“You getting tired of this?” Brad Keselowski joked with Chase Briscoe in the media center after qualifying, a lighthearted jab that underscored Briscoe’s dominant form. At Iowa Speedway, Briscoe secured his sixth Cup Series pole of the 2025 season, earning the Busch Light Pole Award for the Iowa Corn 350. It marked his second consecutive pole and continued a remarkable stretch in which he has started on the front row in seven of the last eleven qualifying sessions. He seems far from slowing down.

Meanwhile, Briscoe is spending the weekend at Knoxville Raceway, competing in a sprint car event, a move that surprised many. His appearance on track reflects where his passion still lies, even as he embraces his new role with Joe Gibbs Racing. Speaking about the sprint car run, Briscoe sounded off with confidence and enthusiasm, showing that his love for grassroots racing remains as strong as ever.

“I think I’m done,” Briscoe drops sprint car bombshell amid Joe Gibbs Racing surge

Chase Briscoe’s racing roots run deep in dirt. At just 13 years old, he became the youngest driver ever to win a 410 sprint car race, breaking Jeff Gordon’s record. For the next several years, he continued refining his craft across Indiana’s dirt tracks, securing feature wins at places like Bloomington Speedway and Tri-State Speedway and cementing his status as a Midwest dirt-oval standout. In 2024, he even revived Chase Briscoe racing, fielding a 410 sprint car team and splitting driving duties before deciding last year to step away from racing sprint cars himself. He planned to pilot about half the races while bringing in rising talent Karter Sarff for the remainder.

Briscoe’s move to Joe Gibbs Racing in 2025 was heralded as a perfect fit. After four seasons with Stewart-Haas Racing, where results plateaued, his jump to JGR, taking over Martin Truex Jr.’s seat, came with high expectations. Analysts saw promise in his strong Xfinity credentials and clutch performances in 2024, with the shift offering tools and stability JGR is known for. The transition has aligned, and Briscoe has quickly become one of the fastest qualifiers and consistent contenders in the Cup field.

However, the No. 19 driver broke the news about his much-loved sprint car racing stint. He said, “Yeah, I’m retired, at least for the time being. Probably for good, truthfully. But yeah, I ran my last race last year at Bloomington, which is where I grew up racing 25 minutes from home, and just felt like I was done. Truthfully, we had twins last year. So, you know, having three kids now just makes it harder to tell my wife, hey, I’m going to leave a couple of days early and go run some sprint car races and then switching over to JGRs.”

Chase Briscoe made his final competitive appearance behind the wheel of a 410 sprint car at Bloomington Speedway on August 4, 2024, as part of the Indiana Sprint Week finale. The race held personal significance, as Bloomington is roughly 60 miles from his hometown in Mitchell, just minutes away and part of a circuit deeply tied to his family heritage. Though he didn’t contend for the win, Briggs Danner ultimately claimed the feature victory, and Briscoe delivered a gritty hometown performance, reconnecting with his roots under his own banner, Chase Briscoe Racing.

Talking about the responsibilities of his new role, a full-time Cup Series driver with Joe Gibbs Racing this year, he added, “You know, you’re going to a new job, a new opportunity. It’s the opportunity of a lifetime. I mean, their cars are so fast. I just don’t want to do something to screw that up and get hurt or something like that. So, yeah, hopefully I can get my sprint car team back out there from the ownership side. I would absolutely love to have a car on the racetrack, but from a driver standpoint, I think I’m done, at least for the time being.”

Moreover, in his first year with the No. 19 Toyota, Briscoe has collected six poles, including Iowa, Nashville, Michigan, Brickyard, and Daytona. He has staggering stats as well, with ten top 10 finishes and eight top five finishes, with an average start of 10.773 and an average finish of 14.227. Briscoe’s win has propelled him into playoff conversations and marked him among the hottest qualifiers on the circuit.

Meanwhile, Dale Earnhardt Jr. has named Briscoe the dark horse of the playoffs, impressed by his clutch efforts and late-season gains. Even Denny Hamlin, Chase’s veteran JGR teammate, has praised his evolution. Early struggles adapting to JGR machinery gave way to strong feedback and communication and a growing command over setups that align with his driving style. Hamlin sees Briscoe now as a dangerous weapon in the Toyota stable. However, Briscoe has his sights on something bigger.

Chase Briscoe aims to close the gap on standings rival Ryan Blaney

With only four weeks remaining in the NASCAR Cup Series’ 26-race regular season, Chase Briscoe has one goal in mind—stockpiling playoff bonus points. The Joe Gibbs’ racing driver already secured his spot in the 10-race postseason with a victory earlier this year at Pocono Raceway, which frees him from the pressure of simply making the cut. However, he is more focused on building a stronger foundation for the rounds ahead.

Briscoe’s strategy mirrors that of points leader Chase Elliott, who has also been vocal about using the closing stretch of the regular season to chase every stage and every extra point as well. Wins still carry weight, but for drivers like Briscoe, the math of the playoff means the bonus points now can be the difference between advancing late in the postseason or being sent home early.

Chase Briscoe, ahead of this weekend’s race at Iowa Speedway, revealed, “It’s something James (Small, crew chief) and I have talked a lot about. As a race team, we feel like we are a Championship 4 contender with the speed we have right now. But the playoff points grid, it’s really, really top-heavy, and then the rest of the field only has seven or five points. So it makes it where if you can even just get a couple playoff points from a stage win, but especially a race win, and get that five extra, it’s a huge deal right now. So that’s something that is definitely on our mind.”

Briscoe sits eighth in the standings with 599 points and is just 127 points shy of Chase Elliott. But his sights are set closer, zeroing in on Ryan Blaney, who holds seventh by a slim 17-point margin. Briscoe explained, “The biggest thing right now is trying to get as many playoff points as we can because when the playoffs start, you can get through the Round of 16, you can get through the Round of 12 with that deficit we’re at. But when you get to the Round of 8, if you have a 20 or 30 point deficit, it’s so hard to do anything. It’s extremely important for us right now.” And now that Chase Briscoe is the poleman for Iowa, all eyes will be on him to see if he can clinch a second win of his strong 2025 season, as he is determined to climb up the driver standings ladder.