3 NASCAR drivers who had humble beginnings, ft. Chase Briscoe

With the regular season done and dusted, the NASCAR Cup Series is all set to kick off the postseason with its first race at Atlanta Motor Speedway on September 8th. Fans can buy tickets for the same on the track's official website or watch the race stream live on NBC Sports and USA.

NASCAR is a competitive sport where speed is money. Reports say that a driver gets paid about $112,038 annually. As of today, Richard Childress Racing's Kyle Busch is the highest-paid driver ($16.9 million per annum).

However, several drivers who have risen to prominence in recent years were once just kids with big dreams. It is through sheer hard work and determination that they made it to the top ranks in NASCAR. Let's take a look at these three drivers' struggles before becoming the stars they are today:

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Three NASCAR racers with humble beginnings

1. Chase Briscoe

Chase Briscoe speaks to the media during the NASCAR Playoffs Media Day at the Charlotte Convention Center. (Source: Imagn)

Chase Briscoe drives the No. 14 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing in the Cup Series. He was born on 15th December 1994 in Mitchell, Indiana. His racing career started behind the wheel of a quarter midget in 2001. Soon, he started driving mini Sprint cars, and, at the age of 13, he drove a 410 Sprint Car for the first time.

In his rookie season as a 410 Sprint Car driver, Briscoe recorded eight top-5s and 17 top-10s besides a victory that shattered the record of being the youngest person to win a 410 sprint car race, previously set by NASCAR Hall of Famer and multi-time Cup Series champion, Jeff Gordon.

However, Briscoe started facing financial restraints by the time he was 19. Nevertheless, he landed the chance to wheel a Stock Car at the PEAK Stock Car Dream Challenge, a three-day event in Charlotte. He was among 700 applicants for the event. He showed promise throughout the event; so much so that the officials told his parents that he could be a NASCAR driver when he grows up.

Briscoe then started living in Charlotte. He used to sleep at his friends' houses or on air mattresses. Sometimes, he even had to work for free. He landed a job at Cunningham Motorsports in an ARCA test at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway in 2015. However, he had to work 12-13 hours a day to make ends meet.

Cunningham Motorsports owner Briggs Cunningham III was impressed with Briscoe's dedication and gave him the chance to run two ARCA races where he delivered a top-10 and a top-5 finish. The next year, Cunningham Motorsports signed him as the driver of the No. 77 car in ARCA. That was the start of Briscoe's move up the ladder in NASCAR.

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2. Kevin Harvick

Harvick at the NASCAR Cup Series Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 on April 14, 2024 at Texas Motor Speedway (Source: Getty)

Kevin Harvick is best known as the driver of the legendary No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang throughout his career. He retired last year and is currently an analyst and commentator for Fox.

The Bakersfield, California native won 60 Cup Series races, including crown jewel races like the Daytona 500, Southern 500, Brickyard 400, and the Coca-Cola 600. He won the 2014 Cup Series championship as well.

Harvick used to live in Oildale, a residential area somewhat far from Bakersfield proper with his parents and younger sister, Amber Reece. His mother, JoNell, was a teacher at a nearby elementary school, while his father, Mike, used to be the crew chief for a small local race team.

Sometimes, a teenage Harvick had to pay for his season by recycling scrap metals from air conditioners. Reflecting on the same, he said in an interview:

"The struggles really weren't struggles because we were having fun. That's how we survived. We recycled all the cans in the shop. Literally $100 meant one tire and that's how you thought about things."

"You had to think about everything you could to save money and put money toward the race car and didn't want to wreck it because the $600 at the pay window didn't go a long ways," he added.

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3. Jimmie Johnson

Jimmie Johnson before the Qualifyings for the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (Source: Imagn)

Jimmie Johnson is one of the only three drivers to have won seven NASCAR Cup Series Championships, the others being Richard Petty and the late Dale Earnhardt Sr. However, being the son of a school bus driver and a car mechanic, it had never been easy for the El Cajon native.

In his Hall of Fame induction speech in 2023, Johnson said:

"They (Johnson's parents) gave everything they could to help me chase the dream (of racing) growing up. It wasn't easy for them. My mom was a school bus driver and my dad (was) a heavy equipment operator moonlighting as a racecar mechanic. But we raced, and we raced a lot on a limited budget with a lot of passion and dedication." [01:32]

Johnson retired in 2020, having won 83 races. Today, he is a part-owner of Legacy Motor Club, a race team that competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series.