TOYOTA RACING – Chase Briscoe
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes
DARLINGTON, SC (September 5, 2026) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Chase Briscoe was made available to the media on Saturday prior to the NASCAR Cup Series race from Darlington Raceway.
CHASE BRISCOE, No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Is winning your third straight Southern 500 on your radar?
“No, it’s definitely on the radar. To do that three times in a row would be something really, really special, and I think Jeff Gordon’s the only person that’s ever been able to do that. So definitely it’s on the radar. One of my favorite races of the year, but certainly, also still aware, just the situation. You can’t wreck trying to win this deal, just with the points and the Chase and everything else, but the goal is definitely to try to go score 75, 76 points tomorrow night, and we were able to do that last year and see if we can do it again.”
What is your mindset going in with stage points?
“From a stage point standpoint, I don’t think it changes, just try to go score as many points as possible, but yeah, you just have to be conscious, I think, at the end of the race more than anything. Say you have a fourth-place car tomorrow night, and you can potentially push to get to third, but there’s also a chance you plug it in the fence doing it. That’s where you have to, I think, the be smart and conscious about it. I mean, from a strategy standpoint here, the stages I feel like are pretty straightforward, especially now with the new rule. Like if a caution comes out with, say, seven to go, it just ends the stage. So, there’s not really going to be any strategy from that standpoint. So, I think this is probably the easiest track to not have to worry about a strategy call to try to get points because it’s pretty straightforward with the tires.”
Throughout the Chase, do you have to remind yourself at times to, you know, hey, we need to be smart here. We can’t be aggressive, or what are you doing inside the car to kind of take a step back and look at the bigger picture?
“I feel like this year’s been a little bit easier for transition, just because we’re kind of chasing points all season long. You’ve understood that, just that’s the new mentality that you race with in a sense of – more so that that thing I was talking about earlier – where if you’re running fourth or whatever and trying to push for third, it’s way better just to finish fourth than it is to wreck and run the 20s or 30s. So, I don’t know, the mindset has definitely changed this year, just naturally. But still, I mean, if a win is right there in front of you, it’s going to be, I think, hard for any of us to realize the big picture of what there is there at stake, just because we’re all stupid when we get in that situation. We just, we look at the short-term goal of winning and you don’t think the big, big term picture championship. So yeah, I think if it comes down to it, you’re side by side for the win into (turn) three, like that is the championship is the last thing on your mind in that moment. At least I feel like it’s that way. Maybe it’s not for the rest of the field, but I feel that way for sure.”
Why are you so good here?
“Yeah, I don’t know. Yeah, just something about this place has always just kind of fit my driving style, I guess. I think the first time I ran here was like 2018 or ‘19 in the Xfinity car, and I just remember coming here in my first five laps on the racetrack, thinking man, this place is awesome. Like it just fit how I drive for whatever reason. So, I’ve always just loved this place and yeah, it’s been probably the best track for me statistically in my career, I would say, definitely across the Cup Series. I don’t know, something about it. I think a lot of it is, is I don’t use markers like on the racetrack to, okay, I’m going to lift here. I don’t use them, like even on road courses, and this track, more than anywhere, you change what you do every single lap based on just the tire falling off, and so maybe that’s some of it is just, I don’t, I don’t use markers, so I’m not at a disadvantage, maybe, of the consistency piece of it at some other tracks. So, yeah, I don’t know. That’s the only thing I can figure out that maybe that’s some of it, because everywhere else you go, you do pretty much lift the same spot, every single lap, or if it changes throughout the course of 10 laps, it’s very minimal where here it’s pretty big, every single lap. So, you’re just driving to the edge and, yeah, maybe that’s some of it. I have no idea.”
How has your confidence at Darlington increased the last couple of years with the wins you’ve had here?
“I think there’s any time you can win somewhere, your confidence goes up, even before I had even won a Cup race, right? This is one of the tracks I just look forward to coming to because it was one of my favorites. I felt like I understood what I needed out of my car, where other tracks, I don’t feel as confident, I guess, in that. Like even today, if practice doesn’t go as well, like I just know that in the race tomorrow, there’s going to be things that I can do to make my car better. Where other tracks, you just can’t do that as well, I guess. So yeah, I don’t know. I think I’ve always had confidence here just from the very beginning, but certainly when you start winning and then being able to win two years in a row, like that confidence just builds more and more every single time. This is always one that I’ve got circled on the calendar and definitely just continues to get circled bigger and bigger as you have results.”
How much have you and your teammates talked about the Chase battle?
“Yeah, truthfully, we have not talked about it at all. Coach (Joe Gibbs) texted earlier saying that we were all going to talk later today just about kind of the approach going into that. I’m sure that it’s going to be race each other extremely hard, but just realize that we need to still win the race or at least win the championship. Really all four of us have amazing chances to do that. We’re kind of all our own worst enemy, I would say, in a sense. We know that we’re competing against each other, so we just can’t we can’t do something to hinder the company’s opportunity to win a championship So, yeah, that’ll be something that we will navigate, I guess, over the course of the next 10 weeks, but we do get a lot of practice. Like we race each other almost weekly for the wins, so it doesn’t change a whole lot. But certainly, I think there’s just more, I guess, that goes into it because there’s way more consequences if you don’t end up winning the championship, but at least amongst the four of us.”
Have you looked back at the 2020 win here and the battle with Kyle Busch and has it become more special to you?
“Yeah, what made those two, I mean, really that race in 2020, but also the 2024 Southern 500 was just, the reason they were so special to me was because I beat Kyle (Busch). I mean, no offense, but it would have been somebody else in the field. It wouldn’t have been as significant, at least in my mind. When I laid my head down at night in 2020 and in 2024, I knew that I went up against the best in that environment and was able to beat him, and that was something that a lot of people couldn’t say, because in that environment, when it came down to it, he was just unbelievable. He was the best. For me as a fan, like, before I ever even started racing NASCAR, Kyle Busch was the guy. Like, if you wanted to win NASCAR races, you had to beat Kyle Busch, and for me to be able to go up against him in 2020 and win that race in the Xfinity series, I mean, that was really the race that leapfrogged me to the Cup Series. I wasn’t on anybody’s radar, but when you could beat Kyle Busch at Darlington, like your stock instantly went up, and that’s when people started, I think, taking me more serious. So, yeah, that race was always significant in my mind, but now I would say because of Kyle being gone, those two races just mean that much more, and just when I look back on them, I just cherish it way more. I already cherished it before, but now certainly way more than in the past.”
What is your approach with your team as you look into the Chase? Is it just the text like you did last year?
“I did text them again this past week.”
What did you say?
“I’ll read it to you guys. Let me pull it up here. Yeah, I’m not a very, like, exciting person, I feel like. So, a motivational text is about as good as it’s going to get. I said, great job, everyone, all summer long to get back to fifth in points from where we started, 10 of our best weeks and there’s no doubt that we can all be hoisting the championship trophy in Miami. Can’t wait for these next 10 weeks with you boys. That was my motivational text. Got a lot of hearts and thumbs up, so I felt good about it (laughter).”
How fun was sharing Media Day with your son, Brooks?
“Yeah, it was fun. I didn’t really get to do a whole lot with him. Brooks (Briscoe, Chase’s son). NASCAR YouTube had him come out, do like a kid’s segment with Molly Hamlin to interview some drivers. I didn’t even get to do the interview with Brooks, but I did sneak in there on my lunch break and watch him. So, it was fun, just getting to see him. He gets to come with me to work here, but he doesn’t really ever get to see me at work outside of that. So, it was definitely fun, I guess, just to be in that environment. I guess he drilled some of the drivers. Marissa (Briscoe, Chase’s wife) told me that he has Kyle Larson why doesn’t win anymore (laughter). So, yeah, that was that was rough. So yeah, it was interesting. I’m excited to see the video. I don’t know, I don’t know what Kyle said to him. I guess Brooks like mumbled under his breath, he’s like, the 5 car doesn’t win anymore (laughter). So yeah, I guess Kyle went up to Marissa after and was like, I thought Brooks liked me because he always he watches Kyle dominate Sprint Cars all the time. So he’s a big Kyle Larson fan, so I don’t know where that came from.”
Do you have any added confidence because this race is on the same tire as your win in Chicago?
“I didn’t even know it was the same tire. I don’t know. I mean, I feel like the Darlington, at least like the Southern 500, it’s very different than the last two, just because the aero package is so different that really how I drove in the past doesn’t really even work anymore. Like in the Spring, it was a big difference. So, I don’t know, it’ll be interesting to see how it plays out tomorrow night. Hopefully it’ll go good, but yeah, I wouldn’t say there’s more confidence because of the tire. I didn’t even know the tire we were on.”
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