Chase Briscoe unfiltered about his struggle to crack the code of Martin Truex Jr.’s former JGR ride

Chase Briscoe recently shared his thoughts on the struggle he has faced adapting to his new ride at Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR). The No. 19 Toyota was previously driven by 33-time NCS race winner Martin Truex Jr., who took that car into victory lane 14 times in his six years with the team. Briscoe feels he is a few weeks away from completely understanding the car.

The Darlington Raceway is considered one of the most difficult tracks on the NASCAR calendar and is famously dubbed as the track that is 'Too Tough to Tame.' That makes this Sunday's race, the Goodyear 400, even more difficult for Chase Briscoe, who still relies on his crew chief and the #19 team to choose the direction for the setup of his car.

Speaking on Saturday, Briscoe explained that at the end of a practice session, he is not able to decide what changes need to be made to his car to make it better for the race on Sunday. He explained that while the cars from all three manufacturers are mostly identical, there are still subtle differences he is still getting used to.

"Yeah, feel like I'm probably two to three weeks away from really having a great understanding of kind of what I need," Briscoe shared (via SpeedwayDigest). "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."

"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."

So far in 2025, Briscoe has had three top-10 and two top-5 finishes and currently sits in 13th in the drivers' standings with 169 points to his name.

---

"I’m very undeserving": Chase Briscoe said on his victory at Darlington last year

On September 1, 2024, Chase Briscoe achieved a remarkable victory at the Cook Out Southern 500, one of NASCAR's crown jewel races held at Darlington Raceway. This win was particularly significant as it secured his place in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs and marked the final victory for Stewart-Haas Racing before the team shut down its operations at the end of the season.

However, when asked on Saturday to share his thoughts on his victory, Briscoe said that it was a surreal moment for him and something he felt undeserving of.

"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," Briscoe shared.

Chase Briscoe has qualified in P4 for the 293-lap race at Darlington Raceway behind his teammate, Denny Hamlin. The race is scheduled to start at 3:00 pm ET on Sunday.