Dale Earnhardt Jr. warns Chase Briscoe over signing with Joe Gibbs Racing 

An SHR driver is rumored to be the closest to signing a deal with JGR.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. warns Chase Briscoe over signing with Joe Gibbs Racing 

Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Chase Briscoe (Via IMAGO)

Martin Truex Jr. ended all the speculation about his future last week ahead of the Iowa Cup race as he announced his retirement from full time racing. His decision leaves one of the most coveted Toyota seats open for taking in 2025 for drivers with championship ambitions.

One of the top names that are rumored to be in line to replace the 2017 Cup champion is Stewart Haas Racing Chase Briscoe. The driver is without a seat for next season as SHR will close down in 2024. This will give the No:14 Ford driver the biggest opportunity of his career to be in contention for the title.

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While it’s a great opportunity to, according to NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. replacing Martin Truex Jr. might come with a cost. He highlighted the prowess of the TRD star and pointed out that there will be instant pressure on Briscoe to deliver from the start. Junior also highlighted that Truex Jr. had a major role on the team consistently being a front runner. 

I think that the 19 car is a championship car, a top-five car. Martin is a really, really good racecar driver, so we’ll see just how much of that he was doing to keep that car up front, right? When that car switches drivers and the performance changes for the better or worse, it acknowledges the ability of the previous driver, right? Either for the better or for worse in public opinion, at least.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. said via Dale Jr. Download.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. once begged Rick Hendrick to sign Martin Truex Jr.

Junior and Truex Jr. have been close since their young days, moreover they were teammates at DEI. Hence Dale Jr. had a clear idea about how good the now JGR driver was. So, when the latter was available in the market when Mark Martin was leaving HMS, he asked Rick Hendrick to sign him. Unfortunately it didn’t happen.

Josh Berry and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Josh Berry and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Via IMAGO)
When I went, I forgot what was happening over at Hendrick, maybe Mark (Martin) was leaving or Mark was going away. I was begging Rick (Hendrick) to hire Martin Truex Jr. to come there, because I thought, ‘Man, Martin Truex Jr., me and him in the same building together would have been awesome,’ and I thought Rick would have loved what Martin could do over there. So that’s how much I think of the guy’s ability.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. said.

Junior knows Martin Truex Jr. up close and understands how good he is, hence why he is showing a concern for Briscoe as a failure with JGR might break his career. It would be interesting to see where Briscoe ends up in the 2025 season.

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