“Nothing against Martin Truex Jr., but he wasn’t there a lot”: Chase Briscoe reveals crew chief’s excitement ahead of 2025 season

Chase Briscoe touched upon the excitement of his Joe Gibbs Racing crew chief, James Small, ahead of the new Cup Series season. In a recent interview, the JGR driver pointed out how Small is excited to have Briscoe at his disposal, who usually attends the simulator sessions, unlike Martin Truex Jr.

Briscoe arrived at JGR from Stewart-Haas Racing at the end of last season after SHR went defunct. Even though Gene Haas continued the team under a rebranded name Haas Factory Team after Tony Stewart's departure, they retained one charter out of four, and it was for Cole Custer.

It meant Briscoe had to find his home elsewhere, and at the same time, the JGR opportunity came calling. After his arrival, Briscoe took charge of the #19 entry as Truex Jr. retired from full-time racing at the end of 2024. Since Briscoe joined the #19 team, he paired up with crew chief James Small.

“James is excited to have someone that is there all the time,” Briscoe said (via Jayski). “Nothing against Martin, but he wasn’t there a lot. Martin was at the point of his career where he didn’t even live near Charlotte, so that’s something really exciting for James is being able to go to the simulator. James hasn’t even gone to the simulator in the last three years. For him to have a driver that can go to sim, I think he’s really excited for that."

Simulation is an integral part of racing in the 21st century, and almost every driver is accustomed to its use. However, Truex Jr. who lived far away from Charlotte, barely had a connection with the simulation of late.

Martin Truex Jr. joined Joe Gibbs Racing in 2019 and raced for five years with the Joe Gibbs-owned team. As JGR brought in Chase Briscoe as his replacement, the other three charters remained the same. Denny Hamlin, Ty Gibbs and Christopher Bell will continue to drive the #11, #54 and #20 entries, respectively.

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Chase Briscoe looking forward to being consistent with Joe Gibbs Racing

Ahead of the new Cup Series season, Chase Briscoe opened up about his aim in 2025, where he wants to be more consistent, something he barely managed to do at Stewart-Haas Racing. Speaking about this, he said (via Jayski):

“At Stewart-Haas, I would have flashes of running well, but I wasn’t consistently good. That’s something at JGR that I want to focus on, being that contender week in and week out and being in the mix, cranking out top five and top 10s, leading laps.”

Chase Briscoe (19) during the Clash at Bowman Gray at Bowman Gray Stadium. - Source: Imagn

Following this, he also pointed out how Joe Gibbs Racing has a lot of room for improvement and vice versa for him. He added:

“It’s exciting for me knowing how good the No. 19 team was and they weren’t doing a lot of the things that other teams were doing in the sport. There is a lot of room to grow from the team standpoint, and there is a lot of room to grow for myself.”

The upcoming Cup Series season is going to be Chase Briscoe's fifth year in NASCAR as a full-time driver. So far, he has racked up 144 races in over four years, with two wins, two poles, and 30 Top 10s.