“He’s a guy that could be a little like Martin Truex Jr.”: Joe Gibbs explains why he signed Chase Briscoe to JGR

Joe Gibbs recently revealed the factors he had in mind before signing Chase Briscoe as Martin Truex Jr.'s replacement. Briscoe, who is currently the driver of the #14 SHR team, will join the #19 JGR team after Truex retires at the end of 2024.

Speaking to journalist Bob Pockrass, the NASCAR Hall of Famer team owner claimed that Briscoe still being young was a factor in him getting the #19 seat.

"I think when you pick a young one like that, you gotta say, 'Okay, this guy can be a star for us.' So then next for us, I, right now, the one thing I didn't want to do, we were kind of looking at somebody that had the experience, still young, is showed in his background," Gibbs said.

Joe Gibbs further explained that "a huge deal" for him was Briscoe having experience and success in Xfinity Series because, for Gibbs, that's the part of NASCAR that suggests whether a driver "could do it at the Cup level."

It was after "analyzing everything" that Joe Gibbs reached a conclusion and signed Briscoe, whose career trajectory resembles Truex Jr.'s as per Gibbs.

"We feel like, analyzing everything, he's a guy that could be a little bit like Martin (Truex Jr.). When Martin got here, we all know his background, everything he went through, he went through a lot to get where he was. And then when he got in the alliance with us, he's 34 wins now. I really do, I know it was mentioned there, Chase mentioned it, but hopefully this would be a similar deal for us," he claimed.

Summing up, Joe Gibbs added that they wanted somebody who had experience and who was capable of winning.

Notably, speaking after his move to Joe Gibbs Racing got announced officially, Briscoe revealed that JGR was the only team that wanted him for his driving capabilities.

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Chase Briscoe reveals Joe Gibbs wanted him for his merit as a driver, not for his backing

Chase Briscoe stated that it made a difference for him and helped his confidence knowing Gibbs believed in him despite him not having driven a race for Gibbs yet (via NASCAR):

"Out of all the teams I met with, Joe’s is the only team that never said, 'What can you bring?' They just wanted me for me. That meant a lot to me personally, just that they felt that strongly about me in the car. (…) Joe was the one that literally called me two, three times a day and would reassure how bad that they wanted me in the car," Briscoe said.

The legendary team owner emphasized his preference for capability over anything else. Gibbs claimed that having character and capability to win comes first, and "other things come after that."