'First-class' Chase Briscoe has brought his best to Joe Gibbs Racing

The expectation at Joe Gibbs Racing is to win races, just as the Washington Commanders were expected to win football games when Joe Gibbs roamed the sidelines. 

Chase Briscoe's 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season started off looking like a 2-15-esque campaign. Aside from a runner-up finish in the second race of the season at Atlanta, Briscoe and the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing group had one other top 10 finish through the first seven races of the season. 

In the 12 races since, Briscoe has finished inside the top five six times, including his win on Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway in the eero 400, the first victory of his second season with JGR. 

The win only reinforces Gibbs' decision to choose Briscoe as Martin Truex Jr.'s successor in the No. 19 following a three-win campaign and third-place points finish from Briscoe in 2025.

"He’s just a first-class person," Gibbs said of Briscoe. "He’s just a really strong, godly, young guy. I mean, who would have dreamed last year [he would've] sat on seven poles and do everything he did last year and go to the [Championship 4], he and [crew chief James Small], all that they did was just — it was a huge deal for our company. And it’s great for the future for us going forward."

Briscoe has not been the top dog at Joe Gibbs Racing this season. That distinction belongs to four-time winner and points leader Denny Hamlin. But Briscoe, who is tied for second in the Cup Series with seven top fives, has found some consistency and looks like he's back to the form he was in a season ago when he nearly won the championship. 

Chase Briscoe is heating up

"We still have a long way to go," Briscoe said Sunday. "We have not been as consistent as the 11 and the 45 [of 23XI Racing's Tyler Reddick]. But from a speed standpoint, I feel like we’ve been there with them. The 11 has probably been a little bit quicker.

"I think we still need a little bit. The hard part is we’re just going to be playing from behind the whole Chase just because of our points situation. I talked about last week how if I can win two or three races here in the next eight before the regular season ends, then there’s a real path of getting to maybe top five in points."

Briscoe is eighth in the Cup Series standings with seven races left in the regular season. He's only 46 points back of fifth-place Chase Elliott, and with the top five being seen as the benchmark for title contention under NASCAR's new Chase format, there is indeed a path to the championship for Briscoe and the No. 19 team if he can continue his hot summer stretch. 

Even without the big picture of the championship chase present, Sunday's win was a big one for Briscoe. He's the third of the four JGR drivers to earn a win this season and has now scored Cup wins in the last three seasons. 

Winning is no longer a foreign concept to the Mitchell, Ind., native. Instead, it's become an expectation and a habit.

"I never thought I would win a single race, let alone win three seasons in a row," Briscoe said. "It just says that you’re at the top of your game for a long time. Hopefully I can continue to win throughout my career, but to be able to win three years in a row is pretty dang cool."

Quotes provided by NASCAR Media.