● Chase Briscoe and the No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang team for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) will arrive at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway with a renewed effort under new leadership. Richard Boswell steps into the role of NASCAR Cup Series crew chief with the No. 14 team, replacing Johnny Klausmeier, who transitioned to SHR’s vehicle performance group.
● Boswell has been a fixture with SHR’s NASCAR Xfinity Series team since its inception in 2017. He won eight races with Briscoe over a three-year span (2018-2020), including an impressive six-win campaign in 2020. Boswell, a former driver who competed for JR Motorsports in the Hooters Pro Cup and Xfinity Series, was most recently the crew chief for SHR’s No. 98 Xfinity Series team and driver Riley Herbst.
● With 16 of 36 races complete, Briscoe has three top-five finishes and four top-10s.
● Sunday’s Ally 400 marks Briscoe’s third start at the 1.333-mile, concrete oval. His best result was in the inaugural race when he started 16th and ran inside the top-10 for a majority of the race before a loss of brakes relegated the No. 14 to a 31st-place finish.
● Though Briscoe’s results at Nashville haven’t been his best, he had a successful run in the Music City in 2016 when he started on the pole and finished ninth in the ARCA Menards Series race at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway. It was his first of nine career poles during his 2016 championship run.
Nashville has been a difficult track for you. What have you learned that can help you turn that around?
“I think the first year was tough, not really knowing the Cup car or the track. A lot of teams struggled and we were definitely one of them. Then last year, that was just a mistake on my part. I was going into turn two a little too fast with Ross (Chastain) coming up behind me and lost the back of the car. We had a wrecked car, rain delays, a new car with the NextGen. We’ve never really gone into Nashville with any kind of playbook, so maybe this will be a chance to flip things around and better what we’ve done in the past.”
Halfway through what has been a challenging third season in the Cup Series, you’re coming back from the midseason break in the schedule with a new crew chief. What does that do for the team in terms of a reset?
“Coming back from the off weekend is always a reset and a good chance for us to finish out the season with a fresh strategy. I’m excited to reunite with (Richard) Boswell. I’ve always enjoyed working with him and we have a good relationship that we worked on for many years in the Xfinity Series. He’s done a lot for me in my career and we had a lot of success together in the Xfinity Series, so I feel confident that he’ll know how to push me to be a better driver while he’s trying to figure out this side of things.”
What kind of impact will Boswell’s transition to the Cup Series have on the team?
“It’s going to take him some time to learn the NextGen, but I don’t think it will have much impact. We have a whole organization that has been working on this car and we all know the little quirks, so he’ll have lots of guidance and help as he navigates it. I think he’s going to be just fine, and the change will be a chance for some new perspective from an outsider.”
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