Chase Briscoe reflects on winning Daytona 500 pole in first season with Joe Gibbs Racing

In his first trip to the Daytona 500 as a member of Joe Gibbs Racing, Chase Briscoe made a major statement and won the pole award. It wasn’t just Briscoe making a statement, it was the entire No. 19 team as they enter a new NASCAR season.

Winning the pole for the Daytona 500 is a big deal. It means that this No. 19 JGR team has put together a fast Toyota Camry XSE ready to compete for the win on Sunday.

Chase Briscoe talked about what the pole means for his team with so much newness surrounding them. It’s not a bad boost to the confidence, either.

“Yeah, I mean, truthfully I didn’t really do a whole lot today. Like I said, I was just kind of the lucky one that got to drive the car.

“I mean, still from a confidence standpoint, the team, I did still have to execute a little bit, so I guess it’s good I didn’t screw anything up today. There’s a lot of little things you have to do inside the car to qualify, just hit all your shifts right, leave pit road right. There was stuff from that standpoint.”

Replacing Martin Truex Jr. is no easy task. But Chase Briscoe now has the same number of Daytona 500 pole awards as Truex in his career. That’s a pretty good start.

Chase Briscoe scores first accolade at Joe Gibbs Racing

When it comes to Daytona qualifying, it is all about the team. Those engineers and shop mechanics put together a nice piece for Chase Briscoe. It really wasn’t even that close between himself and P2, Austin Cindric.

“I think the confidence that it carries over for the team. Not that there was uncertainty, but it is all new for all of us, right? They’re trying to figure me out, I’m trying to figure them out. For us to be able to start the year, even at Bowman Gray we had a really good speed, we broke in the race, but I feel like we’ve gotten off to a really good start.

“Honestly it’s been smoother I would say than all of us kind of expected. We thought there was going to be a little more of — not a hurdle, but harder to learn each other. It’s all been super, super smooth.”

Crew chief James Small has himself a good driver in Chase Briscoe. With the pole award secured, the only thing left for this team is to win the Duel race and win the Daytona 500. Go ahead and sweep the weekend.