At 29 years of age, Chase Briscoe will be the key point of envy for many Cup Series drivers in the days to come. The current Stewart-Haas Racing driver has been chosen to replace Martin Truex Jr. in the #19 Toyota Camry XSE beginning in 2025. While it is certainly a momentous occasion for Briscoe, what led Joe Gibbs Racing to pick him of all the choices that they had?
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At the base of the search, Joe Gibbs understood that his driver would need to have two qualities to be a successful replacement for a veteran like Truex Jr. The first was character and the second was the ability to win. He said in the press meeting, “The most important thing we have is our people and the people that you have on your team. And so for us really here, it always starts with character.”
“You’re always looking at what kind of a person you’re getting. But also, we have to win. So we came down to the end. We think Chase can win.” Briscoe has won one Cup Series race, 11 Xfinity Series races, and two Truck Series races so far. This puts him well within the reach of Gibbs’ requirements. Or at least, more so than most of the other options on the team’s list.
Gibbs believes that he and his team are rather fortunate for having the flexibility to prioritize needs. He continued, “I do think, you know, when you have the flexibility of saying, ‘Alright, what’s first?’ First is character and can we win? And other things come after that. So we’re fortunate.” What this means for Briscoe is that he is expected to find the victory lane right off the bat in 2025.
Dave Alpern, JGR President, reiterates the key expectation from Chase Briscoe
For any top team like Joe Gibbs Racing, the first place to look for replacement drivers is within their ranks in the Xfinity Series or the Truck Series. And that’s what Alpern and Co. were planning on doing until Briscoe popped up on the market. The president said in a recent appearance on SiriusXM, “We really talked about having a guy who could bring that first 100 races under his belt.”
️ @JoeGibbsRacing‘s Dave Alpern explains what made @ChaseBriscoe_14 the perfect fit for the No. 19 ⬇️
“Choice ‘A’ would be, get somebody who’s got the 100 races already under their belt that could hopefully win right away.”
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— SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Ch. 90) (@SiriusXMNASCAR) June 25, 2024
“What I mean by that is it really is three years or a 100 races before most Cup drivers can win on a regular basis.” Chase being in his fourth season thus put him in the perfect timing. Alpern continued, “He wasn’t in our original list because he was under contract next year but when the Stewart-Haas announcement came and he freed up, he quickly moved up our board to the top.”
