NASCAR’s Chase Briscoe Gets Championship Advice From Hero Tony Stewart

Already locked into NASCAR’s “Championship 4” next weekend at Phoenix Raceway, Chase Briscoe of Joe Gibbs Racing got a text message from three-time NASCAR Cup Series Champion Tony Stewart earlier this week.

Stewart was asking the fellow Indiana driver to give him a call.

Briscoe quickly called him back.

“The only person I have talked to is Tony Stewart and I talked to him last night,” Briscoe said Saturday afternoon at Martinsville Speedway, site Sunday’s Xfinity 500. It’s the final cutoff race of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs heading into the November 2 NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway. “I talked to Tony for 20 minutes. I talked to him out of respect because he texted me to make sure to call him before Phoenix.

“When your hero reaches out wanting to give you advice, you certainly call him back.

“I took from what he said what I could, but Tony and I are two different personalities. What may have worked for him, may not work for me. That was even Tony’s point. He said do what is working for me, so I don’t plan on changing anything for seven or eight months.”

Chase Briscoe And Tony Stewart Are Part Of Indiana Racing Legacy

Both Stewart and Briscoe are Indiana racing stars from the Hoosier State. Stewart is from Columbus, Indiana and Briscoe from Mitchell, Indiana, home of “Original Seven” NASA astronaut Gus Grissom.

Stewart was a former IndyCar Series driver that won the 1997 championship before he jumped to the NASCAR Cup Series, where he won championships in 2002, 2005 and 2011. He also won another one as an owner when his driver, Kevin Harvick, won the NASCAR Cup Series Championship in 2014.

Briscoe drove for Stewart at Stewart Haas Racing from 2021 to 2024. He won two races during that time.

Stewart decided to shut down that team at the end of 2024 and Briscoe moved on to the No. 19 Toyota at Joe Gibbs Racing.

What’s On The Line At Martinsville

Briscoe has emerged this season with three wins including a shot at the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Championship.

Briscoe and Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin are the only two drivers that are locked into NASCAR “Championship 4” because each driver won the first two races of the current Round of 8. Hamlin won at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on October 12, and Briscoe won the YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on October 19.

That means he doesn’t have to participate in the pressure cooker environment that includes six drivers who either have to win at Martinsville to get in or will be the last driver to get in based on points.

Christopher Bell of Joe Gibbs Racing is third in points, 37 above the cutline and Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports is fourth, 36 points ahead of the bump line.

The four drivers that are below the cutline entering Martinsville are William Byron of Hendrick Motorporst, 36 points out, three-time NASCAR Cup Series Champion Joey Logano of Team Penske, 38 out. The final two drivers are even further back, including seventh-place Ryan Blaney, the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Champion who is 47 points out and Chase Elliott of Hendrick Motorsports, 62 points out.

For the drivers below the cutline, they have to win to get in. But if one of those drivers wins the race, then Bell and Larson will have to fight it out for the final position that would go to the highest-finishing driver not locked in by a victory.

If Hamlin, Briscoe or any driver not in the Round of 8 wins, then the final two positions would be based on points.

Chase Briscoe Focuses On The Championship Race

Out of the pressure cooker at Martinsville, he will go into the fire next week at Phoenix.

“That’s nice to not be in the pressure this week,” Briscoe told me Saturday at Martinsville. “Even before the Talladega race, the goal was to not be on the cutline because here, looking at the eight guys, all eight could easily win here at Martinsville and we all run up front all day long. The amount of laps led here during the NextGen era, all eight of us are in the top nine.

“Any one of the eight of us could win and I’m glad I don’t have to be a part of it.

“I want to win Sunday, but I also want to be smart.”

What A Year For Sports In Indiana

So far, it’s been a great sports year for the State of Indiana as the Indiana Pacers were in the NBA Finals before losing to the Oklahoma City Thunder in seven games. The Indianapolis Colts are off to a 6-1 start in the National Football League, and the Indiana University Hoosiers are a powerhouse in college football, ranked No. 2 in the country in the latest Associated Press Poll.

If Briscoe wins the NASCAR Cup Series Championship, he will continue that streak of success in sports in the Hoosier State.

“For us to even have a one-in-four chance of doing that is very special,” Briscoe told me. “Hopefully we can go to Phoenix and do that.

“It’s been a great year. I would love to cap it off with a championship, but I’m just driving racing cars. There is way more to life than winning and losing. It would be great to win a championship, but I could also be working in a factory right now.”

If Briscoe is successful in winning the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Championship, he would be the first driver from Indiana to win the title since Stewart in 2011.