Briscoe, who drives the No. 14 Ford for SHR, is the one certainly one of the organization's 4 drivers who has driven often enough this season to have a probability to make the 2024 Cup playoffs and not using a win.
His teammates Josh Berry, Ryan Preece and Noah Gragson might want to win the following 10 races to complete within the standings. Briscoe would also like to win, but still has a viable path to points to be among the many 16 drivers.
“We're trying to figure out how we're going to provide for our families next year.” – Chase Briscoe
Heading into the first-ever Cup race at Iowa Speedway next weekend, Briscoe is seventeenth within the standings but 27 points behind Bubba Wallace, who currently sits in last place within the playoffs in points .
It was never going to be easy, however the unique timing and circumstances of the SHR announcement added a number of additional challenges to Briscoe's path to competing for the series championship.
First, there’s uncertainty about Briscoe's driving profession.
End of SHR
Still competing every week with almost two-thirds of the season remaining, the 29-year-old Mitchell, Indiana native must now begin the technique of acquiring a brand new home where he can proceed his NASCAR profession.
He was only capable of launch this effort on May 28 – the day team co-owner Tony Stewart informed him of SHR's future.
“That was the first thing I asked when Tony sat down with all the drivers and asked if we had any questions,” Briscoe explained. “I said, 'What does this mean for us in terms of being able to talk to other teams?' And he said, “You can do whatever you would like.”
“So I used to be literally sitting in my room and I began texting different people, letting them know, 'Hey, I'm going to be available and I want to attempt to find something.'
“I feel you're still attempting to put yourself on the market and let people know you're available, seek advice from them, meet them and do what it’s worthwhile to do, while also attempting to perform on the racetrack and show your value. “
But therein lies a potentially rather more difficult problem that Briscoe – and his teammates – now face.
Your best performance is your best hope of getting recent rides. Achieving the very best results requires the identical from the members of the respective teams.
Problem? Every member of SHR's NASCAR teams knows they'll need a brand new job come early November.
How do you perform at your best while attempting to secure your future? Worse yet, how tempting is it to depart for work now quite than wait one other five months and hope for the very best?
SHR is within the technique of adapting to this dynamic, and Briscoe said it’s already clear that it will test the organization's resolve.
“I would be lying if I said we wouldn't be at a disadvantage when we show up at the racetrack,” Briscoe said. “Every other team we race against, week after week, is solely focused on getting their race automotive going fast this weekend.
“For us, we're attempting to determine how we're going to supply for our families next yr, where we're going to work next yr, and most significantly, how am I going to get fast fasting? racing automotive on the race track.
“It's 100 percent reality.”
Chase Briscoe, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford Performance Racing School Ford Mustang
Photo: John Harrelson / NKP / Motorsport images
Just two weeks for the reason that SHR decision, Briscoe said every member of his No. 14 team has already interviewed for his or her recent positions.
Although SHR offers employees financial incentives to stick with the corporate through the top of the season, some will select to depart early – or have already done so.
“I was at the store literally an hour ago and one of the guys told me this was his last week,” Briscoe said Tuesday during a Zoom call with reporters. “He might be working elsewhere, so it's true.
“I feel if we will get through the primary 4 or five weeks, I feel in the event that they stay within the team for the primary five weeks after that, they'll probably keep that form in the long term. But I feel towards the top of the season things will pick up again and the blokes will attempt to be certain that they’ve something.
“I would be lying if I said I wasn't concerned that it would be really difficult for us to potentially get the cars on the racetrack the way we want, just from a people's point of view.”
Taking on the challenge ahead
However, there’s one thing that can assist – the one which helps solve most problems in racing on the whole – success on the track.
Winning the race will put Briscoe within the playoffs – the identical goes for his teammates – and making an SO can earn bonuses on the job, and success also shows potential recent employers the worth of the people on the team, which finally ends up being higher for everybody involved.
“That's what I told our guys when it all happened,” Briscoe said. “I said, 'Look, at the top of the day, we will sulk and complain about this, however the circumstances won't change. All we will do is control what we will control.
“I can assure you that if we win races and be at the front, it will be much easier to get a job than the guys who don't win races and finish at the top.” That's what we tried to concentrate on.
“Honestly, the last five or six weeks have been difficult for us, but hopefully in the next few weeks we can turn it around and kind of get back on track.”
