Alex Weaver talks with Chase Briscoe after Joe Gibbs Racing announced he will step into the No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota starting in 2025.
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00:00Alex, we were here at Joe Gibbs Racing with, officially official now, the new driver of
00:04the number 19, starting in 2025, Chase Briscoe.
00:08You called it, your words, not mine, the worst kept secret.
00:11How did this all go down to know that you were becoming this new driver here at Joe
00:14Gibbs?
00:15Yeah, it was definitely probably the worst kept secret, I feel like, in the garage.
00:18I felt like everybody's known for, like, the last two weeks, so, yeah, I guess Christopher
00:22just couldn't contain his excitement of being teammates with me and wanting to get it out
00:25early.
00:26But, yeah, it's crazy how fast, actually, it all happened.
00:29You know, the Tuesday that SHR let us know that we weren't coming back, you know, I just
00:34started sending out text messages to different, you know, presidents of organizations, and
00:38that Thursday, I guess leading into, I'm trying to think, Gateway, I think is where we were
00:42at, I had breakfast with a couple of the JGR executives, and then Saturday, Coach actually
00:48had reached out and said he would love to meet with me on Sunday.
00:51I met with him for probably 25, 30 minutes before the race, and then Monday went through
00:55kind of what the next steps would look like, and Tuesday signed a contract, or Wednesday
00:59signed a contract.
01:00So, it was, like, literally five, six days from start to finish, so the fastest deal
01:05I've ever been a part of, yeah, you know, to be finding out you're losing your job and
01:10then a week later find you're going to be in a really good opportunity was really cool.
01:14So, yeah, just glad that it all kind of worked out how it did.
01:17All the doors kind of opened up at the right time with, you know, SHR announcing that they
01:20were shutting down that early in the season, you know, they didn't have to do that, you
01:23know, and then Martin decided that he was finally looking to get out, so, yeah, just
01:27kind of everything was best case scenario for me.
01:29Well, we know that your journey in NASCAR has been a long one.
01:33You've put in a ton of work to get to where you are and have these opportunities, but
01:36you're starting a new chapter of your racing career, but I want to revisit the past chapter
01:40that we're still currently in.
01:41You're still the driver of the number 14, but it's an interesting connection with you
01:45and Tony Stewart.
01:46You grew up, he was your hero, you're racing for him.
01:48He raced here at Joe Gibbs Racing, so have you talked to Tony about what this opportunity
01:52is going to do for you?
01:54Yeah, I'm doing the complete opposite of my hero.
01:55He went JGR to SHR, I'm going to SHR to JGR, so, yeah, I called Tony, actually the day
02:01after I signed, and I called him just to thank him truthfully for everything that he'd done
02:05for me the past seven years, and when he came to the shop, there were so many people around,
02:09it was hard to really get anyone on one time, so I called him, and at the end of the conversation,
02:15he said, if there's anything I can ever do for you as far as calling people or anything,
02:18just don't hesitate, like, let me know, I'm willing to do whatever.
02:21I said, well, you actually don't have to.
02:22I signed something yesterday, and he goes, oh, the front row deal?
02:25And I said, no, not the front row deal.
02:27He said, oh, Wood Brothers?
02:28I said, no, not Wood Brothers.
02:30He said, what is it then?
02:31I said, I'm going to JGR to drive the 19, and he was, like, ecstatic.
02:34I've never seen him so excited, so it was cool to just hear the excitement in his voice,
02:39and, you know, obviously, he knows a ton of the people over here, so it's really cool
02:43to know just how much it meant to Tony, but then to do kind of the opposite of, I guess,
02:48what my hero did.
02:50You're signing on to a team that is the standard is championships.
02:53They go on and win this, but they have great partners and sponsors, so this is kind of
02:56a two-part question.
02:58Joe Gibbs Racing is going to be the banner that you're going to hold, but you also have
03:01Bass Pro Shops.
03:02What does it mean to bring that sponsor with this team?
03:04Yeah, it's really cool, you know, for me, and that was one of the things that I think
03:07really kind of separated, you know, JGR from all the other places I kind of interviewed
03:11at is they never once asked me what I could bring to the table.
03:14They just wanted me to come and bring my helmet bag, and they said they would figure out the
03:18rest.
03:19So that was really cool, just from a confidence standpoint, even, that they believed in me
03:22that much.
03:23But then, yeah, as an outdoorsman myself, I literally try to fish every single day at
03:28my house.
03:29We have a pond.
03:30So, yeah, just to get to meet Johnny Morris is really cool for me, but then to find out
03:33that they're going to be the primary sponsor is really, really cool.
03:37So, yeah, it's going to be an honor and a privilege for me to get to carry the Bass
03:41Pro brand.
03:42You know, it's such an iconic brand, right, like it's honestly turned into this lifestyle.
03:47You see kids everywhere wearing, you know, Bass Pro Shop stuff.
03:49So for me to be able to, you know, have the logo on our car and to be able to be an ambassador
03:54for the outdoors and Bass Pro Shops is going to be really cool.
03:57Just to get to meet Johnny, JP, the whole family, it's going to be cool to just build
04:01that relationship with them.
04:02You'll have a new crew chief, James Small, so the Indiana kid.
04:05How's the Australian lingo?
04:07Yeah, that's one thing that the first time I met him last week, you know, I got a little
04:10bit of a southern accent, and his is a totally different accent than southern.
04:14So, yeah, I think me and James, honestly, are going to get along really, really well.
04:17We've only sat down for an hour together so far, but I can already tell he's a little
04:21like wiry and fiery type guy, and I'm like the complete opposite.
04:25I'm pretty laid back and chill all the time.
04:26So I think it'll be good for us just to kind of have that opposite personality, and from
04:31a driver standpoint, to be able to work with a guy like James Small is going to be really
04:36cool.
04:37You know, he's kind of done anything and everything.
04:39He's won a championship, you know, obviously won a ton of races, and, you know, every week
04:43we do like this pre-event thing where at SHR, we see all the drivers where they rank, and
04:49every single week, the 19 car is like the fastest one.
04:51So James is obviously doing something right and excited to finally get to drive for him.
04:55I love it.
04:56Well, congratulations.
04:57We're excited to see you in the 19.
04:58Yeah, appreciate it.
04:59Thank you.