Joe Gibbs Racing Confirms Chase Briscoe As New Driver For Real This Time
This time it was on purpose.
Days after he accidentally told the media that “Chase” would be on Joe Gibbs Racing next season, Christopher Bell opened up Joe Gibbs Racing’s press conference on Tuesday to announce the replacement for the retiring Martin Truex Jr.
“Since I had the mistake of starting this on Friday, I guess I’ll get to finish it out today,” Bell said.
“It is my honor to finally announce the full name of our driver next year, Chase Briscoe, in the 19 car.”
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Briscoe recently learned he was losing his ride with Stewart-Haas Racing, which is disbanding at the end of the 2024 season.
Gibbs praised Briscoe’s talent and his tenacity, the driver having spent a couple of years after high school couch surfing and hustling around Charlotte while trying to make it in racing.
“We went through this for months and we talked to I don’t know how many people that could potentially come to our car. And so, what really hit all of us with Chase and his background. You can go back and look at Xfinity, he won nine races that year. And some of the other things he’s done, he’s already won in Cup. But to hear him sit and talk about his background and the sacrifices he made to race,” Gibbs said.
“But also, we have to win, and we came down to the end, we think Chase can win.”
Briscoe tipped his hat to the man he is replacing in the No. 19 car.
“Martin is an incredible race car driver, first-ballot Hall-of-Famer in my opinion,” Briscoe said.
“When he came over here, I think he had two wins, before he went to Furniture Row and Joe Gibbs, and that’s kind of the same situation I’m in right now, so hopefully I can have the same type of career as Martin where this was the skyrocket for him and hopefully be here for a really long time.”
The No. 19 car will retain its primary Bass Pro Shops sponsorship and both the company’s owner, Johnny Morris, and Briscoe are looking forward to the relationship.
“I’m an outdoorsman myself. I love hunting and fishing. Literally, my son and I fish almost every single day,” Briscoe said.
“When I met Johnny for the first time, I was trying to figure out where I can get some of those bass in the aquarium as the bass in my house are not that big. Hopefully I can continue to get Johnny to maybe give me some bass. It’s going to be an incredible opportunity for me, the opportunity of a lifetime.”
Briscoe is in his fourth season as a full-time Cup Series driver with his only win coming at the spring Phoenix race in 2022.
Coincidental to the press conference, Briscoe finished second to Christopher Bell at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sunday.
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