Kevin Harvick reacts to Chase Briscoe making NASCAR playoffs despite SHR closing

Kevin Harvick was the star at Stewart-Haas Racing during the latter part of his NASCAR Cup Series career, and Chase Briscoe took over that mantle following the 2023 campaign.

To say 2024 has been disappointing for Briscoe and SHR would be an understatement, due to a dip in performance and the reveal that the team would be closing their doors at the end of the season. However, Briscoe provided a glimmer of hope, showing SHR won’t go down without a fight, capturing the win and catapulting himself into the playoffs over the weekend at Darlington.

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It’s easy to see why Harvick would be enthusiastic about the win, elated for the team that he spent so many seasons helped to lead from the front. On the latest episode of Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour, the former Cup Series champion reacted to the victory, shouting out some key members of the SHR organization.

“I listened to an interview with [SHR Competition Director] Greg Zipadelli, and I think you have to give a lot of credit to him. I think he’s been through a ton of really hard, awkward, difficult moments, with not only the team, but Tony Stewart through the years, and those guys always find a way to battle and put themselves in position,” Harvick said. “I mean, I was a part of it for a number of years. It was always, it was never, ‘This is the end,’ it was, ‘Well, we’ve got to keep going. We’ve got to figure it out.’ Those guys are fighting until the very end of a company.

“Even though the Haas Factory Team is going to have one Cup car and a couple Xfinity cars, it’s not the same. Tony Stewart is not there. … He’s in a great spot, as a person, and I think that, when you look at everything that that company has accomplished … they figured out how to put a car in the playoffs, and I don’t think anybody expected any of those cars to be anywhere near the playoffs. I was thinking to myself last night, I was like, ‘My god, this place is going to get a car into the playoffs.’

“… Ultimately, Ford doesn’t want them to win, anymore, I don’t think. They don’t want them to beat their cars that are going to be there next year. I think they want their cars that are going to be there next year to beat that Stewart-Haas car. But that’s not going to hinder the enthusiasm that comes from the people, those employees and those cars, because they’ve shown it all year. … Just a lot of grit and determination from a lot of great racers.”

It’s evident that while Briscoe and the No. 14 team are only one of four in the SHR stable, the win at Darlington was bigger than them, as it helped lift the entire organization ahead of the playoffs. Now, Briscoe will be hoping to keep the momentum going, and deliver SHR their first championship since Harvick’s in their final season of existence.

What a story that would be. If Chase Briscoe gets hot with the full power of what remains at Stewart-Haas Racing behind him, the sky could be the limit, even if Ford may be selling them short. Kevin Harvick will certainly have a keen eye on what happens with the No. 14 team moving forward.