Chase Briscoe during driver interviews for the 2025 Advent Health 400 at Kansas Speedway. (Photo Credit: Sydney Redden | The Podium Finish)
KANSAS CITY, Kan. —If the strange racing gremlins impacted any driver during the NASCAR Cup Series Advent Health 400 at Kansas Speedway, it was the driver of the No. 19 car for Joe Gibbs Racing, Chase Briscoe. Despite the weekend’s challenges, he managed to secure a fourth-place finish after a grueling 267 laps.
The fourth-place finish marked the best performance for the Mitchell, Indiana native at the track, earning him his first top 5 and top 10 finishes at the 1.5-mile oval. This achievement surpassed his previous best result of 13th place, which he achieved in 2022 with the now-defunct Stewart Haas Racing team.
Briscoe’s weekend started disappointingly, as he ranked 31st in single-lap speed. The No. 19 Toyota was one of several cars that suffered a flat left-rear tire, which cut the practice session short.
The two-time Cup Series winner was able to improve during Saturday’s qualification session, placing his No. 19 in the 19th starting spot alongside the No. 3 Chevrolet Camaro entry of Austin Dillon. Due to the damage sustained in practice, the No. 19 crew worked on repairs overnight and decided to start the race from the back of the field after making the necessary fixes.
After Briscoe took the green flag for the 400-mile race, the newly signed Joe Gibbs Racing driver fell one lap behind the field when he serviced his Toyota under green midway through the first 80-lap stage, causing a slow pit stop in the process. This put him at a disadvantage for the remainder of Stage 1. However, he managed to get back onto the lead lap and finished 17th in the opening stage.
Briscoe continued to struggle early in Stage 2, remaining stagnant within the top 20 for most of the stage. After a poor restart to begin the stage, he found himself in 17th position when the Stage 2 caution was waved.
Chase Briscoe showed loads of adversity by keeping his head down to finish fourth at Kansas Speedway. (Photo Credit: Sydney Redden | The Podium Finish)
Suddenly, the tide turned in Briscoe’s favor as he began to climb steadily into the top 10. He managed to stay within the top 5 for most of the remainder of the race, successfully navigating through a series of continuous caution periods.
After the final restart occurred with 50 laps remaining, Briscoe kept his head held high and maintained his composure, swinging past Alex Bowman in the late goings of the race, riding in fourth all the way until the end in which saw another dominating performance by the driver of the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro, Kyle Larson.
“Our day was definitely just weird, right?” Said Briscoe in a surprising tone after a tumultuous day for the 30-year-old driver. We were kind of going forward, and we had the green-flag pit stop, and we had a wheel come off or something. Came out probably three-quarters of a straightaway behind the 5 [Kyle Larson], and was able to run him down, pass him, and get back on the lead lap. So I knew my car was pretty good if I could ever get back up there.”
Briscoe discussed how the difficult day transformed into a bright one for the entire No. 19 JGR crew, talking about another mechanical issue that gave vibrations aboard his Toyota for the majority of the second half of the day.
“Then, in the second stage, I had a bad restart, and the car just kind of went away for whatever reason. That whole second stage and the start of the third stage, we made an adjustment, and it came to life. I went from like 18th to 10th on a restart, and then 10th to sixth and just had a bad vibration at the end. I couldn’t even see where I was going, so I was trying to just limp it around.”
With the finish on Sunday, this marks a career-best performance for Briscoe at Kansas Speedway. (Photo Credit: Sydney Redden | The Podium Finish)
The finish also matches Briscoe’s best results of the season from the first 12 races of the 2025 campaign. These results were achieved at the DAYTONA 500 at Daytona International Speedway back in February, as well as at Homestead-Miami Speedway and Bristol Motor Speedway.
Briscoe is currently in 13th place in the points standings as the Cup Series takes a break from awarding points. This break comes during the NASCAR All-Star Race weekend at North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Carolina beginning next Friday, May 16.
