Toyota GAZOO Racing – Chase Briscoe
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes
DARLINGTON, S.C. (August 30, 2025) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Chase Briscoe was made available to the media on Saturday prior to practice for the NASCAR Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway.
CHASE BRISCOE, No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
How special is to come back here as the reigning Southern 500 winner?
“It definitely is cool. The confidence that comes with that – you definitely, I guess, don’t realize how big of a deal it is until you do it, but a year removed, it definitely feels like a bigger deal. I still have a group chat with the 14 guys and we were literally talking about that this morning. You look back on what we did a year ago, and it is crazy. We were proud then, and thought it was a big deal, but now, being a year removed and all of us bring at different places – I think it really kind of sank in, for all of us, coming back here a year later. It is special coming here. I definitely have confidence every time I come here, in general, but especially now, more than ever – knowing this race is as grueling as it is and knowing that I’ve been able to do it before – there is just a confidence that comes with that, so hopefully, can do it again this weekend.”
Have you thought about what it would mean to sweep the Crown Jewel poles?
“I would say – I didn’t even realize that no one had even done it three times until after the Brickyard, and it was obviously a thrill then. I will say I looked at the weather earlier this week, and I was bummed at first because I thought there was going to be a chance of rain. I told James (Small, crew chief) and them that I at least wanted a chance. So, yeah, it is a big deal. To be the first at anything in NASCAR is hard to do – I feel like – especially 76 years into. It would be special for sure if we could do all four.”
What is your mindset going to Playoffs?
“No, I feel like that is normally how I am. It is what it is. There is way more to life, truthfully, than the Playoffs. Yeah, I’m going to try to do my best and win it all, but at the end of day, there are way more things in my life that are important as far as – being the best husband, and father and man I can be, but yeah, I think for me, lay my head down 10 weeks from now, did I put the best foot forward that I could and put 100 percent effort into it, and if that is enough, it will be enough – if not, it won’t be. I’m excited for the opportunity. This is for the first time that I’ve ever felt legitimately that I can win a Cup title – but also, it’s an exciting thing, I would say more than anything.”
Can you talk about the learning process with your team?
“I think definitely all year long – once we kind of got established, I definitely went into the mindset that we know that this can be successful. We are not saying to drive it like Martin (Truex Jr.) did, but these are some things that the top guys are doing, kind of try to morph yourself into this and that has obviously worked for us almost everywhere this year. Darlington, I would say – if we could go back, I mean, we are back at Darlington but the Spring race – that was our worst race of the year. We would be doing a lot of things different, so it is hard to really say for that one. I know that for sure, a point of emphasis for us this week, has just been – into (turn) one for example, I run a really unique line compared to a lot of guys, I run really low. We kind of got ourselves, I thought, in a bad spot definitely in the Spring with how I was driving and the setup and stuff. It wasn’t meant to be doing that. It has definitely been a point of emphasis this week. I have to be open-minded about how I come here. Truthfully, every time I come here, we are always having to change stuff up. I would say for us it has been business as usual as far as our approach for the weekend and our prep work. This is how the car is going to be and the optimal line I think you need to run. Obviously, if you need to change it, you can – but this probably how you need to start the weekend driving – this is the line you need to try to run.”
How do you feel James Small helps you and pushes you?
“I would say for sure. I think James (Small, crew chief) and I – what has made us so good to this point is we are totally, polar opposites. He is very high intensity. I’m just the complete opposite. I’m very laid back and relaxed all of the time, so yeah, I think James has kind of learned that balance of – I need to be able to get on to him but there are times where it is too much or not enough, and he has kind of learned that balance just even in 26 weeks of when to push him, when not to push him – when I’m kind of already at my peak of pushing myself. I think we’ve done a really good job of how new we are as a team together to be able to have the success that we’ve had. Truthfully, I think if you ask myself and James, we are probably only at 80, 85 percent of what we are capable of. Hopefully, the sky is the limit, and I’m curious to see how this weekend goes for sure.”
What has been the approach for the Playoffs this year versus your previous experience?
“I don’t know – it is hard. James (Small, crew chief) and I have yet to sit down and say this is what we have to do these next three weeks. We’ve honestly acted like it is a normal race weekend. We know that if we go and run top-five, we are going to be able to move on, but I would say from a feel standpoint, it feels different because at SHR (Stewart-Haas Racing), we literally felt like we were on house money and if you got eliminated from the Round of 16, at the end of the day, it was probably still a successful season that you made the Playoffs, where here, if you just make the Round of 16, it is not a successful season – it is kind of a failure. That is really the part that feels different. At JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) it is expected that you make the Playoffs, and we’ve just checked the first box of many that we need to accomplish this year, where at SHR, if you could make the Playoffs that was a successful year in itself.”
Were there any big talks or motivational speeches this week?
“Not that I was a part of, and like I said James (Small, crew chief) and I have yet to talk about – hey, the Playoffs are starting this week, we need to focus on this for the next 10 weeks. It has literally been a normal week – I texted the group chat this morning and was like 10 weeks of the best weeks we can do, and we have a legitimate shot at this thing, but other than that, that is probably the only pep talk that we’ve had.”
Which was more pressure – last year or going into the Playoffs this year?
“I would say, probably starting the Playoffs, just because last year – nobody expected us, and truthfully, as a race team, we weren’t coming into Darlington and being like this is our weekend. At SHR (Stewart-Haas Racing), you really couldn’t go to the race track each weekend and say we are going to win this weekend, or we are going to have a shot at it. We knew that we would be good, because we had been solid at Darlington, but I don’t think we thought we would have race winning speed, I would say. So, this feels more pressure packed then a win or go home situation because we all kind of made up our minds that we were probably going home anyways, and it just so happened that we won the race, and we were in.”
What does it mean to you to be Stewart-Haas’s last Cup winner and that it happened in the Southern 500?
“It is special. Still for me, you kind of saw the emotion with me when we won, just the fact of getting the 14 car in victory lane was a big deal for me, and having it have a shot for a championship. So, yeah, to be a diehard of a Stewart-Haas fan, in general, that I was – and not that there is going to be some history book on Stewart-Haas – but the face that this diehard Tony Stewart fan as a kid ended up being the guy that won the last ever cup race in the Stewart-Haas 14 car is pretty cool. Stewart-Haas was such a big part of my life. I was there for eight years between the Xfinity and Cup program, and to know that I was the last one to win there was special for sure.”
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