Chase Briscoe may not have hit his stride at Stewart-Haas Racing, but with stronger equipment, more in-depth data, stronger management, and straitlaced competition at Joe Gibbs Racing, he is thriving. With a win at Pocono Raceway, eighth place in the playoff standings, Briscoe has silenced doubts that even he carried at the start. Martin Truex Jr.’s former #19 car has proven to be the perfect fit for him.
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Since Kansas Speedway on May 11, Briscoe holds the best average Driver Rating (98.1) of any full-time competitor. For three straight months, he has been the Cup Series’ top performer. Behind the wheel of his #19 Camry, he’s showcased raw speed with a series-high five poles in that span, including three straight at Charlotte, Nashville, and Michigan, followed by back-to-back poles at Indianapolis and Iowa.
His 10.0 average starting spot leads all drivers this season. While it would mark the first time since Jeff Gordon’s identical 10.0 in 2006 that the fastest qualifier didn’t average a single-digit start, it shows Briscoe’s ability to carry speed beyond what SHR once offered him.
Richmond Raceway, however, could stall that momentum. The #19 car’s former driver, Truex Jr., collected three wins in 37 starts at the track and averaged a 15.6 finish there last year. Briscoe, by contrast, enters with an average finish of 16.8 across eight starts, with no wins and no top-10s. His best result was P11 in 2023 after starting 20th.
Still, Briscoe remains optimistic. Ahead of Sunday’s race, he admitted, “I’ve never ran in the top 10 here. It’s been one of my worst tracks. But so is Sonoma, and that was one of the 19’s best tracks, too. So, I don’t know. I feel like it’s been hard for me to even really read into statistics of the past for me, just because it’s so different now, just the potential and the capability of the car.”
He continued, “This place is definitely been a struggle for me. It’s just been a place I’ve always kind of felt like a fish out of water to a certain extent, but over the course of the last two years, especially, I feel like I made big gains.”
Briscoe revealed he logged 400 laps on the simulator on Wednesday, focusing on refining his technique and mirroring the lines of the fastest drivers. For now, his goal is to execute when it counts and get it right this weekend.
