They did it again. Sunday’s Dover was another shining moment for Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin. He charged through the final overtime laps to keep his season rolling, snagging his fourth win of 2025, firmly locking himself into the playoffs. While that headline performance was impressive, a nice 1-2 for Joe Gibbs Racing didn’t go unnoticed either.

And what truly caught Junior’s attention wasn’t Hamlin’s victory alone; it was the No. 11’s teammate who stormed home to a strong second-place finish, pushing Hamlin hard to the checkered flag. Hamlin may be delivering a master class this season, but Dale Jr. is sounding the alarm about Chase Briscoe.

Dale Jr. sounds the alarm on Chase Briscoe

Briscoe’s rally to second at Dover was not a fluke; it was a statement effort. Starting mid-pack, he powered his No. 19 JGR Toyota through the chaos of a late rain delay and double-overtime restart, briefly locking bumpers with Hamlin before settling for P2. It marked his second consecutive runner-up finish, following a strong results streak that is turning heads.

Earlier this month, he notched his third straight pole at Michigan, matching the impressive qualifying form shown at Nashville, and even swept the front row at the Cracker Barrel 400. Those pole positions aren’t just stats; they are proof that he is consistently bringing speed to the table. Still, the No. 19’s climb hasn’t been easy. He has jockeyed for position while teammates and veterans have tended to dominate. Despite a strong Pocono when locking him into the playoffs, it was his late surge in the Malibu Mile and Dover that prompted Dale Jr. to call him “pretty dangerous” as the regular season winds down.

In a recent sit-down with Dale Jr. and Denny Hamlin, Dale Jr. couldn’t help but warn others of Chase Briscoe’s power. The Hall of Famer, completely whipped by Briscoe’s performance, said, ” I feel like Briscoe is slowly sort of creating this opportunity for himself. We’ve always seen him do really good things in the playoffs and overachieve, but now he’s in a team and with a car that can do that anyway. And so he’s certainly found his stride since May, with qualifying and with race performance.” 

After four seasons at Stewart-Haas Racing, Chase Briscoe was tapped in June 2024 to replace Martin Truex Jr. in the coveted No. 18 Toyota at Joe Gibbs Racing, a move that represented a major upgrade in expectations and equipment. The transition wasn’t smooth. Briscoe recalls feeling overwhelmed by the increased accountability and performance demands at the team, admitting the adjustment was definitely different, especially when competing against championship-caliber teammates. During the Coke 600 in qualifying, he even noted that he was underdriving, tapping down the car’s potential.

When asked about his teammate’s performance, Denny Hamlin‘s comments were a nod to the 30-year-old. He said, “I think at the beginning it was a struggle. I think he (Chase Briscoe) struggled with understanding how differently our cars drove. Now that direction got sent through meetings that we had—competition meetings—where us drivers are sending our engineers down a path of: this is what we want out of our cars, this is what we need, this is how we need them to feel to make speed. And it was different than what he had over at Stewart-Haas and the other places that he was.”

A preseason penalty at the Daytona 500 didn’t help either. NASCAR found his spoiler was modified, costing him a $100,000 fine, 100 driver points, 10 playoff points, plus a temporary ban for his crew chief, James Small, though they eventually appeared successful. Yet, amid the growing pains, Briscoe’s speed showed. Pole positions and a top four at Daytona hinted at his underlying talent.

The No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing driver added, “And so I think he (Chase Birscoe) struggled with, ‘Holy crap, man. These things are loose in and they’re all kinds of things. This is not what I’m used to.’ And I think he’s finally understanding now, kind of, how to drive our cars. And I think he’s also understanding the feedback that he needs to give the team to make his cars better and drive better for him. I think that just took a little bit of time, and now we’re starting to see it.” 

But as the veteran praised him gallantly, Chase Briscoe wasn’t happy about his P2 at Dover. Chase Briscoe certainly wanted that win as badly as Denny, but he also admitted to wanting to push harder next time.

“Could have done a lot of things differently,” Chase Briscoe warns about his hunger to win

Chase Briscoe entered the final restart at Dover with fresh tires and had everything he needed to challenge for the win, except one thing. His teammate, Denny Hamlin. Despite momentarily locking bumpers with Hamlin and even briefly outpacing him, Briscoe couldn’t secure the lead. In the end, the veteran held firm and Briscoe settled for a strong runner-up finish.

After the race, Briscoe admitted that if he had been battling someone outside of Joe Gibbs Racing, his approach would have been different. “I could have done a lot of things differently… but I didn’t want to screw one of the JGR cars.” These comments laid bare the fine line between racing hard and team loyalty. Both NASCAR writers, Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi, weighed in on the decision.

Gluck stated via The Teardown. “He could not put himself in this position where he’s going to wreck a teammate. Clean out both cars, have a situation where a Hendrick car wins instead. So he said, (he) raced about 50-percent of, you know, up to the line, of what (he) could do. He said, if it wasn’t a teammate, (he would’ve) opened up his hands more, and it would have been dirty. (He) could’ve have won that way, right?”

And Bianchi argues that Briscoe made the smart call. He pointed out that, as the newest JGR driver, Briscoe needed to establish himself, and that reckless moves against a teammate at this stage would only damage trust.

“Chase is right. You’re kind of the new guy at JGR. You don’t want to upset the apple cart,” Bianchi responded. “You want to be a good teammate. You want to kind of establish yourself and say, ‘Hey, listen, I’m for you guys. I can be counted on,’ and going and crashing your teammate while racing for the win and handing that victory to your rival organization is not a good way to do that. I think he raced really smart. He raced aggressively at times, and he got another good finish.”

Ultimately, Briscoe’s choice to race smart and leave the win hunt for another day might pay dividends in the long run. He proved he belongs on the front, even on fresh tires, and demonstrated maturity in a high-pressure showdown. That race-off moment at Dover signals smart aggression, not hesitation, and suggests that Briscoe is a real playoff threat.