CHARLOTTE (August 27, 2025) - Joe Gibbs Racing driver Chase Briscoe was made available to the media on Wednesday as part of NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Media Day.
CHASE BRISCOE, No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Do you feel a little bit like Cinderella in these Playoffs where you have everything you possibly need to shine?
"To a certain extent. Definitely feels different than the prior Playoff runs, because of the situation, right? Like you were saying, 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 be an up-hill. Where now, I feel like if we can just execute, we have a really good chance to potentially win the championship. So yeah, it definitely feels different this time around and yeah, hopefully we can you know put it all together."
What do you need to capitalize on the good track position you seem to have to get that next win?
"Yeah, it's tough. Like you said, we've finished second a lot, but the one was to SVG (Shane Van Gisbergen) and that one, I don't think I could have won unless something crazy happened to him. The Dover race, I definitely think I could have potentially won, but it was very high risk of wrecking myself and I don't remember where the other one was where we finished second (Iowa), but I'm sure there is a chance to win that one potentially too. Yeah, don't know. If you keep putting yourself in those positions, you're going to win more races. And the good thing is, we're in position. It's just a matter of putting it all together there at the end. I feel good about it. Hopefully we can continue to put ourselves in those positions and they'll eventually go our way."
Did you ever envision you'd be teammates with Christopher Bell at this level?
"No, not really. We kind of had one of those moments when we were flying to Mexico this year on Coach (Joe Gibbs, team owner)'s plane and we're like, 'man if you had told us 10 years ago when we were hanging out and playing video games that we'd be flying on Coach Gibbs playing together to Mexico to race the cup race,' like we would both thought you were crazy. Yeah, it's pretty wild. Facebook has those memories and stuff and mine popped up there, just this week, I was doing PR for (Chrsitopher) Bell like 10 years ago and now I'm his teammate and fighting for the championship with him, so it's pretty wild."
Would it be hard to fight with him for the championship should you both make the final round together?
"(It'd be) another race. I mean honestly, just the culture at JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing), you're kind of racing your teammates to win every single week. I mean the championship, there's a lot more on the line, but you still have a lot of experience of racing those guys for the win and battling up front with them. I don't think it really changes anything."
Do you feel more optimistic this year compared to previous Playoff appearances?
"For sure. I was telling my wife that couple weeks ago, 'this is really the first time I've ever legitimately thought I could win a Cup championship.' In the past, you make the Playoffs and it's exciting, but down deep you kind of know that the odds of you winning are pretty slim, right? Whereas now, not to say that I'm the favorite by any means, but I feel like I have a legitimate chance to go do it, where at SHR (Stewart-Haas Racing), you never really felt like you had a legitimate shot to do it. Definitely feels different this time around knowing that you have a shot and I would say this Playoffs feels different because of that."
What role does your crew chief James Small have in that confidence?
"Yeah, a huge part. As a driver, you're only as good as the team and the car that you're in, right? James (Small, crew chief) and the entire engineering group and JGR at whole, they give you really good race cars week in and week out, and that's been something that's been an adjustment for me this year. Understanding that and knowing the risk vs reward, knowing that even on a bad day, we should still run right around the 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 been a mentality shift."
What do you see as the challenge for you and your team in these Playoffs?
"I think for us is just executing. I would love to have more Playoff points. I'm confident that we can get to that Round of 8, but once you get to the Round of 8, at our points deficit, there's a chance you're going to almost have to win the race. Somebody's going to be able to point their way into the final four, but realistically for us, it's probably not going to be an option. We're already starting 20, 30 points behind, so that's the big thing I think for us is we have to be able to execute in these first two rounds and hopefully win a race or two. If we can do that and shorten that gap Playoff point-wise, I think it puts us in a better spot. For me, just from an execution standpoint, that's the biggest thing and just trying to win a race these first two rounds, just trying to get more Playoff points to set us up for easier way to that final four."
Your teammate Denny Hamlin often talks about breaking down races mentally. When you're running in the top-10, does it make it easier to break down the race?
"Yeah, for sure. Denny (Hamlin) does a really good job of just mentally understanding the race and he's been doing it for 19, 20 years, right? So, he understands that big picture and plus, he's been doing it that whole time and Joe Gibbs Racing cars. Where for me, it's been a little bit harder because for four or five years, all I've known is one style of Cup racing where it's kind of tooth and nail and it still is tooth and nail, but your car is going to carry you more than what I've had in the past and that's been something for me I feel like I've not done a great job of in the first 10-15, even the first 26 races this season is understanding that risk vs reward on restarts and such. I've always had to take these huge risky moves and make these really aggressive decisions, but there's always a big risk of them not working out and losing positions or wrecking. Where now, I don't necessarily have to take those big of risks as your car is going to normally get you back up there. That's just been a big thing for me to learn over the course of this year."
Now that you're in the Playoffs, what comes next?
"Yeah, I mean we need to go and perform in the Playoffs, right? That's the difference now is that (at) SHR, did you want to get knocked out of the Round of 16? No, but if you did like there was nobody like, 'man, that was a disappointing season.' They were still excited they made the Playoffs. Where here (Joe Gibbs Racing), it's almost like if you don't make the Round of 8, that's kind of a failure on the year and really the final four even, right? It's just a different mentality. For me, think we're fully capable of making it to the final four. From a speed standpoint, I would say arguably we are one of the better cars kind of week in and week out, it's just a matter of putting the whole race together. That's where you see that The William Byrons and the Denny (Hamlin)'s of the world, they're doing a better job right now putting the whole race together than what we do, and a lot of that falls on myself going back to what I was just saying with the risk versus reward. I think as I get better in understanding and getting more experience, that'll be better for me. But yeah, I'm glad we were able to win a race and make the Playoffs, but now that we're here, we need to do something about it."
You had some tough luck in your first two Playoffs. What was that like and how do you bounce back from a tough start?
"I don't know. I guess I haven't really thought about that, but I think both times I've been in the Playoffs, I've been last in the points after the first race and I've still been able to make it on to the rounds after that. For me, it's never over until it's over, and obviously, you don't want to have a bad race, but I mean it can happen to anybody, right, and you just have to go and put your best effort forward. Just because you have a points deficit, doesn't mean you're out of it, necessarily. We've seen that time and time again, so hopefully, we're not in that position come after Sunday night but if we are, it's definitely a position I feel comfortable in, as crazy as that sounds. I've been under the cutline a lot my entire career in the Cup Series and I feel like I almost perform better when I'm in that position. I'm not worried if adversity does happen. Hopefully it doesn't, but if it does, it's certainly somewhere I feel comfortable."
Who was the Cup Series driver you were most excited to race against when you first started in the series?
"Oh man, that's a tough question. I don't even know. I mean even to this day too, I think it's cool when I'm racing around Kyle Busch or Denny Hamlin. Those were kind of the guys that are still around from when I was growing up racing. I'd say Kyle Busch was the first moment where I had, that it was in the Truck Series at the time and he came and ran Atlanta. It was like my second ever NASCAR race and I remember, I think I qualified right behind him and ran behind him for a lot of the first stage and it was just like. 'Holy smokes, I'm on the race track with Kyle Busch.' I would say he was probably the first one."
Does it come to mind there's a young racer out there now who feels the same way about racing you?
"It's still weird to me that I'm even considered to be like one of those people, truthfully. Feel like I'm norma Chase and I still shouldn't really be here, truthfully. I don't know it's weird that, there is probably some kid out there racing where potentially, I'm their favorite driver and it's odd. I don't feel like I'm one of those guys. When I go run the Chili Bowl, like I'm sure there's somebody in my heart race saying, 'oh man, there's a Cup guy in here,' and I don't feel that way at all. That's weird to think about. I never thought of it."
How you think your generation of driver is making an impact on the sport?
"Yeah, we are kind of that next (pause), for the next 15 years, we're going to be kind of the core group of guys, right? You're going to have some people come in along the way, but for the most part, that is the group I'm going to race against my entire career. Hopefully, I can be one of those like marquee guys, I guess. For me, it's always important to be one of those people that fans can look up to or fellow race car drivers or young kids. I try to always make sure that I know that just because I don't think the camera's on me, I need to be acting like there is one. Doing things respectfully and race on the race track respectfully, but off the race track, be a gracious competitor and hopefully I can be that for a lot of people. It is crazy to think that I'm going to be potentially one of those guys that was like that core Cup guy I grew up watching."
How were you able to save fuel and win that race in Pocono?
"Yeah, it's odd. My dad's always told me, 'if you just slow down a little bit, you probably go faster,' and it was it was the truth. Pocono, I think I definitely could have went faster if I needed to. It wasn't like I was running really crazy fast because I remember (Tyler) Reddick pulled out in front of me a lap down and drove away from us. But, where my car was better compared to Denny (Hamlin), I could maximize the straight away so long he would never get back to me on corner entry to be able to do something with how early I was lifting. We even talked about it our debrief, I think it was (Ryan) Blaney was running third, if Blaney would have been behind me, I think I would have got passed because his car was so strong down the straightaways. The Toyotas were not very fast down the straightaway, so it allowed me to get a big enough gap that I could lift early and save fuel where if a Ford was behind me, I don't think I could have done that. Between that and then just under caution, I didn't realize but James (Small) told me I'm like unbelievable saving fuel under caution compared to everybody else that he's seen. I don't know (why), I guess I'm really good at shutting the thing off and rolling for a long time, I don't know. I always thought I wasn't very good at it, but according to their numbers, I'm really good compared to most guys. I guess between that and the on-track stuff, I was able to save enough."
How important is that to be good at in this era?
"Yeah, I think it's definitely important. It's definitely something that adds up. You don't realize how much goes into the fuel savings side. That's something for me, I mean really every week, I'm kind of just saving fuel all the time under caution like it's become a habit. Even weeks where we don't need to be saving fuel, I'm just saving fuel just at the sake of it because you know, pit stop, you never know what can happen and I think it eventually adds up. That's just been something I've really kind of burned into my mind over the course of the last couple of years in in Cup racing and it's obviously worked out for us."
Is in the race the only time you can really practice fuel saving?
"Yeah, and honestly, it kind of started with Noah (Gragson) at SHR, he had always a running bet if we could have the most shut off time. We would always just compete against each other and it's made it where it's almost like a habit now of just I just always I'm shutting the car off and saving fuel. Something that started off as a game has turned into a habit for me and something that has helped."
How different is the team entering this Darlington race compared to in the spring?
"Yeah, it's way different. I don't even think you can look at the first, really all the way up to the Coke 600. It's a totally different race team (then) than what it is now. I think at the Coke 600, I think we had a total of 17 stage points scored, and now, probably over 100, I would say. It's definitely a different race team, totally different feel to it, confidence, everything. Darlington (in the spring), I would say was probably our worst race this season, but I feel like we're just a totally different race team."
What would you say are your biggest strengths and weaknesses entering these final 10 races?
"For us, our strength is our speed. There's really not a single style of race track 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 we have a couple of blow up pit stops and just mistakes. Think it all just gets bundled into execution, whether it's pit crew or myself on the race track. 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 you know 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."
How is your mindset for this Southern 500 different than last year's which you won?
"I feel like we need to go win it just to lock into the next round. It's different your back's up against the wall when it's the last race of the regular season (in 2024) and you're not going to race for a championship if you don't win. But I feel like being in the Playoffs (this year), it's the same feeling, like you have to go perform. You can't go there and have a bad day, and especially in the Playoffs, it's really three three-week seasons and that's how you have to look at it. You have to run well three weeks in a row, three times and if you can do that, then you have a good shot at it. Yeah I still feel like, (pause), it's not a must win, right? If I'm running sixth, I don't need to be doing everything I got to try to win the race and potentially wreck. I need to just maximize that day, but certainly, I mean if you can win the race, you need to do it. Just the Playoff points that come along with that in the next couple rounds are big. So hopefully, we can go there and back up what we were able to do last year but it's going to be different. Everything changes throughout the year. Setups are different, tires are different, track will age, and it'll be a challenge for sure."
When did Denny Hamlin become such a fishing fanatic?
"I don't know, but he's all about it. He's been fishing all the time. He has a boat, a tracker app now. I fish at almost every single race track in general and he's always out there too. I don't know when he became such a fishing addict. We were actually talking about it at JGR the other day and they said he went on a trip with his dad about a year ago and they went bass fishing, and they just loved it and fell in love with it again. Yeah, he's all about it now and lives on the lake too, so he can fish off the dock as well."
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