Entering the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, it’s an entirely new world for Chase Briscoe.
The Mitchell, Indiana-native has been in the post-season before, twice actually, but this time around everything is different. In his first year driving the No. 19 Toyota Camry XSE for Joe Gibbs Racing, Briscoe is in a different category.
In previous years, driving for Stewart-Haas Racing, Briscoe was fighting just to make the Playoffs (with last year’s berth coming because of an eleventh-hour victory in the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington). Still, now, he’s got a secure and cushioned spot in the post-season.
So, where does that put the 30-year-old driver? The stretch of races throughout the Summer for the No. 19 team suggests that Briscoe could be among the favorites to win the championship, but his relative inexperience in high-intensity moments could make him more of a Cinderella story.
Realistically speaking, Briscoe and crew chief James Small are probably landing somewhere in the middle of those two extremes.
“To a certain extent,” Briscoe said when asked if he was a Cinderella story. “Definitely feels different than the prior Playoff runs, because of the situation, right? I kind of have everything I need now, where before, you’re just kind of excited to be there and you’re hoping that works out, but you know it’s going to be an uphill. Where now, I feel like if we can execute, we have a really good chance to potentially win a championship.”
All in all, it’s been a successful first season for Briscoe at Joe Gibbs Racing. With just the 10-race postseason remaining, the driver of the No. 19 ranks behind only Chase Elliott and Christopher Bell in average finish amongst full-timers. Plus, his 10 top-five and 12 top-10 finishes are career highs.
Not to mention, the three-time NASCAR Cup Series winner has been a machine when it comes to qualifying, scoring a season-high six pole positions – including poles in the Daytona 500, Coca-Cola 600, and Brickyard 400. That qualifying prowess is valuable, especially in a series so competitive and track position sensitive.
“For us, our strength is speed. There’s really not a single style of racetrack where we haven’t been one of the faster cars in general. I think for us, you know, our pit crew has been really good, we just have a couple of blow up pit stops and just mistakes. Think it all just gets bundled into execution, whether it’s the pit crew or myself on the racetrack. Just executing races from lap one to the final lap.”
“That’s really what I feel like separates teams in the Playoffs is just making sure you execute and don’t make these mistakes that take you out of the day, and if we can do that for 10 weeks, from a speed standpoint, we should have plenty of speed to run up front and get points. It’s going to be a matter of not shooting ourselves in the foot, and if we can do that, I feel like we have a really good shot.”
For a new driver-team pairing, execution can often be the main struggle. But, to win a championship at NASCAR’s top level, doing so flawlessly is of the utmost importance. Part of that, though, can come down to the relationship between driver and crew chief – something that Briscoe and James Small seem to have mastered pretty quickly.
“As a driver, you’re only as good as the team and car that you’re in, right? James [Small] and the entire engineering group at [Joe Gibbs Racing] as a whole, they give you really good race cars week-in and week-out, and that’s been something that has been an adjustment for me this year,” Briscoe added. “Understanding that and knowing the risk versus reward, knowing that even on a bad day, we should still run right around 10th, and that’s an adjustment for me to kind of be able to realize that in the moment and comprehend what’s going on, because in the past, 10th was still a pretty good day.”
“Especially during these Playoffs, that’s going to be something to realize is, ‘Hey, don’t panic. If you just do your job, you’re probably going to run top 10-ish, for sure top 15-ish, even on a bad day’. That’s been something for me, I’ve had to really adjust my mind, too, is I don’t have to try as hard. It sounds weird, but I don’t have to take these huge risks, I don’t have to do all these things because the car’s capability is going to help me a lot of the time compared to what I’m racing against, so that’s definitely been something for me that’s a mentality shift.”
Briscoe is the defending winner of the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway and will look to kick off the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs with a victory as the series returns to the 1.366-mile racetrack in Darlington, South Carolina.
“I was telling my wife a couple of weeks ago, ‘this is really the first time I’ve ever legitimately thought I could win a Cup championship.”
Coverage of the event will take place on Sunday, August 31, at 6:00 pm ET on USA Network, Motor Racing Network (MRN), and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
