighting.
Pat Kehoe worked for Pace Lighting and had a suite in the turn 2 suites at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
“I remember we would always get to go over there, and it was just a wild experience between Indy 500 and Brickyard 400 going over there and being that close to the racetrack there in turn 2,” Briscoe recalled. “But then I remember sitting up here on top one time.
“I used to sneak into the garage area, and I remember walking on pit road. I definitely wasn’t supposed to be out there. I didn’t have a hot pass or anything, but I somehow snuck my way out there and was shaking hands with people trying to get just an opportunity down here.
“There’s a lot of memories of this place and even my first ever race uniform.”
He bought his first race uniform from “Jim Bob” at Speedway Monogramming. It was owned by Jim and Susan Luebbert, the local Hinchman dealer across the street from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
“This place has just a lot of meaning to, to obviously me, just how close it is to home,” Briscoe said. “I definitely have a lot of memories. I remember watching Tony win his two Brickyards here. I wasn’t here for those, but I was watching on TV.
“I remember vividly watching those races and just how much it meant to Tony.”
Sunday will be the last time the No. 14 from Stewart-Haas Racing will compete at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The team is dissolving at the end of this season with Gene Haas keeping one of the team’s charters for the Haas Factory Team.
Briscoe would love to score one last big victory for the team in the 30th Brickyard 400.
“I just want to win at Indianapolis with my friends and with my family all here, and if I could do it on the oval, especially at the Brickyard 400, which to me is a hundred percent a crown jewel, would be pretty special,” Briscoe said.