Breaking news
NASCAR Cup
How Tony Stewart pranked Chase Briscoe over 2021 Cup graduation
Chase Briscoe has revealed how Tony Stewart pranked him with hidden cameras when he was told he’d be racing in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2021 – and for a hero that Briscoe used to dress up as to play the NASCAR video game.
Charles Bradley
Published: Oct 21, 2020, 6:48 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Speaking on Fox Sport’s Race Hub show, Briscoe revealed the full story of his awe at getting to drive for Stewart-Haas Racing in the #14 Ford that Stewart himself used to race.
“To grow up in Southern Indiana, we both grew up racing sprint cars, primarily non-winged sprint cars, just our backgrounds are so similar in essence,” said Briscoe. “I was always a diehard Tony fan. You know, I'd wear his helmet and the uniform when I would play my sprint car video game, play my NASCAR video game. And I would always pick Tony [as the driver in the game].
“And it's just so crazy to look back on. And when I signed with Ford, I always would tell my dad it'd be a dream come true to get a drive at Stewart-Haas Racing. And now to be able to drive the #14 car [in the Cup Series]. Hopefully I can do it for many years to come. But to know that I'm going to get my first Cup start at the Daytona 500 driving for my hero is just unbelievable.”
Read Also:
- 'Transformation' in Chase Briscoe leads to promotion to Cup
- NASCAR HEAT 5’s second Content Pack available from August 27
Briscoe also told the story of how Stewart broke the news to him, thinking he was going to dinner with sponsor HighPoint to persuade them to stay on board – while not knowing that they’d already signed up for his Cup ride in 2021.
“Tony called me probably three or four months ago, at like 11 o'clock at night,” said Briscoe. “So I thought that was, you know, something pretty serious at that time so I picked up and we just kind of chit-chatted for a little bit. Then he said 'let's get down to business' and told me that the #14 car was going to be mine. He didn't want me to go anywhere. He just wasn't sure if it was gonna be in 2021 or 2022.
“Fast forward probably two months, I would say around three weeks ago, he sent his plane down to North Carolina, told me and my family to come meet him at his house, that [sponsor] HighPoint was going to be there. HighPoint had been signed up for nearly two weeks, and it was all just a big scheme to get me up there and not know that they were already signed up.
“At the end of dinner that night, somehow the word 'chance' got brought up and he said 'speaking of chances', and I'm sitting at the dinner table, I'm like, man, here it is, he's gonna put them on the spot. This is gonna be the moment… and I got to find out that it was already done!
“He said, 'We're gonna give you a chance to race the #14 car next year'. And you know, it was a moment I'll never forget, getting to experience that. You know, with my family. My wife didn't get to go – I absolutely hate that she wasn't there – she had a doctor's appointment that day.
“To be able to experience that the way Tony did it. Now, he had hidden cameras in his house and said that you’re only told you’re going Cup racing for the first time once, and I wanted to be special, something you remember forever.
“So, Tony just did that in an absolutely class-act way and it's certainly something I'll never forget.”
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article NASCAR believes Michael Jordan can be a ‘player’ in racing, too
Next article Michael Jordan, Denny Hamlin reveal name for new NASCAR team
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Charles Bradley
Mika Hakkinen on his darkest day in F1
Formula 1
Formula 1
Mika Hakkinen on his darkest day in F1
Dillon: Spotter was “wrong” to shout “wreck him!” before Hamlin clash
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Richmond II
Dillon: Spotter was “wrong” to shout “wreck him!” before Hamlin clash
Hamlin: NASCAR stripping Dillon of win would be “warranted”
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Richmond II
Hamlin: NASCAR stripping Dillon of win would be “warranted”
More from
Tony Stewart
The most unexpected driver and team breakups in modern NASCAR Cup history
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
The most unexpected driver and team breakups in modern NASCAR Cup history
The wildest fights in modern NASCAR Cup history
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Bristol II
The wildest fights in modern NASCAR Cup history
Tony Stewart will be racing at Talladega with Kaulig Ram NASCAR Truck team
NASCAR Truck
NASCAR Truck
Kansas
Tony Stewart will be racing at Talladega with Kaulig Ram NASCAR Truck team
Latest news
Spire, Chris Gabehart reject Joe Gibbs Racing premise on deleted texts
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
3 h
Spire, Chris Gabehart reject Joe Gibbs Racing premise on deleted texts
Ricky Stenhouse explains his side of Michael McDowell conflict
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
7 h
Ricky Stenhouse explains his side of Michael McDowell conflict
Barnes: Why IndyCar’s updated licensing system fails its own integrity test
IndyCar
Indy IndyCar 8 h
Barnes: Why IndyCar’s updated licensing system fails its own integrity test
Why NASCAR is not penalizing Stenhouse, McDowell for post-race theatrics
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
9 h
Why NASCAR is not penalizing Stenhouse, McDowell for post-race theatrics
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe