It’s common knowledge in NASCAR that Chase Briscoe grew up idolizing Tony Stewart. Like Stewart, Briscoe was raised in Indiana, and while Stewart was carving out a NASCAR Hall of Fame career, young Briscoe was clawing his way to the pinnacle of NASCAR via the short tracks of the Midwest, much like Stewart had during his own rise to racing glory.

Briscoe was rewarded for those efforts when he was hired to race at NASCAR’s highest level with Stewart-Haas Racing, where he was handed the No. 14, the same car Tony Stewart had raced before retiring at the end of 2016.

In many ways, Briscoe’s NASCAR career has mirrored that of his hero. So when Briscoe announced recently that he had purchased his own sprint car team that will race in High Limit Racing a premier national American touring series, it seemed like a continuation along the same path. After all, Tony Stewart also started his foray into team ownership early in his own career.

You’d think Briscoe becoming a team owner would be another step in the footsteps of his hero.

You’d be wrong.

Sure, it might look a little like follow-the-leader, but in reality, it’s not. And even Tony Stewart himself doesn’t think Briscoe is merely copying him.

“It’s in his DNA,” Stewart says. “It’s what the family’s done for years. Chase had his sprint car team that he was running some and then he was having other drivers for a little bit, but now he’s made a step into the national scene. Having a full-time team is something I’m proud of him for.”

And Briscoe himself says his career path isn’t a deliberate attempt to follow the Tony Stewart blueprint, though he acknowledges it might appear that way to some.

“From a really young age, Tony was obviously my hero,” he said. “A lot of my goals in racing and my career were based on what he did, and it is kinda ironic how life has turned out and just how many similarities there have been between driving at JGR, driving the 14, and now having a full-time sprint car team.”

That doesn’t mean Stewart didn’t provide plenty of inspiration along the way.

“I just always thought it was the absolute coolest thing ever,” Briscoe said. “When I was a kid, I’d watch these guys on TV race themselves. And then I’d go to a USAC race and TSR (Tony Stewart Racing) and KKR (Kasey Kahne Racing) would have the big trucks and trailers pull in, and I just remember it being literally the coolest thing in the world to me.”

That was Briscoe’s introduction to racing, an inspiration that fueled his desire and his racing dreams.

“I always just found it so cool that they never forgot about sprint car racing,” he said. “And sprint car racing was really my first ever introduction to motorsports or racing in general, so it’s always just been a massive passion of mine.”

While Stewart wasn’t involved in Briscoe’s latest venture, he can provide some valuable lessons as Briscoe’s own team ownership adventure begins. Chief among those is the mind shift from driver to owner.

“When you become an owner, you learn how to manage people,” Stewart says. “The finances, I mean there’s a lot that goes into being a team owner that’s different than being a driver. I think that’s something Chase may not have quite as much fun as he thinks he might.”

However, Stewart is quite confident Briscoe is ready to take on the team ownership challenge.

“He loves the sport so much that I think this is something that is a good balance for him,” Stewart said. “His work life of being a NASCAR driver and then having the opportunity to be an owner in a side of motorsports that you love and is in your heart. He will learn all those variables that you need to learn that are different than being a driver, but I think, all in all, big picture, he’ll embrace it.”

For Briscoe, his lessons come from a much wider perspective.

“I would say I’ve taken something from all the owners I’ve driven for and tried to apply it to myself as far as ownership,” he says. “I’m in a little bit of a more unique standpoint than some owners because I’m a driver, so I’ve lived the other side of it and know what works and doesn’t work to a certain extent. I know I still have a lot to learn, but I’ve been able to drive for a lot of really cool and respected owners, so hopefully I can mold myself with a little bit of each of them.”

Briscoe seems ready to embrace the challenges ahead, the good, and the not-so-good.

“I’m just excited to be able to have a car I feel attached to on a nightly basis,” he said. “I watch every race already and sometimes I’ve had a car running, but it’s pretty rare with how limited our schedule has been. But now to have something full time, it’ll be great to have an invested interest and a team I’m finally attached to. It’ll also be great just to build the camaraderie with the group of guys. The thing I’m least excited about is nights we tear stuff up!”

Tony Stewart admits that when he first heard the news that Chase was buying a team, he found it to be nothing short of awesome. He’s looking forward to racing against a former employee he now considers a friend.

The story has shifted from idol and idolizer, boss and driver, to competitors racing against each other in sprint cars.

“Now, to see Chase step up at the national level, I was excited and I am excited for him,” he says. “We’re going to be racing against each other, and I think it just brings our friendship that much closer.

“To know that we’re doing this together and, yeah, we’re on different teams this time, but you know we’re always going to be rooting for each other. We want to win, and we want to beat each other, but I guarantee when we win, he’s gonna be sending messages and when his team wins, I’m gonna be sending him messages, so it’s going to be an exciting time for both of us.”

And while Stewart is humbled by the influence he’s had on Briscoe, he’s quick to point out that Chase Briscoe will be charting his own path.

“I’m very proud of it,” he said. “I mean Chase and I are good buddies. We’ve been around each other a long time and to know that I’m someone he patterns himself off of to a certain degree, yeah, that’s something to be proud of.

“But, you know, Chase is a strong man. He knows what he wants, he knows how to get there and you know he’ll have the same driving determination as an owner as he always has had as a driver.”

And Briscoe knows that his journey, while it does include a bit of his hero, is just getting started.

“For sure feels full circle to a certain extent but still a long way to go to come close to the success he’s had from a driver and as an owner.”

So, in the end, this isn’t a story about Chase Briscoe copying Tony Stewart. It’s about a young man doing what comes naturally; because it’s in his DNA.