"Every break didn't go our way": Chase Briscoe reflects on JGR debut amid frustrating Bowman Gray finish

Chase Briscoe was struck with an unfortunate situation on his Joe Gibbs Racing debut at The Cook Out Clash in Bowman Gray Stadium. The two-time Cup race winner became the sole driver to prematurely retire from the exhibition-style race's main event in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Briscoe expressed his honest thoughts after debuting in the No. 19 Toyota for Joe Gibbs' outfit at the quarter-mile short track. He wrote:

"Fast car tonight and was good to finally get behind the wheel just seemed like every break didn’t go our way and ended up with a broken steering. Next up Daytona 500!"

As Briscoe gears up for his fifth full-time season in NASCAR's premier division, he acknowledged the pressure build-up for him to perform at the Toyota roster in the 2025 season.

Reflecting on starting a new chapter with JGR, Briscoe said:

"I love the pressure side, but I do think this is probably the most pressure I’ve ever been (under) in my life, as far as professionally. It’s weird because there’s been other times where my career was literally gonna be over, right?" [via NASCAR]

"But I feel like this is one of those opportunities where if you don’t perform, like, there’s no excuses. Like, you have to perform at JGR. So from that standpoint, it is different because everywhere else, there’s really not been that expectation" added Briscoe.

The Mitchell, Indiana native Chase Briscoe joined the championship-winning Cup Series team, JGR, replacing former Cup Series champion Martin Truex Jr. in the No. 19 ride. Moreover, the 30-year-old was the first driver from the now-defunct Stewart-Haas Racing team to land a ride for 2025.

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Christopher Bell reveals new "normal" for Chase Briscoe under the JGR shed

Christopher Bell before practice for the Clash at Bowman Gray at Bowman Gray Stadium - Source: Imagn

After Tony Stewart and Gene Haas jointly announced the departure of SHR from NASCAR, Chase Briscoe found a new home with Joe Gibbs Racing. He joined Denny Hamlin, Ty Gibbs, and Christopher Bell for a multi-year deal in the Toyota roster.

Recently, Christopher Bell shared his thoughts on the new culture for Chase Briscoe as the latter prepared for his JGR debut in the NASCAR Cup Series.

Speaking with Claire B. Lang, the No. 20 Toyota driver Bell gave insights on JGR's "data-driven" approach for race preparation. He said:

"It's [JGR] filled with a ton of highly intellectual people that do a lot of studying about our sport. Our engineers, all the crew chief, there's just a ton of attention to detail that has been normal to me, [but] hearing from Chase, there are some things that aren't normal to him. It's a highly engineering-driven, data-driven company." [0:36 onwards]

Meanwhile, after an eventful exhibition race at Bowman Gray Stadium this past weekend (February 2), Chase Briscoe and the No. 19 team will return to action for the season-opening race at Daytona International Speedway on February 16.