Column: Chase Briscoe Takes Home Sunoco Rookie of the Year For The NASCAR Cup Series
Column By: HOLLY CAIN / NASCAR – AVONDALE, AZ – Stewart-Haas Racing driver Chase Briscoe officially earned the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors Sunday. It marks the second consecutive year the SHR team has fielded the top series newcomer. Cole Custer won it last year.
Briscoe, 26, driver of the No. 14 SHR Ford, finished out the season with a 35th place finish at Phoenix – crashing out after a tire problem while running 12th. He finished 23rd in the final championship standings.
A nine-time winner while racing fulltime for the team in the Xfinity Series last year, he had three top-10 finishes in the NASCAR Cup Series this season, including a best of sixth place at both the Austin and Elkhart Lake, Wisc. road courses. He led 18 laps with a single day best of 12 laps led at the Indianapolis road course.
The series other Rookie of the Year contender, Front Row Motorsports driver Anthony Alfredo, 22, finished 30th in the standings with one top-10 finish, a 10th place at the Fall Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway race. He closed out the year with a 34th-place finish following an accident at Phoenix.
