Toyota GAZOO Racing – Chase Briscoe
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes
DARLINGTON, S.C. (April 5, 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
What do you like about coming to Darlington?
“Yeah, I feel like of all the race tracks we go to, this (Darlington Raceway) is definitely one as the driver, you feel like you make a little bit more of a difference. You know, it’s still very car-dependent for sure, but as a driver, I feel like this is one of those tracks that’s kind of similar to Homestead (Homestead-Miami Speedway) where you can carry it multiple positions, because the (pause) what you do inside the race car is constantly changing. Nobody’s car is driving good, there’s just things you can do in the car to find more than a tenth sometimes even two tenths, whereas at another tracks, you’re just very hand-tied by what you’re doing inside the race car. So, this track is definitely one of those tracks where you can do different things in the race car and I feel like this is also track where you see guys that typically run well here their entire career just because there’s little things about this race track. I would say for me the hardest thing is just been trying to understand the balance of the short run versus long run, and how hard to go at the beginning to not burn yourself up at the end. Still definitely don’t have that figured out but I feel like it’s always kind of been my biggest challenge here and felt like that especially in the Xfinity Series, I would be extremely fast on the short run, but I would pay for it in the long run. Just trying to do as much as I can to study you know the guys like Denny Hamlin and other guys that are so good, always here on the long run. So that’s kind of I feel like my biggest challenge at this place, but you know there’s a lot of challenges about this place as well.”
Do you feel the throwback weekend has lost its spark?
“I don’t think so, I mean, there’s less paint schemes as this week than normal. But if you look at the Xfinity Series, there’s probably more than ever. I still think you know there’s a ton of buy in still. I think it’s hard with anything. Anytime you do something for a long time, not like I think it loses its luster, but it’s not as exciting as the first time or the second time. I think was trying to find ways to keep it exciting, you know, it’s hard right? You run out of things to change after you do it for a while. For me, it’s something that I love about this weekend. Every time you come here, there’s that old school feel, but then when you walk in the garage, you seal paint schemes and stuff. It’s a cool part of the whole weekend. Yeah, I don’t have a throwback scheme this weekend. This is the first time I’ve never ran one, but I don’t feel like this weekend has lost its luster. I think the fans still love the paint schemes that are here, and just anytime you come to Darlington, it’s kind of got an old school throwback feel whether we’re (at) a throwback weekend or not.”
What do you think might be making it longer to adapt to your car?
“Yeah, feel like I’m probably two-to-three weeks away from like really having a great understanding of kind of what I need. I still feel like I can go win right now. I just like to really be dialed in with what the car should feel like. Just from a setup standpoint, there’s things that JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) is different from what I’m used to and even just being at a different manufacturer, right? Their motors run a little bit different, their aero is a little bit different. Even though the parts are all the same, the outer shell that are still quite a bit different. Just how it drives into traffic, how it does things, that’s all something I’ve had to learn. That part’s been something that I feel like I’m two or three weeks away. Going to the race track, being at the end of practice and saying, ‘okay, my car is here, if it’s going to be really good tomorrow, this is where I’m going to need it to be.’ That’s where I’ve just really relied on James (Small, crew chief) and the entire team to honestly, just do what you guys think is best because I don’t quite know yet. I can tell you what direction I think we need to go but they have such a better understanding of this race car than I do still. Yeah, I feel like I’m two or three weeks away. The little stuff, I feel like I’ve gotten pretty similar with. At the beginning of the year, it was hard for me just to even turn the car off because it was the ignition was now on the opposite side of what it’s been for me for the last four years, where like all those little things are very normal now. But how the car drives is becoming more and more normal as well. Just feel like I’m probably two or three weeks from really being dialed in with it.”
What did you learn from last year that you’ve carried to this season?
“Yeah, I don’t know honestly. I mean I feel like ever since I came here for the first time in the Xfinity Series, it’s been a track I kind of just understand. I mean, every time I come here, I learn little things. But I feel like even before last year we were always fairly competitive at SHR (Stewart-Haas Racing). We were always 10th to 13th. We always were missing just a little bit setup wise, and I felt like we found that last year was able to (pause) this race (Spring race 2024), we were in fourth or fifth, and then obviously for the Southern 500, we kind of found that little bit extra. So yeah, I mean I don’t I don’t know if that’s going to carry over this weekend just with how different the cars drive, right? But certainly, you know it’s a place where I do have a lot of confidence every time I’ve come here, no matter what the series is, I felt like I can come here and run well and run out front. I feel like that’s half the battle at a lot of places. Definitely feel like this is a track that I understand what I need out of my car, especially after winning last year. I know what a winning car feels like, so hopefully I can have that feeling today and if not, get it there for tomorrow.”
How would you evaluate your performance so far this season?
“I would say we’re, I don’t know, B-minus. I think we knew there was going to take a little bit of time. Truthfully just trying to learn each other and the car’s driving different. I would say that we’ve left a lot of points on the table, whether it’s stage points and even finishes. Like the first four, five weeks of the season, I felt like we were fifth-to-eighth-place car and when you would look at the metrics post-race, it would show that we were fifth-to-eighth-place car, but we would finish you know 17th or 14th or DNF at Phoenix (Phoenix Raceway). We never really got to have the results I felt like that would pair with our speed, where the last two weeks, I feel like we’ve ran where we should around almost every single week — inside the top-10, getting some stage points. I think that’s the encouraging thing for me right now is knowing that we are not firing on all eight cylinders as far as being completely dialed in. I know that I’m still not at 100% from a standpoint of understanding what I need right now, and we’ve still been a fifth-to-eighth-place car fairly easily I feel like. Once we get it tuned in and figured out what we need, I feel like we’re going to be really good. That’s been just the hard part is the beginning part of the season is James (Small) just trying to even understand what is the perfect feeling race car for me. I feel like we’ve really kind of clicked with that, honestly even just this week, we’ve had three or four examples now of the percentage of delta and setup is X percent and it’s been the same three or four times. It’s Homestead, it’s Martinsville, it’s on the simulator this week and it’s very consistent now. So now they can say ‘okay, when we go to Bristol next week you know this is what Martin (Truex Jr.) ran, we probably need to be X percent you know whatever off of that and we should be in a pretty good spot.’ So, I feel really good about the next couple weeks and yeah hopefully we can just continue to get better.”
Do you wear a cool shirt and have you ever experienced a failure with it?
“Yeah, I do. I’m one of the big guys (laughs). Knock on wood, I’ve not had a total failure. Last week I will say, it was definitely hotter than what I’ve had to the previous couple weeks. After the race, typically I can take my cool shirt off and my skin is pretty much ice cold, and last week, it wasn’t that at all. I’ve heard horror stories about it failing and like I said I haven’t had that happen yet, so hopefully it doesn’t happen especially tomorrow. It’s no good whenever something goes wrong. Like I said I’ve never had an issue so it’s hard for me to talk about.”
What are your expectations for next weekend in Bristol?
“I feel like it’ll be like the fall race, probably. Nobody knows what happened the spring race, right? I feel like that was just a one-time thing. I feel like it would be very similar to what we had in the fall. Obviously, it’ll be during the daytime, so it’ll be a little bit different. From a tire standpoint, I think it’ll be same thing we’ve had 99% of the times we’ve gone there. If it isn’t, I would be surprised truthfully.”
What does it mean to come back to Darlington with your family?
“It’s definitely special. This place (Darlington Raceway) was definitely significant part of my life. The win I had (in 2020) was big from a career standpoint, but you know the day before, I mean I was literally in this parking lot right here. I can vividly remember being on FaceTime with my wife and everything. Sitting in the in the motorhome and I can literally just picture the whole thing. To be able to be here you know four years removed (from it) last year and my wife being a couple weeks away from giving birth to twins and then we had Brooks there and then now tomorrow, they’re all becoming here – it’s a special place. For us, it’s kind of our home track. It’s the closest track to our house. Darlington has played a significant part of my life in more ways than one. Obviously, the family side. The emotional day that that was but then even from a career standpoint. Not only the (Xfinity Series) race in 2020, but even last year (Southern 500), what that did for me career wise. It’s definitely a special place to the Briscoe family and yeah, it’s always special every time I come (here) because of that.”
Did you relive any memories from the Southern 500 win when you arrived here this week?
“I mean, honestly, it’s still like a pinch me moment and one of those things that like I find myself every single week being like, ‘man I can’t believe I won that race!’ It’s a major, it’s a crown jewel. I was telling somebody the other week, ‘I look at the names on the trophies and like I just feel like I’m very undeserving. There’s all these Hall of Famers and like icons and legends of the sport, and then it says 2024, Chase Briscoe. Like the heck?’ It’s weird truthfully. Yeah, it’s definitely crazy. I feel like when I came back, like anytime you go when you won somewhere, you just walk in, you’re a little more confident, you feel that difference. But I definitely think this place, it changes your confidence level more than anywhere else just because the respect within the garage and within the NASCAR community whenever you want it at Darlington, there’s just a different level of appreciation for your talent. And that’s something that I didn’t realize until after I won the Southern 500 truthfully. I remember the next week being on pit road at Atlanta and Dale Jarrett and all these guys come over to me just tell me how incredible it was. You just don’t have that at other race tracks after you win a race. It definitely is a place where, when I pull in, especially now being the first time back, it’s definitely brings back a lot memories.”
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