Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) came into the Shriners Children’s 500 at Phoenix Raceway with supreme confidence. Just a day before, Aric Almirola had delivered a thrilling Xfinity Series victory for the team. His dramatic finish gave JGR its record-setting 18th Xfinity win at the track, solidifying its status as the most dominant team at the Desert Mile. Almirola summed up the team’s mindset after the race, saying, “That’s all we care about is winning every time.”

It was a strong statement, one that sent a clear message to every other team in the garage. The Cup Series field knew they had a battle on their hands come Sunday. And with Christopher Bell riding high on two consecutive wins, the pressure was on for JGR to back up their bold claims with another win. But as Sunday unfolded, their aggressive mindset turned against them in the worst way possible. Two of the four drivers found themselves out of the race after a huge wreck piled up multiple cars.

A disastrous end for Ty Gibbs!

It all started on Lap 99 when everyone was preparing for the green flag, as William Byron’s tire issue had caused a caution. On the restart, Ty Gibbs, Chase Briscoe, and Justin Haley all tried to squeeze into a two-car-wide space. It was a disastrous miscalculation. Briscoe’s No. 19 Toyota took a hard hit, setting off a chain reaction that collected Carson Hocevar, Riley Herbst, Brad Keselowski, Cole Custer, Todd Gilliland, Shane van Gisbergen, and Austin Dillon.

The crash was pure carnage. Hocevar, Herbst, and Haley couldn’t drive away, their races ended in the blink of an eye. While Briscoe and Gibbs tried to limp back onto the track, but the damage was too severe. Notably, the replay revealed that Haley hit Gibbs, which sent him towards the wall when Briscoe crushed him from outside to end his Shriners Children’s 500 run. Notably, amid the chaos, Joey Logano managed to sneak through on the inside, while Alex Bowman navigated the mess without damage. But for most drivers in the crash, it was a nightmare scenario.

Notably, after a winless year in 2025, Joe Gibbs Racing changed Ty Gibb’s crew chief. Yet, this hasn’t been a great change as Gibbs continues to struggle. After a P16 finish at the Daytona 500, the No. 54 team has been on a slump with back-to-back disappointing results at Atlanta and COTA. Gibbs couldn’t even finish inside of the top 30 spots.

On the other hand, Chase Briscoe had high hopes when he joined JGR to replace Martin Truex Jr at No.19, but his performance hasn’t been as expected. In the Daytona 500, he finished fourth, but since then, it has been a struggling run. He finished 16th in Atlanta and 26th in COTA. The latest incident only adds to his already struggling run. However, the No.19 driver admitted his fault in the chaos in the post-race presser.

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Chase Briscoe takes the responsibility!

While multiple drivers were involved in the wreck, Chase Briscoe quickly took responsibility for his role in the chaos. In a post-race interview with FS1, he admitted his mistake. “Yeah, that was about the biggest you can crash at Phoenix. It was a big one. Just on that restart, we’re all kind of three-, four-wide, and I just climbed over the 7’s right front, so yeah, unfortunate,” he said. Notably, Briscoe had been running well before the crash, working his way back through the field after dropping to the rear.

He had climbed up to 13th place and was gaining momentum when the incident occurred. However, with the field bunched up on the restart, he found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. He explained how the situation unfolded, admitting that his attempt to avoid a car created the domino effect. “I got myself in a bad spot. I was probably trying to fade a little more left, just knowing that the 77 was on my right rear and climbed over the 7’s right front,” he added.

While Briscoe acknowledged the mistake, he remained focused on moving forward. “It’s unfortunate, but try to learn from it and not do that again. On to Vegas.” With the next race on the horizon, Briscoe and his #19 team will need to regroup and find a way to turn their Phoenix race nightmare into motivation for the rest of the season. They will be looking at the No.20 team, which won three consecutive races and is dominating the ongoing season.