“Makes Things Way Easier”: Chase Briscoe sheds light on Stewart-Haas Racing’s ‘Study Group’

NASCAR Cup Series driver Chase Briscoe recently shared his take on Stewart-Haas Racing's 'study group' that aims at better communication between all four drivers on the Ford team; Ryan Preece, Noah Gragson, Josh Berry, and Briscoe himself. The number 14 speedster, who didn't even know about it until a week ago, feels like it is a step in the right direction for the entire team.

In just his second season in the Cup Series (2022), Briscoe made it to the round of 8. His first Cup win came the same year at Phoenix Raceway, becoming the 200th Cup Series winner. Last year, his teammate Noah Gragson got sidelined from NASCAR for a little more than five weeks on account of using a racial slur on a social media post.

However, since being reinstated to his job, he is steadily climbing the ladder of success in the NASCAR Cup Series. On the other hand, Josh Berry has 21 victories in the Cars Late Model Stock Tour category to his credit besides five career Xfinity Series wins. Ryan Preece has run several Xfinity Series races for Joe Gibbs Racing and has amassed two wins in the same.

Although there can be only one winner in a NASCAR race, what the teams pull off every weekend is ultimately the fruit of team effort. And that requires seamless and quick communication between the team and the drivers as they drive through the traffic, something that the 'study group' seeks to help them with.

Referring to the benefits of the 'study group' sessions, Briscoe said (as quoted by racer.com):

“I feel like it helps me [and] Noah feels like it helps him. I feel like there’s still a long way we could go from the standpoint of how we’re building it, but it is nice. [It’s] not just drivers and crew chiefs, now we have engineers in there, and they can kind of hear the drivers being [in] an open dialogue, and I feel like that goes a long way.”

“It’s been really good for all of us. It’s obviously helped us on the racetrack, but from a communications standpoint, it’s made it where, after practice, I can get out, go to Ryan, Josh, or Noah, and the lingo and things we’ve talked about all week…we know. It makes a two-minute conversation a 30-second conversation, so it just makes things way easier from that standpoint,” he explained.

Chase Briscoe's emotional Darlington win

Three years ago, Briscoe witnessed life's sweet and sour on a single day. He held off Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson to win the Toyota 200 at Darlington Raceway in just his second season driving for Stewart-Haas Racing.

However, days before that seemingly sweet win, he and his wife, Marrissa, had lost their unborn daughter. Climbing out of his #98 car, Briscoe struggled to hold back his tears. He wiped the sweat off of his forehead and exclaimed,

“I was crying inside the race car. This is more than a race win. This is the biggest day in my life after the toughest day in my life. To be able to beat the best there is, is so satisfying.”

Fast forward to this year, Briscoe qualified 13th for Sunday's race at the track “Too Tough to Tame”. According to Rotoballer, Briscoe has amassed five top-20 finishes at the 1.366-mile racetrack in South Carolina, and in those finishes, his best finish is 11th.