It’s been a frustrating start to the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season for a Joe Gibbs Racing star. After opening the year with rough finishes, with a P36 at Daytona and a P37 at COTA, the driver arrived at Phoenix Raceway hoping for a reset. Instead, the bad luck followed once again. As he crashed at Phoenix, a heated radio rant from the previous race added another layer of tension, making him give back sarcastically.

Chase Briscoe’s bad luck continues

Chase Briscoe’s frustrating afternoon at Phoenix Raceway took a sharp turn on Lap 131 of the Straight Talk Wireless 500 NASCAR race. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver had been reporting vibrations in his car for several laps before disaster finally struck. As Briscoe entered Turn 3, his right-side tires suddenly failed, sending the No. 19 car hard into the outside wall.

The impact ended his NASCAR race almost immediately. Briscoe limped the damaged car back toward the garage area, but the extent of the damage proved too severe for repairs. His team was ultimately unable to fix the car, making Briscoe the first driver officially out of the race. But while the crash itself was unfortunate, Briscoe’s reaction over the team radio caught plenty of attention.

“Yeah, I read the DVP map this week,” Briscoe said dryly after the incident.

The remark was a clear reference to a heated exchange that had taken place the previous week at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA). During that race, Briscoe was running third when a transaxle failure forced him to head to the garage area for repairs. Because COTA’s facility is massive, he asked for directions to the Damaged Vehicle Policy (DVP) repair area.

His crew chief, James Small, responded, but not exactly calmly.

“Maybe you should read the f***ing map! Down the back! At the back, near the parking lot!” Small shouted over the radio.

For context, NASCAR’s Damaged Vehicle Policy (DVP) governs how teams handle crash damage during races. Once a car is ruled under the policy, teams must complete repairs either in their assigned pit box or in a designated garage repair area within a limited time window.

Briscoe’s sarcastic jab at the Phoenix NASCAR race suggested the moment at COTA clearly hadn’t been forgotten. Even as bad luck continued to plague his season.

Joe Gibbs Racing faces early-season turbulence

While Chase Briscoe has been battling bad luck on track, the truth is the entire Joe Gibbs Racing organization has experienced a rocky start to the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season. Through the opening three races, the powerhouse team has shown flashes of speed. However, the results have largely failed to match their expectations.

Veteran Denny Hamlin has had one of the more surprising starts. The driver of the No. 11 Toyota currently sits 23rd in the standings with just one top-10 finish so far. Even more unusual for a driver known for controlling races, Hamlin has led only 13 laps across the first three events. As a result, he already finds himself 126 points behind championship leader Tyler Reddick, leaving plenty of ground to make up early in the season.

Christopher Bell, another driver typically expected to contend for wins, has experienced a similarly uneven start. Bell is currently 24th in the standings, sitting 127 points behind the leader. His season began with disappointment after a DNF at Daytona, though he did bounce back with a strong third-place finish at Circuit of the Americas NASCAR race. Still, inconsistency has prevented him from gaining significant momentum.

Meanwhile, Ty Gibbs has been dealing with pressure both on and off the track. Amid ongoing discussions surrounding nepotism accusations tied to the JGR lawsuit, the young driver has managed to put together a somewhat steadier start than his teammates. Gibbs currently sits 17th in the standings, 121 points behind the leader, highlighted by an impressive fourth-place finish at COTA. However, he is still chasing his first career Cup Series victory.

For a team accustomed to fighting near the top of the standings, the early numbers are far from ideal. But with a long NASCAR season ahead, Joe Gibbs Racing will be hoping that speed (and a little better luck) can quickly turn their campaign around.