“Talladega Nights is basically exactly what it’s like being a NASCAR driver.” This is what Chase Briscoe wrote on X after Formula One drivers claimed that the F1 movie was close to the reality of their motorsport. While Briscoe’s claim is laced in humor, there might be some truth to his words, as the JGR #19 recently revived an iconic quote from the movie after his nail-biting loss to Denny Hamlin at Dover Motor Speedway.

The Monster Mile was unforgiving, and it took two overtime restarts to get the race to finish under green. Before that, we also had a 50+ minute red flag rain delay as drivers waited patiently to get back on track. Following the red flag, Denny Hamlin battled to hold his lead with Christopher Bell, who eventually spun out and made way for another Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Chase Briscoe, to have a final dance to the checkered flag with Hamlin.

Ricky Bobby’s NASCAR mentions

Despite the #19’s best efforts, he just didn’t have enough for the aero-blocking Denny Hamlin. Even on fresher tires, Briscoe could only go half a car length ahead before Hamlin snatched the lead back. While Briscoe was happy that another JGR car won, he still lamented his fate. In classic Briscoe fashion, the JGR driver took to X to let out an honest reaction while quoting Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.

Chase Briscoe wrote on X, “Well dang… if you ain’t first, you’re last.” This iconic quote from the movie was the motto of fictional NASCAR icon Ricky Bobby, who learned this saying from his dad while he worked toward his dreams of being a racecar driver. For Chase Briscoe, this statement rang true as it marked his second consecutive runner-up finish, after coming runner-up to Shane van Gisbergen at Sonoma as well. And this is hardly the only parallel between Talladega Nights and NASCAR.

Back in 2009 at Talladega Superspeedway, Brad Keselowski and Carl Edwards were involved in a heated last lap battle for the win. As they approached the flag, Edwards dove low to block Keselowski, but the #2 was not about to yield. Brad powered through and wrecked Edwards’ car, which was flung into the air and hit the catchfence before coming to rest on the infield. This led to Carl Edwards jogging his way to the finish line in true Ricky Bobby style, as the latter did that at the end of the movie to beat his rival. The broadcasters even caught onto this reference, saying, “Shades of Ricky Bobby,” as Edwards hopped over the line.

Well, Edwards’ recreation of Talladega Nights was much more brutal than Briscoe’s nod. However, while Briscoe lamented finishing 2nd, or ‘last’ if you’re Ricky Bobby, the #19 did admit to going easy on his teammate on those final few restarts. If he didn’t, could we have seen Denny Hamlin recreate the iconic Ricky Bobby move at Dover?

Chase Briscoe’s bittersweet evening

Speaking on racing his teammate Denny Hamlin after the race, Chase Briscoe told media after the race, “I could have put him [Denny Hamlin] in a really, really, really bad air. I did 50 percent of what I probably could have done because I didn’t want to wreck him. But certainly, if it was another car, I could have just opened my hands up, and I would have won the race. It had been dirty, but I could have won the race.” 

Well, the two did bump fenders as they jostled for the lead. Briscoe even went half a car length ahead, showing that his fresher tires gave him a shot to contend. However, in the interest of not causing a wreck and preventing closely trailing Alex Bowman from sneaking a victory, Briscoe raced Denny hard but fair. Chase added, “Definitely, it’s nice to be on offense. It’s good when you’re one of the first two cars. I got a gift when Tyler [Reddick] look the bottom on that initial restart. I came out and took the top, got to fourth right away. There at the end, I was surprised that I was able to kind of even stay as close as I was.”

And while Briscoe felt the pain of not being able to clear Hamlin when he had the chance, he was chuffed that at least Joe Gibbs Racing added to their win tally. The #19 confessed, “I wish the Camry, the back, was about three inches shorter. I was so close to clearing him. I just couldn’t do it. Obviously, racing a teammate, I wanted to make sure at least a JGR car won.”

Joe Gibbs Racing and Hendrick Motorsports are still dominating the 2025 Cup Series season so far, and it looks like no one can stop them. From Briscoe’s consistent heroics to Chase Elliott leading 238 laps, the two powerhouses look poised to take this championship down to the wire. Who do you think will prevail in 2025? Let us know in the comments!