“We Have a Really Great Team!” Failure Is Not an Option for Chase Briscoe and James Small in 2026

No:19 Joe Gibbs Racing team crew chief James Small shared his thoughts on the expectations on Chase Briscoe going into 2026.

“We Have a Really Great Team!” Failure Is Not an Option for Chase Briscoe and James Small in 2026

Chase Briscoe and James Small (Via IMAGO)

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The 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season marked a start of a new era for Joe Gibbs Racing. Chase Briscoe made his debut for the No:19 Toyota team, replacing veteran Martin Truex Jr. who retired at the end 2024 season. He was paired with crew chief James Small, and after a tough start they clicked and finished the year as the second best TRD driver.

Chase Briscoe won three races in 2025, scored 15 top 5s and 19 top 10s establishing himself as one of the most consistent racers in the garage. With an average finish of P12, he scored 5019 points and secured a P3 finish in the championship table, after failing to finish ahead of champion Kyle Larson in the Phoenix season finale.

The year didn’t just mark the redemption of Chase Briscoe, but also crew chief James Small, who was almost on his way out of the team after poor performance calling races for Martin Truex Jr. But now he is more confident that ever and talking about 2026 season, he admitted that the only question they have at the moment is how much successful they can be.

We have a really, really great team. Everybody’s willing to do whatever it takes. It’s a different atmosphere. The morale is naturally a lot higher right now. We can build toward the coming years. So, there’s not really any question of what’s going to happen. It’s how successful can we be?

James Small said via RACER.

Further talking about the point, the star crew chief pointed out that he is getting better in his job every day, getting wiser. He has learned to remain calm and make better decisions, which eventually helps him to be better at his job. The 2025 performance has surely helped him to get over abuse he was getting online for average performance the last season.

It comes with time and experience and every rep helps. It’s (about) trying to remain calmer throughout the races, make better decisions, and have trust in what you’re doing. I think there have been times you make decisions and beat yourself up afterward. You learn from that as well.

James Small asserted earlier.

James Small explains how Chase Briscoe changed the struggling No:19 team

In the same interview, James Small talked about how Chase Briscoe was different compared to the team’s former driver and how that made them different. They were able to win more races, while also remaining incredibly consistent, something his team was always known for.

Chase Briscoe
Chase Briscoe (Via @chasebriscoe/X)

We’ve been incredibly consistent, incredibly fast, and we’ve executed through a number of races really well as a group. It’s a very, very different challenge, obviously, with completely different drivers in how they go about their business.

James Small said.

Further talking about the point, he admitted that having a new driver was huge learning experience and he had to change a lot his working style to adjust with Briscoe. He highlighted that it’s rewarding to see his team’s group effort under new structure is getting then wins.

For me, it was also a huge learning experience in trying to better myself as a crew chief and work with somebody completely different, and change the way we go about doing things. A lot has changed in 12 months, and our process is very different. It’s rewarding to see the group effort of everybody, including Chase, pay dividends on the track with great performance.

James Small added.

The comments from the Joe Gibbs Racing crew chief seems rational and he is right expecting championship worthy performance from the driver in the 2026 season. It would be interesting to see how they can perform under the new playoff format that will be introduced next year.

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