“I was sleeping on couches”: Chase Briscoe looks back on his ’unbelievable’ rise to NASCAR Championship 4 berth

Winning Sunday’s YellaWood 500 playoff race at Talladega Superspeedway humbled Chase Briscoe. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver is now locked into the Championship 4 along with his teammate, Denny Hamlin. However, just a little over a year ago, this was unthinkable.

Briscoe joined Joe Gibbs Racing ahead of the 2025 season, replacing Martin Truex Jr. behind the wheel of the iconic No. 19 Toyota. Before that, he ran seven full seasons with the now-defunct Stewart-Haas Racing. In 2022, Briscoe logged his first Cup Series win at Phoenix Raceway.

After three years now, the Mitchell, Indiana, native is in contention for the coveted NASCAR Cup Series championship title. Finding all of this hard to believe, Briscoe told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio's X handle:

“15-16 months ago, I would've never in a million years expected to be in contention to run for championships. Yeah, an unbelievable opportunity, no matter how it comes out. Obviously, we're going to go there and try to win it.”

Only after working his way through grassroots dirt track racing did Briscoe advance to compete in the NASCAR Cup Series. Being a third-generation driver, he had to face financial hurdles and battle several adversities to secure a spot at the highest level of stock car racing in America.

“I talk about it all the time; literally, less than 10 years ago, I was sleeping on couches, and now I'm gonna be one of four shots to win the championship,” Briscoe smiled. “It's pretty unbelievable.”

Next up for Chase Briscoe is the Xfinity 500, scheduled for this coming Saturday at Martinsville Speedway. Although winless at the Virginia short track, Briscoe has an average finishing position of 8.7 there, that too in the Next Gen era alone.

Fans can watch the 500-lap event on Peacock (2 pm ET) or listen to live radio updates on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, Channel 90.

“Incredible teammate”- Chase Briscoe thanks his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate for Talladega assists

On Sunday, Chase Briscoe bagged his fifth win in the NASCAR Cup Series at Talladega Superspeedway. Three of these wins came in his maiden season with Joe Gibbs Racing, though it wouldn’t have been possible without Ty Gibbs’ help.

Gibbs, who drives the No. 54 car for JGR, didn’t make the playoffs this year. But he knew he had to help his teammate, who was running for the championship. Thanks to a mighty shove to the front of the pack during overtime, Briscoe crossed the finish line first.

Briscoe lauded Gibbs during his post-race interview with NBC Sports.

“Ty Gibbs, incredible teammate there. I would not have won that race without Ty,” Chase Briscoe said. “Just an amazing team effort. I can’t believe I won a superspeedway race. I haven’t done it any level anywhere. Just an unbelievable atmosphere.”

Gibbs finished the race in P3, right behind P2 finisher Todd Gilliland. Rounding off the top five were Bubba Wallace and former NASCAR Xfinity Series champion Cole Custer.