"Other people wanted Chase too" - $60M-worth Joe Gibbs reveals JGR faced bidding war to land Briscoe as Truex Jr. replacement

NASCAR Hall of Famer Joe Gibbs recently shared details behind the official announcement of Chase Briscoe joining Joe Gibbs Racing. Briscoe is set to replace the current #19 driver Martin Truex Jr. after the latter's retirement at the end of the 2024 season.

Currently a Stewart-Haas Racing driver, Briscoe was in the free agent market after SHR announced they would wind up by the end of the year. Briscoe is the first of the SHR lot to land himself a confirmed ride for the next Cup Series season. With rumors of other NASCAR teams wanting to sign the 29-year-old, Joe Gibbs' team was the first to reach out and win the bidding war.

Speaking to SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, the owner of JGR, Joe Gibbs, who is worth $60 million (according to Celebrity Net Worth) talked about the importance of finalizing the deal with Briscoe for the 2025 season as early as possible.

"It's a huge decision. Let me say that first of all because you only have four cars and our people here, a quarter of our people depend on this car. And so it was a huge decision. We've been thinking about this and working on it for two months because I kind of felt like Martin last year, it was close. And we were able to get everything done and Martin comes back," Gibbs said.

NASCAR veteran Truex Jr. has been on one-year extensions with JGR for the last three years - until recently, when Truex Jr. revealed that he would retire full-time from the Cup Series. The 83-year-old Gibbs therefore rushed up the process to land Briscoe as the replacement in the #19 Toyota.

"So this year, you're kind of looking at saying this could happen. And so we've been working on this for quite a while. But what happened as we analyzed things and we kind of went through a big number of drivers, it became obvious when we kind of settled on Chase, our problem was other people wanted Chase too,"

"And so once Martin told me, I immediately, we, it's not just me here, for sure, but immediately we go to Chase and I wanted to get that done quick," Gibbs further stated.

The current sponsor for the #19 car, Bass Pro Shops, and the crew chief, James Small will remain with the #19 team when Briscoe joins for the 2025 season.

"So all of that kind of took place quick, but really we've been working on it, what I'm saying for a couple of months and kind of analyzing everything so that when the decision was made, we were ready to go," Gibbs added.

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Joe Gibbs revealed the reasons behind signing Briscoe

After Truex Jr. announced his retirement, Gibbs immediately finalized the #14 Ford driver Chase Briscoe of the SHR outfit as his replacement behind the #19 Toyota's wheel.

Joe Gibbs Racing currently fields four full-time entries in the Cup Series - Denny Hamlin with the #11 Toyota, Christopher Bell driving the #20, Ty Gibbs in the #54, and Martin Truex Jr. behind the wheel of the #19 Camry.

In a conversation with Bob Pockrass, Coach Gibbs revealed the reasons for signing the Indiana native Briscoe for 2025:

"We were kind of looking at somebody that had the experience, still young, is showed in his background. We feel like, analyzing everything, he's (Chase Briscoe) 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," Gibbs said.

Currently, Briscoe is at P16 on the Cup Series standings. He has two top-fives and six top-tens from 18 starts in 2024. His best finish this season came at New Hampshire Motor Speedway where he crossed the checkered flag at P2.