Chase Briscoe is evolving into his true form since joining the Joe Gibbs Racing team. And he hasn’t been shy about attributing the transformation to the performance under the hood and the leadership at the top, both of which, in his view, were sorely lacking at Stewart-Haas Racing. Amid the praise for his current surroundings, Briscoe still tips his cap to Kevin Harvick, whose mentorship proved invaluable in his formative Cup Series years.
Advertisement
As Briscoe recently explained on Rubbin’ Is Racing, SHR simply didn’t have the legs to run with powerhouses like JGR. When he arrived at SHR in 2021, the writing was already on the wall. The four-car stable reached Victory Lane only once that year.
Even in 2022, when Briscoe himself broke through with his maiden Cup win at Phoenix and the Next Gen car leveled the playing field, the team showcased only brief signs of resurgence before losing steam again. That’s when Harvick stepped in as the steadying hand.
Briscoe said, “I mean, Harvick, I would say, was the guy that I probably leaned into most, just with him being at Stewart-Haas and getting to see a guy that’s done it for 20 years, and see the effort that he puts in.”
“It was kind of eye-opening to me being a rookie. It’s like, if this is what the guys that are winning all the time are doing and guys that have 50-plus wins, I probably should be doing it, too. And without being able to see Kevin firsthand, I don’t know if I would have believed how much actually goes on behind the scenes,” Briscoe added.
Harvick’s presence wasn’t just felt in the garage but also on the racetrack. The day Briscoe captured his first Cup win in Phoenix, Harvick crossed the line in sixth, extending his top-10 streak at the one-mile track to 18 straight races. That run tied an all-time Cup Series record set by legends Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt at North Wilkesboro Speedway.
Fast-forward to 2025, and Briscoe isn’t just back in Victory Lane after a win at Pocono; he’s also racked up seven top-fives and nine top-10s in the season’s first 20 races. This time around, though, the credit circles back to the strength of his No. 19 JGR team, which has finally given him the tools to match Briscoe’s potential.
