NASCAR’s Chase Briscoe rises up ranks to close gap with contemporaries

When Chase Briscoe reached NASCAR’s Cup Series, he was a year behind a sophomore class featuring familiar faces and rising stars including close friend Christopher Bell.

Playing catch-up was nothing new to Briscoe.

Now a two-time winner, he enters Sunday’s Daytona 500 pushing close the gap even more during his first season with Joe Gibbs Racing. Briscoe departed struggling Stewart-Haas Racing to replace Martin Truex Jr. after he retired in 2024, leaving Briscoe better positioned than he’s ever been.

“At JGR, the expectation level is every weekend you should be in the mix to win,” he told the Orlando Sentinel. “This is probably the best opportunity I’ve ever had in my career.”

Briscoe aims to capitalize on the iconic speedway where he’s already experienced a taste of success, finishing third in 2022 as Austin Cindric edged Bubba Wallace.

“I definitely had a front row seat,” he recalled. “Those are opportunities that you don’t get every single day, and hopefully you can get another one.”

Briscoe had a front-row seat to racing growing up around Indiana’s sprint-car racing circuit.

Father Kevin Briscoe was champion driver and his grandfather was a car owner while Jeff Gordon was a family friend before he became a Hoosier State icon and inspiration.

“Jeff spent the night at my grandparents’ house growing up,” Chase Briscoe recalled. “I’ve always looked up to Jeff for what he’s been able to do on the racetrack.”

Himself a fan of Tony Stewart, another Indiana legend, Briscoe finally got his chance to compete in 2008 as a 13-year-old driving 410 sprint cars. A maiden victory in the season finale was historic at his age, breaking Gordon’s record by a year.

To achieve NASCAR relevance required time, patience and persistence, especially as he watched the success of contemporaries like Bell, the 2017 Truck Series champion, and Tyler Reddick, the 2018 and 2019 Xfinity Series winner.

Bell, his closest friend in the sport, helped Briscoe make connections with Roush Fenway Racing in 2015. A six-win ARCA season followed in 2016 driving for Cunningham Motorsports. Yet success and financial backing were hit-and-miss until 2019 with Stewart-Haas Racing.

A nine-win 2020 season secured a Cup Series spot in 2021.

“Anytime you have peers that are around the same age as you, and they’re successful it pushes you,” Briscoe said. “That 2020 Cup rookie class [also featuring Cole Custer] was one of the toughest ones there’s ever been. Those guys were all guys that I kind of grew up racing against.”

Briscoe picked up his first win during the 2022 Ruoff Mortgage 500 in Phoenix and his second victory at prestigious 2024 Cook Out Southern 500 at storied Darlington Raceway.

Now he’ll join Bell, a nine-time Cup Series winner, and three-time Daytona 500 champion Denny Hamlin on one of the sport’s most successful teams, led by Gibbs — a Hall of Famer among NASCAR owners and NFL head coaches.

“It starts at the top with Coach,” Briscoe said. “He’s super involved in the day-to-day and just the people side of things. For me, that’s been probably the biggest difference-maker over here.

“There’s a lot of people that have been here 20, 30 years, and you don’t have people stay 20, 30 years by treating them badly. He’s obviously doing something right.”

Briscoe obviously has, too, all while juggling a hectic home life. He and wife Marissa welcomed twins in October and now have three children ages 3 and younger.

“Between trying to be at home and going to a new team it’s been the fastest off season I’ve ever experienced,” Briscoe said. “But ready to get going. The fact the season’s finally here is exciting for me.”

Edgar Thompson can be reached at egthompson@orlandosentinel.com