Chase Briscoe came into the 2025 season with serious internal and external pressure on him, possibly the most he'd faced in a single season. How he dealt with that had the potential to shape the future of his NASCAR career.
Briscoe had moved from Stewart-Haas Racing to Joe Gibbs Racing in the off-season to replace Martin Treux Jr., with the expectations that came with the seat clear: win, and challenge for a title, or else.
Wins? Check, three of them. Challenge for a title? The 31-year-old made his first Championship 4, so: check. But that's not the whole picture...
Chase Briscoe's 2025 season in review
As much as Briscoe can hang a banner at home that says 'mission accomplished' for 2025, there was a significant period where things looked decidedly rocky.
Coming out of the All-Star Race in mid-May, the JGR team had amassed five race wins – three for Christopher Bell, and two for Denny Hamlin – while Briscoe's best results were a quartet of fourth-place finishes. He leapt out of the break with third at the Ccoa-Cola 600, but the JGR win tracker kept going up with Hamlin's win at Michigan, while Briscoe sat on zero, 11th on points and facing a battle for the playoffs.
That all turned around at Pocono, where Briscoe led 72 laps of the 160-lap race to take victory over Hamlin in a rain delayed race at the Tricky Triangle.
Playoff spot secured and winless season avoided – he's not the team owner's grandson, he can't get away with that – Briscoe kept challenging for race wins as the regular season closed out, finishing second three times in four races at one points.
| Category | Statistic |
|---|---|
| Races | 36 |
| Wins | 3 |
| Top 5s | 15 |
| Top 10s | 19 |
| DNFs | 4 |
| Pole Positions | 7 |
| Laps Led | 884 |
| Average Starting Position | 9.9 |
| Average Finish | 12.7 |
| Final Position | 3 |
Briscoe truly came to life in the playoffs, winning his way through the Round of 16 and the Round of 8 at Darlington and Talladega, while running consistently enough in the Round of 12 (tenth, fourth, 14th) to make it through on points.
Seven top-10 finishes in ten playoff races, including five finishes of fourth or better, bode incredibly well for his second season with the team as they look to improve on their second, third and fifth place finishes in the championship with their three lead drivers.
Compared to his team-mates, Briscoe (3) came up short of Bell (4) and Hamlin (6) in terms of race wins, but led the entire series in pole positions (7) while competing well in other key statistical categories.
He led 884 laps on the year, completely eclipsing Bell (282) but a little behind Hamlin (1024) – and bagged 15 top-5 finishes, more than either Bell or Hamlin (13 and 14 respectively).
Briscoe might be some way out in the betting stakes (currently priced as joint-sixth favorite at +1000, vs +500 and +600 for Hamlin and Bell), but there are real reasons to believe that he's every bit as much of a threat as his more experienced team-mates.
NASCAR TODAY: Michael Jordan splashes out as Cup Series champion signs new racing deal
