Joe Gibbs explains decision to keep James Small as No. 19 crew chief: ‘Hugely important’

James Small will remain as the crew chief for the No. 19 team at Joe Gibbs Racing in 2025, team owner Joe Gibbs announced Tuesday.

Small stays atop the pit box, as he has done since replacing Cole Pearn in 2020, this time with Chase Briscoe as the driver of the No. 19 Toyota. JGR announced Briscoe as the driver replacing Martin Truex Jr., who is retiring from full-time competition after the 2024 Cup Series season.

Speaking at a press conference unveiling Briscoe as the team’s newest driver, Gibbs explained why it made sense to keep Small as the No. 19 team’s crew chief.

“Well, it’s obvious we’re not changing the crew chief,” Gibbs said while laughing. “Our team there, if you take a look at what we’ve done and this year, that car has overcome all kinds of adversity and was again last week and to fight all the way back last week and wind up ninth is a perfect example and we kinda been doing that all year. We’ve been the dominant car at times, and things haven’t been going our way at the end of the race. So, we’re sitting there in points, last year we won the regular season and I just think our team there if we have a few things go our way, I think we could win the championship this year. We all feel that way.

“And so, we’re excited about that, and I know that’s hugely important to all of our sponsors there including Johnny [Morris] and Bass Pro. So, it’s a huge deal for us. And we mention Interstate and Reser’s being on that car and that’s a huge deal for us. I think we got everything it takes there to win a championship, so that’s our goal.”

James Small comments on Martin Truex Jr.’s retirement decision

Truex has remained one of the sport’s most consistent drivers with Small as his crew chief, notably finishing as the championship runner-up in 2021. Though winless through 18 races this season, Truex is currently a playoff driver once again on points.

Small said on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio last week that he remains focused on finishing the season strong with Truex.

“I think it’s good to be done now,” Small said. “… It helps the whole company plan for the future better and I think it’s just — you know you can see it weighing on him the last four, five weeks of what he’s going to do, and I thought he was pretty convinced to start the year, to be honest of what he was going to do. You could see it changing a little bit and maybe having some second thoughts but yeah, I’m glad he’s in a happy place. He’s at the point where he knows it’s enough and he can just move on.

“We still have a lot to accomplish, and we really need to make the playoffs here. I think we’re in a good position to do it and we can have a good end to the year and send him off on a high.”