KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Chase Briscoe headed to the hospital on Friday when his wife, Marissa, started to feel contractions, and the driver of the No. 14 car for Stewart-Haas Racing wasn't quite sure whether the twins they were expecting in October were arriving early.
Turned out to be a false alarm, so the couple headed home after a couple of hours. And on Saturday, Briscoe hopped on a plane to Kansas Speedway, where his quest to continue racing through the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs will continue on Sunday. “I've got to qualify and I've got to race,” he said.
“We're here. I'm in the playoffs. If I wasn't in the playoffs, I'd be home (in case) something happened.
But the contingency plan? I'm here to race for a championship. Marissa knows that.” With his wife still very much pregnant back home, Briscoe has even more incentive to win the race — and quickly.
Everyone is similarly on board with Briscoe's postseason push at Stewart-Haas Racing, which is closing up shop at the end of the season . Tony Stewart is departing while co-owner Gene Haas will carry on in NASCAR's top series, but the move has created a lot of uncertainty for the teams of Briscoe, Noah Gragson, Josh Berry and Ryan Preece the rest of the season. In fact, the team swapped pit crews this week.
Berry's bunch from the No. 4 car have been the most consistent this season, so they are moving to Briscoe's car for the opening race in the second round of the Cup Series playoffs. “I do get where that ou.