Martin Truex Jr. and his current crew chief, James Small, share an interesting relationship. After all, the duo have known each other since their days at Furniture Row Motorsports, when Truex Jr. won the now-defunct race team its only championship in 2017. But now with Truex set to retire at the end of the season, Small will guide a new face behind the wheel of Joe Gibbs’ #19 Toyota Camry XSE and that is something the fans haven’t taken in the best of spirits.

After Christopher Bell’s comedic “announcement” at New Hampshire, we knew that the new face is a certain ‘Chase’ (Briscoe). Joe Gibbs confirmed his arrival for the next season in a press conference and also announced that they will retain James Small as crew chief.

Should Chase Briscoe be concerned with James Small as crew chief?

The Aussie V8 Supercars import stepped in as MTJ’s former championship-winning crew chief Cole Pearn’s successor in 2020. And ever since, he has been subject to constant scrutiny from the public. Much of the reason can be attributed to the #19 crew’s continuous pit lane mess-ups, evident throughout the last 4 years, but more so, in what has been laid out as Truex Jr’s ‘farewell tour’ season.

As has been the trend so far this season, the #19 started the USA Today 301 inside the top 10, albeit a rain-canceled qualifying left the rolling grid positions up for anyone’s guess at New Hampshire. MTJ finished inside the top 10 in the first two stages, but then a problematic pit stop left him vulnerable in the middle of the pack at the beginning of Stage 3. About 20 laps after the green fell, the #19 crashed into the outer wall following contact with Brad Keselowski. A few laps later NASCAR called a stop to all on-track action, and what happened next was a two-hour rain delay.

Once the green fell again with 82 laps left to race, MTJ fought back to a commendable P9 spot on Goodyear’s Wet Weather Tires. That was not good enough for Truex fans online who were still livid at yet another contentious ‘James Small call’ following the incident with the #6 which brought out the 7th caution of the race. But those frustrations from the fan are somewhat understandable, considering that even Truex admitted to the media post-Loudon that “it has been a rough four weeks.” His disappointments started with tire issues and a P34 at Gateway early in June, his first finish below the top 30 this season. 

Then came that notorious fuel imbalance at Sonoma, which led to Truex Jr falling out of contention for his first potential race win of the season. Falling only a lap short, when Small was asked what caused the #19 team’s unfortunate fuel-management fallout after the race, he told Frontretch that he had “no idea” about the probable reasons. However, in no way can that negate James Small’s extensive expertise.

After stints as an engineer at Richard Childress Racing and Lead Engineer at Furniture Row Motorsports, Small assumed the same role at Joe Gibbs Racing when Truex joined the organization in 2019. Additionally, as a crew chief/driver pairing starting in 2020, Small and MTJ garnered 8 race wins and even the 2023 Regular Season Championship after the former’s promotion within the ranks of JGR.

Gibbs was adamant that there was no need to change the crew chief in the press conference. But it seems like the fans are not completely aligned with that idea.

“He has a notable weakness,” fans point out James Small’s flaws as crew chief for JGR’s new #19 driver

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Although Cole Pearn accompanied Martin Truex Jr to the #19 car from Furniture Row following its shutdown in 2018, it is unlikely that Briscoe’s current crew chief at Stewart-Haas, Richard Boswell will follow him at JGR.

As Joe Gibbs unveiled his team’s new driver, he explained why he kept faith in James Small. “Well, it’s obvious we’re not changing the crew chief. Our team there, if you take a look at what we’ve done and this year, that car has overcome all kinds of adversity and was again last week and to fight all the way back last week and wind up ninth is a perfect example and we kinda been doing that all year,” Gibbs told the media.

But the saga of James Small has proven to be barely that simple. Owing to the unpredictable nature of Small’s teams, Reddit was abuzz with this recent development. One fan observed that “James Small and optimism do not go in the same sentence,” when making their views known about the whole situation on the NASCAR subreddit. On a thread that caught many eyes, linking to the Twitter update by Pockrass, many others voiced their displeasure over this 2025 pairing waiting in the works.

A certain reply issued a hilariously ominous update that read, “God help you, Chase. GOD. HELP. YOU.” Briscoe himself sounded excited about the prospect of driving for JGR, having inked a multiyear deal with the team. “I’m excited for this opportunity with Joe Gibbs Racing and Bass Pro Shops. From a competition standpoint, JGR is the place to be if you want to go win races week in and week out and to race for the championship every year.”

Briscoe’s optimism isn’t misplaced. JGR have earned seven driver’s championships and over 330 wins across all the major series since 1992. But despite guiding Truex Jr. to eight victories since 2020 and a runner-up finish in the 2021 Championship 4, a title victory eluded Small and his team.

Given the struggles Truex Jr. had Sonoma and New Hampshire, a concerned fan voiced their opinion, writing, “Hope Chase is ready for a pit crew that still can’t figure out how to put wheels on a car.” 

A few others held much more relaxed and balanced perspectives like this one who wrote, “This will show that either James isn’t that bad or that Truex is really that good. I think Briscoe is serviceable but I don’t know that he can carry a team like Truex, yet.”

Despite the challenges, Martin Truex Jr. occupies the fourth spot in the driver’s standings. Although, he is yet to win a race this season; he has had four Top-5 finishes and 8 Top-10 finishes to his name with no DNF’s in the season so far. His #19 also stands at the fourth place in the owner’s standings.

A fan also observed how “he has a notable weakness with strategy,” which is not completely false, based on Martin Truex Jr’s average outings since his last race win at New Hampshire, 36 races ago in the previous season. 

However, Joe Gibbs has shown faith in James Small and even said that they stand a chance to win the championship this year. If JGR can pull that off, it will convince a lot of naysayers about Small continuing in that role for Briscoe. But for the time being, the fans have had their say.