NASCAR insider shares a strong opinion on JGR driver's “hungry” right-hand man eager to ‘prove’ a point

Jordan Bianchi has made a bold case about JGR's #19 team backbone James Small being "hungry and determined" to produce dominant results with his new driver Chase Briscoe, and 'prove' that it's not just Martin Truex Jr.'s famed team. Small recently called shots for Martin Truex Jr., who retired from full-time Cup Series racing after his penultimate race at the Phoenix Raceway.

In 2019, Truex Jr. entered Joe Gibbs Racing as a Cup Series champion. Small was the lead engineer of the #19 Toyota and helped the veteran driver clinch seven wins in his maiden season with Joe Gibbs. The partnership with Small progressed and the latter became the former's crew chief in 2020. MTJ claimed 15 wins, 60 top-5s, and 86 top-10s, the majority of which is because of Small's support.

Thus, the crew chief would be under pressure to deliver and uphold the #19 Toyota's legacy. According to NASCAR insider Jordan Bianchi, with Chase Briscoe, JGR's latest hire on board, Small is determined to "prove" a point.

“I think Chase Briscoe is gonna be in a really good spot. JGR’s gonna be better. We’ve seen his talent at times, obviously at Darlington winning the Southern 500. And so, I think he’s gonna be in a situation and he is so hungry and so driven. I’ll say this -James Small is hungry and determined. And that 19 team wants to prove like, ‘Hey, we weren’t just Martin’s team. We can do this too,’" Bianchi said via Dirty Mo Media (1:27.31).

Chase Briscoe's Joe Gibbs Racing move stemmed after Stewart-Haas Racing announced its shutdown after the 2024 season.

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Another reason why James Small would be under pressure to produce results for JGR in 2025

After Small joined as MTJ's crew chief, the JGR driver's performance plummeted. While Truex Jr. collected at least four wins every season since 2016, he concluded the 2020 season with a solitary victory. The former driver secured four wins the next season only to observe his first winless season since 2014. He raked in three victories in 2023 but failed to do the victory burnouts in his final full-time campaign.

Moreover, Small's indirect blame on Truex Jr. during the silly season exhibited a potential fallout between the driver and crew chief. The crew chief hinted that the former JGR driver didn't visit the garage often, making it difficult to build a strong foundation to reap results.

"It’s just going to be really great to actually have somebody, for one, who lives in North Carolina. Two, comes into the shop multiple times a week. We can actually build the team around him, and having a process of developing a setup each week. Helping us be better as well, so we’re all really excited to have him on board. I think it’s going to be a big gain for the #19 team,” Small said of working with Chase Briscoe in 2025 (via SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) (at 0:21).

Chase Briscoe was SHR's most dominant driver. However, he has better-performing drivers at JGR -Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell, who could serve as benchmarks of performance for the new teammate.