Joe Gibbs' star Chase Briscoe breaks down why leading the Daytona 500 start isn’t always ideal

Chase Briscoe has become the new star driver for Joe Gibbs Racing after he replaced the legendary Martin Truex Jr. in the No. 19 Toyota for the new season. He has already left his mark on the team and on Toyota's history in NASCAR by grabbing their first pole position at the Daytona International Speedway.

However, in conversation with the media ahead of the Daytona 500 on Sunday, he revealed why it isn't always ideal to be leading the pack at the start of the 500-mile race.

Briscoe secured the pole position for the Daytona 500 after clocking the fastest time during Wednesday evening’s qualifying rounds. Driving the JGR No. 19 Toyota Camry, he completed his second round with an impressive lap time of 49.249 seconds. However, starting from the pole means little in a 500-mile-long race where anything is possible.

Compared to intermediate oval tracks and Road/Street courses, Superspeedway racing is a completely different beast. Not only does it require drivers to adapt to some of the highest speeds they achieve throughout the season, but there are a lot of strategic elements that come into play like fuel mileage, tire choices, and most of all, the looming risk of a massive crash.

All these factors make Superspeedway racing extremely unpredictable. This is why Chase Briscoe believes that it's not always ideal to lead the Daytona 500 from the very start. He explained (via Bob Pockrass on X):

"I mean, you still have to execute. I mean, you can still start 40th, you can still start on the pole. I mean, you still have to execute and put yourself in a position all race long. You know, I think there are pros and cons of the front row. I think the pro is definitely from a track position standpoint, it's hard to get now, so starting up front definitely makes it easier. But the con is you're going to burn more fuel starting on the front row too. So there's, there's both, right?" he said.

He also shared how being at the front at any one point during the race doesn't guarantee that you'll be one of the front runners when it matters the most.

"It definitely helps starting up front, but you still have to execute and put yourself there after 500 miles, and it's easy to get jumbled up in track position here. Just have to execute from all the green flag pit stops, and things like that. But certainly, starting up front is not a huge disadvantage by any means," Chase Briscoe added.

It's easy to get shuffled in the pack at Daytona through green flag pitstops which makes the execution of the race strategy extremely critical.

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Chase Briscoe opens up about his big opportunity with Joe Gibbs Racing in 2025

In a recent press conference, Chase Briscoe explained what it means for him to finally become part of one of the three biggest teams in the NASCAR Cup Series. He shared that while he always believed he could win a Cup title, his chances of achieving the same were not particularly great at Stewart-Haas Racing.

"At SHR, I would get four or five races a year when my car was capable of running up front and winning, where now, I’m going to have 20-something opportunities to do that. So that’s the thing I’m probably the most excited for," Briscoe said (as quoted by NASCAR).

He also spoke about the involvement of 'Coach' Joe Gibbs directly with the four JGR teams and what a tremendous difference it makes in the entire operation of JGR.

Chase Briscoe said that while Tony Stewart and Gene Haas were also good leaders, they had other responsibilities and businesses to take care of, but for Joe Gibbs, winning in NASCAR is all he cares about.

Earning Toyota's first-ever pole at Daytona has already signaled a positive start for Chase Briscoe with JGR. If he wins the Daytona 500, he will qualify for the playoffs in the very first points-paying race of the season, making his job much easier throughout the regular season.