Dale Earnhardt Jr. Claims Chase Briscoe Is the Biggest Dark Horse Heading Into the NASCAR Playoffs

This season, Chase Briscoe has shown how a team can completely transform a driver’s fortunes. Including his win at Pocono, he has secured eight top-five finishes and 10 top-10s in the first 21 starts of his maiden season with Joe Gibbs Racing. This already surpasses his totals from any complete 36-race season. Even Dale Earnhardt Jr. believes Briscoe’s grit this season makes him the ultimate dark horse heading into the NASCAR Playoffs.

On a recent episode of The Dale Jr. Download, Earnhardt said, “Sometime around the (Coca-Cola) 600, he’s (Briscoe) been qualifying really good. And he seems to have figured out how to take advantage of the tools that this #19 car has.”

Earnhardt also acknowledged that JGR’s newest addition has a knack for peaking at the right time. He added, “And the other thing that I like about Briscoe is he always seems to come on late, and especially in the playoffs, he overachieves. And so I’m not sure that anyone else is really ready to make this claim, but I’m feeling like Briscoe might be pretty dangerous.”

While NASCAR insiders and fans often predict who might reach the Championship 4, Earnhardt noted that such predictions rarely hold true. Yet, he feels Briscoe could shake up the postseason, creating problems for the usual contenders.

Briscoe has finished second in back-to-back races at Sonoma and Dover. Over the last ten events, he has scored five top-five finishes and six top-10s. Last year, Briscoe secured a playoff berth with a victory at Darlington in the last race of the regular season. But he was then eliminated in the Round of 16. He ended 2024 with just three top-five finishes and nine top-10s, a mark he has already eclipsed this season with 15 races still to run.

Briscoe credits much of his progress to his new environment at Joe Gibbs Racing. Initially overwhelmed by the extensive data and preparation materials provided before each race, he has since embraced the process.

Speaking recently on Rubbin’ Is Racing, Briscoe detailed his preparation, which now includes long hours on simulators, reviewing archival race footage, and digging into comprehensive data analysis.