Briscoe’s NASCAR Career Was Once Saved By Bell, Now They Are Cup Teammates

It’s funny how things sometimes go full circle. Chase Briscoe and Christopher Bell met as teenagers playing online racing video games. At one point, to pursue his own racing career, Bell slept on Briscoe’s family couch. When Briscoe’s NASCAR hopes were going nowhere, it was Bell who helped find him a path to success.

Last year, when Stewart-Haas Racing announced it was closing its doors, Briscoe lost his NASCAR Cup Series ride and was again at a crossroads. But when Martin Truex Jr. decided to retire, it opened a seat at Joe Gibbs Racing. Now, Briscoe and Bell—who share a love for dirt Sprint Car racing—are successful NASCAR Cup Series teammates.

Briscoe solidified his position at Gibbs this year when he won for the team for the first time at Pocono. He entered this past weekend’s event at Dover eighth in the Cup Series point standings and locked into the postseason playoffs.

“Ironic how it worked out—now Christopher and I are teammates at Gibbs. We were joking about it when we were flying to the recent Cup race in Mexico—who would have thought one day we’d be flying to races on Joe Gibbs’s jet to go race Cup cars,” said Briscoe with a smile on Saturday at a Dover press gathering.

Kevin Briscoe, Chase’s father, was a very successful non-wing Sprint Car driver, winning many races and championships around their Indiana home at the Bloomington and Haubstadt speedways. He also registered six USAC National Sprint Car Series wins. Knowing how tough racing can be, he didn’t initially want his son to follow in his footsteps.

“My dad didn’t want me to race at first—was adamant about it, didn’t want me to get hurt. All he did was race Sprint Cars, so that was the path I was going to go even before I started racing. That’s one of the reasons why I started so late,” said Chase.

“Like the 20th time I raced was in a non-wing Sprint Car. Looking back on it, I don’t know what my parents were thinking. Back then, I was 13 and didn’t know any different, but now, as a parent myself, I couldn’t imagine how they let me do it. I ran Terre Haute when I was 15, which is stupid! It was lucky I didn’t get hurt racing that young.”

Chase didn’t race go-karts or Quarter Midgets like other kids growing up, but he became the youngest Sprint Car winner at the time, beating Jeff Gordon’s record, when he won his first race at just 13 years old.

“I raced a Mini-Sprint about 20 times and went straight to a Sprint Car. Honestly, as a family, we didn’t have a ton of money. If I won in a Mini-Sprint, it would pay like $150, and it would cost us about the same amount of money to run a Sprint Car,” said Chase.

“My dad was at the end of his career, so he looked at it as if Sprint Cars was my end goal, and if I go and test and the car isn’t right, he’d let me race it. They pay $200 to take the green. That’s why I started as young as I did in a Sprint car. Financially, it made sense because I could race with my dad’s old stuff.”

Hoping to advance into NASCAR, Chase moved south before becoming a lifelong Sprint car driver.

“Dad also didn’t want me to start racing because he knew the odds of me making it big were slim to none, and the amount of effort and work to do it at the level he raced was a lot. Fortunately, I was able to get behind the wheel and somehow it worked out,” said Chase.

Briscoe can be thankful for a chance meeting with Bell—playing racing video games—which helped direct him to where he is today.

“I met Christopher playing this racing computer game that had Sprint Cars and Late Models on it. (Kyle) Larson was on there, too, along with a group of guys who are now the guys to beat in dirt and NASCAR, too. I met Christopher when we were 13 or 14,” Briscoe said.

Bell later came to Indiana to race some Midgets and Sprints on dirt and needed a place to stay.

“When I was 17, I asked my parents if this kid named Christopher Bell could come live with us during the summer,” Briscoe recalled.

“They said no at first, but we had been really good friends, so they let him sleep on the couch a few times, and we spent a lot of time together. Then later on, we lived together in Charlotte for a couple of years.”

After feeling like his career was going nowhere in NASCAR, Briscoe was on his way home before Bell called him with a way to get back in the game. Bell had turned down a deal with Ford to align with Toyota. He suggested Briscoe give Ford a call, and he was able to set up a test.

After racing a Ford in ARCA and in the NASCAR Truck Series with success, Briscoe landed a Cup Series ride with Stewart-Haas Racing. Life was good for Briscoe—until Tony Stewart, himself a great Sprint Car driver, left the effort. Haas Racing moved forward this year with just one Cup team, driven by Cole Custer, leaving Briscoe, Noah Gragson, and Ryan Preece without a ride.

Before securing the ride he now enjoys with Gibbs, Briscoe had a meeting with his new boss—former Super Bowl-winning Washington Redskins coach Joe Gibbs.

“When I came over to JGR, my first meeting with Coach, he asked me what my thoughts were on Sprint Car racing and how much I wanted to do it, because at that time they were not allowing their drivers to do it at all,” said Briscoe.

“I told him I was kinda on the back end of it right now, that it wasn’t something I wanted to do for the time being.”

Tony Stewart had been okay with Briscoe owning and driving a Sprint Car, so he had started his own team.

Since that meeting with Gibbs, however, he has loosened up his stance and has allowed Bell to return to Sprint competition part-time basis.

“I can go now run a Sprint Car if I want to. I just don’t see it this year—I don’t have the desire. I’m enjoying being a spectator of it with my kids. I’m sure I’ll go back at some point to driving one. I just don’t have any plans right now,” said Briscoe.

“I ran 20-some races last year. Then we had twins at the end of last year. Now I’ve got three kids, and with the new opportunity at JGR, I didn’t want to risk getting hurt and wanted to be home as much as possible with my wife and family around the house. I’m retired from Sprint Car racing for the time being, but I still have all my stuff.”

Briscoe said he would love to find the right partners when he does make his return to Sprint Car racing.

“Was talking to Christopher about it today—about how much I’d like to get my team going again. Hopefully I’ll find the right partner that will allow that to happen and I can get back on the tour,” said Briscoe.