Chase Briscoe reacts after discovering a fact about his NASCAR friend of 15 years for the ‘first time’

Chase Briscoe recently shared an X post calling out Christopher Bell, his NASCAR friend of 15 years, for his sudden interest in basketball. Amid the current NBA finals between Oklahoma City Thunder and the Indiana Pacers, Bell came in support of the former, while Briscoe, a fellow Indiana native, countered with a shoutout for his home team.

On Monday, June 9, OKC Thunder won against the Pacers in Game 2 and tied the series 1-1. The Oklahoma team returns to the finals after a 13-year hiatus, while the Pacers enter the fray for the first time in 25 years.

Bell, a Norman, Oklahoma native, took to X after OKC's win and proudly backed his hometown team, writing

"Thunder up!"

Reponding to the post, Chase Briscoe couldn't resist taking a jab at Bell's newfound interest in basketball.

"I’ve known you for 15 years and this is the first time I’ve ever heard you talk about basketball. Let’s go @Pacers! #YesCers"

Briscoe transitioned to Joe Gibbs Racing after his former team, Stewart-Haas Racing, closed shop in 2024. Joining the Toyota roster, he now brushes shoulders with his teammate Bell, who he considers as one of his three best friends in the grid. Bell has secured three race wins this season, while Briscoe is yet to earn the checkered flag, despite claiming pole four times so far.

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Chase Briscoe reflects upon winless stretch in the 2025 Cup Series season

Chase Briscoe is coming off the heels of his third consecutive pole in the FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway. His blistering lap at 195.514 mph stands as the fastest pole in the Next Gen Era. However, despite having pace, the JGR driver has struggled to convert them to race wins, with his best result being a third place finish in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Reflecting upon the same, Briscoe spoke to the media after taking pole at Michigan, saying (via SpeedwayDigest),

"That's something that we haven't been able to do so far so yeah, I don't know. It's just been a lot of different things. Truthfully, like every week, it's just been something different. Sometimes it's me not doing my job on the race track or you know making a mistake on the restart or we've had bad pit stops. It's just been a multitude of things. I don't know, it's hard to pinpoint what we really need."

Chase Briscoe also noted that his pole-winning setup was his 'least favourite car' in race trim. His words rang true during Sunday's race (June 8), when he lost his lead early on after Ryan Blaney passed him on lap 12. Briscoe ended up finishing lower down the order at 23rd. That said, he currently ranks 11th in the Drivers standings with 363 points to his credit, while his JGR teammates Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell comfortably sit in the top-5.