Chase Briscoe was announced as the replacement driver for Martin Truex Jr. by Joe Gibbs Racing near the end of June, but not everything has been peachy-keen with the transition since the announcement was made.
In particular, the apparel choice made by Briscoe in announcing his excitement on Twitter drew scrutiny from an account with about 2,800 followers.
But don’t let the follower count fool you. The man reportedly behind the account is a titan in NASCAR.
Briscoe posed for a photo wearing a black T-shirt that featured a handful of logos. The Bass Pro Shops logo was most prominently featured on the center of the chest, while a Joe Gibbs Racing logo appeared on the right breast and a conspicuous Toyota logo featured on the left breast.
That gets us to the tweet.
“And I thought he raced a Mustang until the end of the 2024 season?” wrote Sweepstakes1901 on Twitter.
So who exactly is Sweepstakes1901? A NASCAR insider provided the answer.
“I’m pretty sure Sweepstakes1901 is Edsel Ford II,” said Kevin Harvick on the Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour podcast. “I think that’s kind of like his account on X. I mean I feel like it’s common knowledge if you’re driving a Ford.”
In other words, that Toyota logo on the T-shirt did not go unnoticed. Chase Briscoe is currently racing for Stewart-Haas, with Ford as the team’s manufacturer.
Edsel Ford II is the great grandson of Henry Ford and for a long time was seen as the public face of Ford’s NASCAR efforts. In short: He’s kind of a big deal. And to be sporting another manufacturer’s logo during the season, while you’re racing a Ford… not great, Bob.
“To Edsel’s point, I think it’s a major fail on Chase’s part to have that Toyota logo on during the year,” Harvick explained. “I know when we announced Josh Berry‘s stuff that he was coming to Stewart-Haas it was definitely, we made a point to make sure that he had a Stewart-Haas logo and that was it. And worked with JR Motorsports to make sure that they were OK with everything that was happening.”
Harvick did somewhat give Chase Briscoe the benefit of the doubt. Still, it’s an eyebrow-raising comment from Ford.
“Now it’s a little bit different situation with him leaving a team that’s closing, but I still think that you don’t want the Edsel Ford’s of the world mad at you,” Harvick said. “You want to go out on the right foot, because you might have to cross that bridge again. I know in these situations that people can be frustrated and they can be at a point where they’re not happy and you’re super excited about what you’re doing next. But I think it’s definitely a mistake by having that Toyota logo on before the season ended because of the fact that he still is a Ford driver, still in a Ford team, and I think there were definitely some things that were missed on Chase Briscoe’s part in doing that and having that logo on his shirt.”
What is the danger, exactly?
Well, it’s the potential for burning bridges that Harvick pointed to as the chief reason Briscoe’s apparel choice was an oversight at the least and a big mistake at the worst.
“I think Ford has been really good to Chase Briscoe through the years, and I think that sometimes it takes the smallest thing to rub people the wrong way,” Harvick said. “When you look at it, if you make that manufacturer mad and you make somebody like Edsel Ford mad, that’s one-third of your options currently. You have three options from a manufacturer standpoint. You’ve got Ford, Chevy, Toyota. You can’t make one mad.
“I think sometimes in those scenarios the self-awareness that goes along with doing the right things is good. I mean there’s no way the (JGR) team would have said, ‘No way,’ it’s just, ‘I’ve got to respect my current deals and the things I have going on right now to make sure I don’t make anybody mad.’ I love the fact that Chase is getting an opportunity to go drive a great car, but I think this is definitely one of those things that you’ve got to go through the rest of the season making sure you check all those boxes to do the right thing.”
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