NASCAR drivers rarely switch manufacturers and find immediate success like Chase Briscoe. Ford discovered Briscoe in the 2017 Truck Series and backed him through all three NASCAR levels. However, he took a massive leap of faith to drive for Toyota after the 2024 season.

Stewart-Haas Racing shut up shop from the Cup Series that year. Being at a crossroads, Briscoe chose to join JGR for 2025 and, in doing so, ditched Ford for Toyota. A year and a half later, the move is clearly paying off. Fresh off his victory at Chicagoland last weekend, Briscoe spoke about this shift on the “Rubbin is Racin” podcast on YouTube.

“It was definitely, it was a hard decision,” Briscoe admitted. “I’d been with Ford my entire career, and you know, they were the only reason I was even in NASCAR because of their commitment to me. As a guy, I feel like I’m pretty loyal. It was hard to honestly make the switch. But when I just looked at what the potential of Joe Gibbs Racing was, it’s kind of like, if you’re a baseball player, you get the opportunity to go play for the Yankees or the Dodgers, you got to take it. That was kind of the way I looked at it, and obviously, you know, made the switch.”

Briscoe proved he made the right choice immediately. In his first year with JGR, he made the playoffs and finished third in the 2025 championship. But even now, near the end of his second regular season with the team, he admits he is still getting used to how they operate.

“Yeah, it’s been a lot. Honestly, just switching over, the processes, everything has been way different,” he further explained. “And I still feel like, even to this day, I’m still evolving and understanding the change more and more. One of the big things is just the competitive nature of JGR and how, I guess, just winning is the expectation every week, where a lot of my career, that wasn’t necessarily the expectation.”

Stewart-Haas Racing wasn’t a team that consistently contended for Top 5s and wins. During his four years driving the No. 14 car for SHR, Briscoe only scored four top-three finishes. Two of those were wins at Phoenix in 2022 and Darlington in 2024.

“Obviously went to the racetrack to try to win, but it wasn’t expected,” Briscoe added. “So yeah, just the mindset shift has been a lot different, and then obviously all the people and just the process.”

Briscoe’s baseball comparison makes perfect sense for a legacy team like Joe Gibbs Racing. We see the same motivation across all of motorsports. It is the same reason Lewis Hamilton left Mercedes for Ferrari in Formula 1, and why Scott Dixon recently signed a blockbuster deal to join Arrow McLaren in IndyCar.

In 2026, Briscoe has secured seven Top-five finishes, including the runner-up at Sonoma and the Chicagoland triumph. After 19 races, he is eighth in the championship standings and almost guaranteed a playoff berth.