After a successful journey with Stewart-Haas Racing, Chase Briscoe is ready to start a new season with Joe Gibbs Racing behind the wheel of the No. 19 Toyota. Stewart-Haas Racing dissolved on May 28, 2024, selling all four team charters after several months of financial woes. The move left the team’s drivers scrambling, and Briscoe was no exception. It wouldn’t be long before he was approached for a multi-year deal with Joe Gibbs and touted to fill the empty spot left by retiree Martin Truex Jr.
Briscoe has kept no secrets about the move and spoke openly to media outlets just before the NASCAR Awards Banquet in Charlotte on November 11. It would be the last time he would ever represent SHR as the driver of the No. 14 Ford. He mentioned the day he stopped considering himself a member of Stewart-Haas was when he and others were locked out of headquarters in Kannapolis. Now, he’s ready to step into his new role, replacing Truex Jr., but he feels pressured to measure up to his legacy. Is it too much of a challenge?
Can Chase Briscoe Perform Under Pressure?
Without question, Chase Briscoe is a strong competitor on the track, and he’s had immense success with Stewart-Haas Racing. He won his first cup title at the 2022 Shriner Children’s 500 at Phoenix Raceway and a successful 2024 Daytona 500 run with SHR. At Daytona, he started in 20th and finished in 10th, gaining 27 points, just a single point shy of teammate No. 10 driver Noah Gragson, in ninth. If there’s one thing Briscoe knows how to do, it’s perform, but the stakes with Joe Gibbs are much higher.
He mentioned that while he was at Stewart-Haas, there wasn’t much to conform to because the team didn’t win races, and no bar was set, but it’s a whole new ball game at JGR. Briscoe explained that while at Joe Gibbs Racing, he’ll be expected to be out front every race weekend, which fuels the intensity of the stress he’s already faced. He also knows he’ll fall under Martin Truex Jr.’s microscope and must measure up with new teammates Bell, Hamlin, and Gibbs. The 30-year-old stated he loves the pressure side of being a cup driver, but with JGR, it’s the most he’s ever felt.
“I love the pressure side, but I do think this is probably the most pressure I’ve ever been under in my life, as far as professionally,” Chase Briscoe said.
“But I feel like this is one of those opportunities where if you don’t perform, like, there’s no excuses. Like, you have to perform at JGR.” “So from that standpoint, it is different because everywhere else, there’s really not been that expectation,” he added.
A New Legacy for the No. 19
With the Daytona 500 just over two months away, Chase Briscoe is preparing to navigate how he’ll live up to Martin Truex Jr.’s legacy. Over a career spanning two decades, Truex Jr. secured 34 wins, 147 top-fives, 291 top-tens, 493 top-twenties, and 25 poles. Briscoe holds a single win, 9 top-tens, and 3 top-fives, which he secured with Stewart-Haas Racing, but he’s ready to top that. Briscoe revealed he kickstarted relations with the team at the close of the 2024 season via regular conversations with crew chief James Small.
Small, who served as Truex Jr.’s success for five seasons, is ready to turn the page with Chase Briscoe. Briscoe holds Small in high regard and was quick to reveal that he went out of his way to touch base with him each week leading up to the end of 2024. Small seems to care about helping him learn from his struggles, which he didn’t have at Stewart-Haas Racing. He’s local, too, and that’s another advantage because he’ll be able to directly contribute to the setup and development processes pre-race each week.
“Even the last, I would say, two or three weeks of the season,” Briscoe mentioned. Small made it a point always on Monday just to call me and kind of talk through my weekend and see what I fought and what struggles, just see if it lined up with anything they had.”
Final Thoughts
Chase Briscoe has a tall order to fill Martin Truex Jr.’s seat, and Joe Gibbs Racing will give him that outlet. The pressure is heavy, and while he may not live up to the same legacy as Truex Jr. in the No.19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry XSE, he’s ready to carve his own. Will he take his career to the next level at JGR? Briscoe’s inaugural race with the team will occur on Sunday, February 16, 2025, at Daytona International Speedway. Tune into Fox Sports at 1:30 p.m. CT. to catch the action.
