Chase Briscoe pinpoints No. 19 team shift from racing for survival to contending for NASCAR championship

Chase Briscoe is firmly in the championship conversation during his first season at Joe Gibbs Racing. He made a statement during this past weekend’s race at Darlington Raceway.

The 30-year-old dominated in South Carolina after starting on the front row. It’s been a heck of a run for Briscoe and the No. 19 team over the second half of the season. He believes a switch flipped, and his group hasn’t looked back since.

“The demeanor has definitely changed,” Briscoe stated, via The Teardown. “I don’t remember exactly what week it was, but sometime over the last two months it flipped. Even with (crew chief) James [Small] — at the beginning of the year it was always, ‘You’ve got to be doing this different, you’re just not driving it right.’

“I remember after one practice we were texting back and forth, and he said, ‘The car’s not capable of doing what you need it to do. We’ve got to get it better for you, and we will get it better for you.’ And I was like, that’s different — I’ve never heard that before. From that moment on, I felt like at the beginning of the year, yeah, they said, ‘You’re our guy,’ but I hadn’t really proved myself yet. Now it’s like, ‘We’re going to bat for you. We think you’re the best guy for the job.’

“I’ve seen that with James and my engineers. Early on, I’d under-drive in qualifying and I think they questioned some things, which was frustrating for them. But now, every week, when I say, ‘Hey, the car’s not doing this,’ they’re like, ‘Alright, we’ll get it better.’

“I remember at the Coke 600 in practice, I told James, ‘My car’s just doing this into Turn 3,’ and he said, ‘Well, you’re not driving it right.’ Now, if I get on the radio and I’m not driving it right, he’ll still let me know. But he’s also like, ‘Do what you need to do, we’re going to get it right for you.'”

As you can tell, the addition of Briscoe to the No. 19 team has paid dividends thus far. He’s finally unlocking his true potential, after showing some incredible talent during his time in the Cup Series with Stewart-Haas Racing.

Moving forward, Briscoe is locked into the Round of 12, but he’ll be expected to go much, much further than that. And if he does make it to Phoenix, he’ll be a major threat to win the whole dang thing — remember, Briscoe’s won in the desert in the past.