“Our weakness was just the sloppiness”: Chase Briscoe reflects on his runner-up finish behind JGR teammate Denny Hamlin

Chase Briscoe came close to winning at World Wide Technology Raceway. Driving the No. 19 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, he finished runner-up behind teammate Denny Hamlin, who secured Toyota’s 200th Cup Series win.

For Chase Briscoe, the race was an indication of how competitive his season has been, but he admitted the difference between first and second came down to mistakes. After climbing out of the car, Chase Briscoe explained what separated his effort from Hamlin’s win.

“I would say that our strength was our speed. We had a really, really good, just fast for a shop’s Toyota. Our weakness was just the sloppiness, right? Whether it was me behind the wheel or obviously pit road, I don’t know what the left rear issue was. But yeah, great recovery.” (via nbc)

Chase Briscoe credited his crew chief, James, for keeping the team in contention despite issues. He added,

“James did an amazing job of just doing something different to kind of get us up there and would have loved to obviously battle up there and potentially try to beat everybody’s favorite driver for Toyota’s 200th win"

The runner-up finish was Briscoe’s 12th top-five of the season. With two wins, 14 top-10s, and six poles in 28 starts, he is second in the Cup Series standings with 2115 points, just five behind the leader. He has also led 643 laps this year, proving he can consistently run at the front. For Briscoe, the frustration of missing out on a win came with a silver lining: his growth as a driver.

“A year ago, you would have told me I would have been disappointed with second. I would have told you, you’re crazy. Just today and how much speed we’ve had kind of week in week out has been a lot of fun,” he said.

The Gateway race ended with Denny Hamlin in first, Chase Briscoe second, and Chase Elliott third. While Hamlin took the win, Briscoe's interview indicated that he left with confidence about where his team stands heading into the next phase of the season.

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Chase Briscoe details new simulator strategy at Joe Gibbs Racing

Chase Briscoe has also been open about the changes introduced to the No. 19 team this year. During NASCAR’s Cup Series Playoff Media Day, he described how simulator work has become central to their approach.

Before he joined, the team had gone years without relying on sim time. That has now changed. In an interview on the Stacking Pennies podcast, Briscoe said,

“The 19 hadn’t done sim in 3 and a half years, and now we do probably 6 to 10 hours a week on the sim. So it’s just like all these things were so different for this team.”

The move toward simulator preparation shows the changes in Cup racing. Martin Truex Jr., who drove the No. 19 before retiring, was successful under the Gen 6 package but struggled in the Next Gen era, where aerodynamics are central. Sim work allows teams to experiment with setups, while drivers refine braking points, steering inputs, and racing lines before they hit the track.

For Briscoe, the results are already showing. His pole at the Daytona 500 set the tone for his season, and his Southern 500 win at Darlington reinforced the team’s progress. Leading 309 of 367 laps at Darlington, he won his second consecutive victory in the crown jewel race and opened the playoffs with 60 points.