Chase Briscoe Lands 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Seat at Joe Gibbs Racing

It's been a hot-button topic all weekend long, after Christopher Bell slipped up in a Friday media availability at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, but after three days of relative silence, Joe Gibbs Racing is making it official.

NASCAR Cup Series winner Chase Briscoe will join the championship-winning organization beginning in 2025, taking over the reins of the No. 19 Toyota Camry XSE. The seat will be vacated by Martin Truex, Jr., who announced earlier this month his decision to retire from full-time competition at NASCAR's top level.

Briscoe has spent the last four seasons competing in the NASCAR Cup Series for Stewart-Haas Racing -- an organization that will be closing its doors at the end of the current season. The Mitchell, Indiana native is the first of the team's current four-driver roster to confirm their placement for the 2025 season.

“I’m excited for this opportunity with Joe Gibbs Racing and Bass Pro Shops,” Briscoe said. “From a competition standpoint, JGR is the place to be if you want to go win races week in and week out and to race for the championship every year. I am blessed that Johnny Morris and Bass Pro are on board to help us carry on the legacy of the 19 car. For me, being an avid outdoorsman, there’s a lot of pride in now being a part of the Bass Pro brand and I’m extremely grateful for this partnership. Getting to meet Johnny, I feel like I share a lot of the same values as him and Coach, and I’m ready to get to work and prove that they have made a great choice putting me in this car.”

James Small, an eight-time NASCAR Cup Series race-winning crew chief, will be partnered with Briscoe for the 2025 season, as he continues in the role he has held since 2020, as crew chief of the No. 19 Toyota Camry XSE.

Bass Pro Shops will continue its role as the majority primary sponsor of the No. 19 Toyota Camry XSE and Briscoe in 2025, beginning with the season-opening Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 16th.

“We have been honored to stand beside Martin Truex Jr. for the last 21 years and together with our friends at Joe Gibbs Racing over the last seven years,” said Johnny Morris, noted conservationist and founder of Bass Pro Shops. “We are proud to represent sportsmen and women across North America as we extend this relationship with Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota and Chase Briscoe.”

A veteran of 126 NASCAR Cup Series starts, Briscoe is on the prowl to end a winless streak that has extended more than two seasons, since collecting his first (and only) victory at NASCAR's top level at Phoenix Raceway in March 2022, 86 races ago.

“We are extremely excited about the future of our 19 team with Chase (Briscoe) behind the wheel and the partnership with Johnny, J.P. and everyone at Bass Pro Shops,” said Joe Gibbs, owner of Joe Gibbs Racing. “I talk about it often, but one of the great things about our sport is the relationships you have the opportunity to build around your teams and certainly we are just so thankful to have that with everyone at Bass Pro Shops. We obviously do a lot of research before selecting our drivers and through the process everything kept pointing us back to Chase. With James’ (Small) leadership, Chase behind the wheel, and the support from Bass Pro, and of course Toyota, we couldn’t be more excited about the future of our 19 team.”

With 18 races remaining in his tenure with Stewart-Haas Racing, Briscoe's statline currently includes 12 top-five results, including the runner-up finish earned in Sunday's USA Today 301 at New Hampshire, and 27 top-10s.

The 11-time Xfinity Series winner is currently in the midst of a heavyweight battle to make the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, sitting 16th in regular-season points, just 25 points behind the final spot in the post-season, currently held by Joey Logano.

It's been a very strong first half of 2024 for Joe Gibbs Racing, with drivers Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell each collecting a series-high three wins apiece, and Ty Gibbs and Martin Truex, Jr. each holding comfortable buffers to the playoff cutline.

Briscoe will head to the racetrack with Joe Gibbs Racing for the first time next February in the Busch Light Clash -- which has to have its date or venue announced.

-- Photo Credit: Damin Sawyer, TobyChristie.com