Chase Briscoe may have dropped the mic on his dirt track career, but only because he had bigger horsepower on his radar. With a bustling family life and guns for hire at Joe Gibbs Racing in the NASCAR top series, Briscoe has flipped the script, retiring from the dirt track and going full speed ahead in the Cup. However, this is something near and dear to Chase Briscoe’s heart. And while he has shifted gears into full Cup throttle, Briscoe hasn’t dialed back his short track passion; instead, he is sounding off on his plans that look freakishly similar to Tony Stewart’s racing resume.

Speaking on the Dale Jr. Download, Briscoe made his intentions about the sprint racing world very clear. He said, “I’m done with sprint cars. I mean, I’m still heavily invested. I love watching it. I want to have a team so badly. That is my goal. To go full-time like World of Outlaws or High Limit Racing, if you want to run the full deal, it’s going to cost you a million to a million-two to do it right. That’s doing it.” 

But life has its way. Chase Briscoe says he retired from driving sprint cars after his home track start at Bloomington Speedway during Brickyard last year, the same red clay quarter mile where he cut his teeth. With twin newborns and a cup ride at JGR, he admitted that he had been driving kind of scared in the spring and called it right there in the pits; that was the last one.

He hasn’t walked away from the dirt world; he has reorganized around it. Chase Briscoe’s racing has been revived on the sprint car side, and he has partnered with rising talent Karter Sarff, while Briscoe contributes resources, guidance, and that NASCAR spotlight. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has even talked about the hardware at home, a micro and multiple chassis, and the edge to keep building the program, whether as a full-time team or by aligning with established outfits to bring sponsorship.

And now, as he wants to follow Tony Stewart‘s blueprint, the No. 19 driver said, “ If I could start a team, or even— I’ve talked to a couple drivers and sprint car team owners lately… I remember as a kid, Tony Stewart Racing and Kasey Kahne Racing rolling into my local track, thinking it was the coolest thing ever. That’s always been my goal: make it to be a NASCAR driver and own my own sprint car team.”

Tony Stewart didn’t just moonlight in sprint cars while he was a NASCAR Cup star; he practically ran a second schedule. Even in his Cup prime, Stewart was piling on midweek dirt dates, noting he ran 46 dirt races while also doing the full Cup grind. That race-anywhere ethic sharpened his feel on slick surfaces and kept his short-track roots front and center, even as the travel and risk, including the 2013 sprint car crash that broke his leg, underscored how intense that double life was.

Parallel to that, Stewart built Tony Stewart Racing into a dirt powerhouse. Since launching TSR in 2001, his teams have stacked 27 owner championships across USAC and the World of Outlaws, and he even owned the All-Star Circuit of Champions from 2015 to 2023 before it was acquired by High Limit. These days, he is still suiting up, now in NHRA Top Fuel for his own team while Matt Hagan flies in the TSR Funny Car, but the sprint car footprint he created continues to define the dirt ecosystem he cultivated as an owner.

That template, built on dirt, thrives in Cup, and keeping a hand in team ownership clearly resonates with Joe Gibbs Racing’s Chase Briscoe. A third-generation racer from Indiana, Briscoe grew up on the bullrings, jumping into sprint cars at 13 and chasing it hard across the Midwest. The dirt discipline was foundational to his identity long before NASCAR eyes found him, and it still colors how he talks about race craft and race weeks.

So where Tony Stewart once doubled up as Cup ace and sprint car regular, Briscoe is carving a modern twist: racer on Sundays, team builder the rest of the week. Stewart proved the dirt-to-cup pipeline can fuel a career and a business; Briscoe’s vision keeps the dirt heartbeat strong while channeling the risk and time into ownership, membership, and a sustainable seat at the short practice table. However, on the Cup side, Chase Briscoe made some bold claims on his championship hopes and is now backing his claim.

Chase Briscoe believes he could win the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series championship

Chase Briscoe’s new NASCAR Cup home has already paid off in a big way. After four seasons with the now-defunct Stewart-Haas Racing, the Mitchell, Indiana, native made the jump to Joe Gibbs Racing this year, taking over the No. 19 Toyota from the retired Martin Truex Jr. The move had sparked a career-best season for Briscoe, and with 10 races still to go, there is plenty of time to add to the numbers. Heading into the playoff opener at Darlington Raceway, he has already secured a win at Pocono, set a personal best with 10 top fives, 12 top tens, and six pole positions, including the Daytona 500, and carries a new level of confidence into the championship fight.

But now Briscoe has his eyes on the big prize. Admitting during NASCAR playoff media day, he said, “I was telling my wife, this is really the first time I have legitimately thought I could win a Cup championship. In the past I could make the playoffs, and that was exciting, but down deep you kind of know the odds of you winning are pretty slim.”

That wasn’t just talk; in his first four full-time cup seasons, Briscoe has made the playoffs twice with a career-best ninth-place finish in 2022 and 14th in 2024. This time, though, he is armed with speed, momentum, and the support of two playoff-bound JGR teammates, Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell.

Although he is cautious not to jinx himself, Briscoe isn’t shy about believing he can make the Championship 4 and even take the title. He said, “Now, not to say I’m the favorite by any means, but I feel like I have a legitimate chance to go do it. “It definitely feels different this time around just knowing you have a shot. I would say this playoffs just feels different because of that.” And of course, the road won’t be easy. He will have to battle all 15 playoff contenders, including the powerhouse lineups at Hendrick Motorsports and Team Penske, all while racing side-by-side and sometimes against his own JGR teammates.