Joe Gibbs Racing driver Chase Briscoe's crew chief, James Small, appeared in an interview with SiriusXM ahead of the Cup Series championship race at Phoenix. During the pre-race interaction, the #19 Toyota Camry XSE crew chief opened up about the major changes that worked in favor of the team this season.After Stewart-Haas Racing ceased its operations, wrapping up the 2024 season, Briscoe joined Joe Gibbs Racing. He replaced NASCAR legend Martin Truex Jr. in the Bass Pro Shops-sponsored Toyota. Following that, the whole team was built again with new hirings to work with Briscoe.James Small pointed out that the #19 team had a new car chief, JD, along with an engineer, Kyle. He claimed that the team took time to understand each other's rhythm. But it worked in favor of the team and improved Chase Briscoe's ride with each race. Small explained [00:44 onward]:"We’re in a much better place as far as all that goes. The team has done a phenomenal job this year. JD has been a great hire as car chief; he does a great job managing all the mechanics.""It’s been a great year, just trying to help some new engineers grow as well. It has been very fulfilling to watch Chase get better week to week, along with everybody else," Small added.Chase Briscoe is set to compete in the Championship 4 race at Phoenix Raceway on November 2, 2025. He will face his JGR teammate Denny Hamlin, along with Hendrick Motorsports drivers Kyle Larson and William Byron, to clinch his first title in the 312-lap race.Joe Gibbs Racing owner opened up about signing Chase Briscoe as Martin Truex Jr.'s replacementIn September 2025, Joe Gibbs sat down with SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Ch. 90 for an interview. During the interaction, Gibbs got candid about picking Chase Briscoe as the #19 Toyota Camry XSE replacement. The former driver, Martin Truex Jr., retired after wrapping the 2024 season and left his ride up for grabs.The NASCAR team hired the former Stewart-Haas Racing driver as the replacement for the 2017 Cup Series champion. Briscoe competed for four years for SHR before landing a seat with JGR. He clinched two victories and two pole positions driving the #14 Ford Mustang for Tony Stewart's co-owned team.Reflecting on Chase Briscoe's potential, Joe Gibbs found him to check all the boxes he had in mind. Gibbs believed Briscoe would be a perfect fit to replace the #19 Toyota driver in the 2025 season and stated:"That's what I—Gosh, this is exciting, because we always talk about speed. If there's one thing the 19 has, it's speed. They've been, you know, I think six poles more top five, and our starting average for us is first. That car has showed speed. Now, if we could keep that going, then I think we got something that could make, make, make our time with Bass Pro, and our sport, something special for the 19 car going forward." [01:03]Chase Briscoe delivered three wins, 19 top tens, 15 top fives, and seven pole positions, living up to the #19's reputation. Additionally, he managed to lead 881 laps with an average finish of 9.857 in 35 starts.