The press room cackled with laughter as Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell put down his mic to reminisce on what he had just done! Smiling and sighing at the slip-up, the driver quickly tried to do some damage control. But it was far too late. The NASCAR community had already got dits on what everyone was awaiting with bated breath. Safe to say, it served as a much-needed relief for Chase Briscoe fans, ahead of the turmoil-plagued forthcoming silly season.

With Martin Truex Jr bidding farewell to JGR at the end of the 2024 season, many were expecting one of the four drivers from Tony Stewart’s camp to take that spot. But what they didn’t expect was for the confirmation to come so soon. So, naturally, Chase Briscoe had no choice but to come clean on the ordeal.

Chase Briscoe has no regrets as he looks toward a different future

After Christopher Bell, while speaking to the media at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, mistakenly revealed, “I don’t think there really is a leadership role in that aspect, and whenever Chase comes into the car….whenever some…whenever… whenever we have a new driver into the 19 car,” Chase Briscoe directed a sly jab at his future teammate, in an interview with FrontStretch.

Reacting to the hilarious incident, the driver shared, “I still haven’t seen it because I have no signal here. But he texted me right before we went hot lap when he said, ‘Chase, I’m sorry, I messed up really bad’. But I haven’t got to see any of it yet. I can’t get nothing to load. I can’t get a text in or nothing, so I’m sure when I get back after tonight, I’ll get blown up pretty bad. But yeah, typical Christopher.”

After Stewart-Haas Racing announced its plans to call it quits at the end of the 2024 season, the #14 racer found himself hunting for a full-time seat. Especially with his performances following a downward graph, things weren’t looking too good. Notably, the driver has finished in the Top-10 on only two occasions, so far, with a P7 at Phoenix and a P6 at Texas (if we exclude his P7 at North Wilkesboro). To add insult to injury, a Top-5 continues to elude him this year. With the driver market seemingly exploding with options as of late, he found himself in a race against time to prove himself.

In a conversation with Autoweek, the 29-year-old had revealed the difficulty of the situation, saying, “We’ve never really been in that situation where there are this many drivers that are already in the Cup Series looking for a job, and then you also have the normal Xfinity and Truck guys trying to move up, too.” However, what made it even more dire for him, was the situation back at home. With no fixed income other than stock car racing, Briscoe had to make it work!

“I’m just trying to make sure that I’m not left out. I don’t have anything to fall back on. I’m not like some of the other people where they have family business or something like that. With a two-and-a-half-year-old and a wife and then twins on the way, I definitely can’t afford to be left out and not have anything,” he revealed.

But for now, Briscoe can heave a sigh of relief as the community reels with the revelation, with many like Kyle Larson even adding their hilarious take to the matter!

Which Chase? Briscoe or Elliott?

As it turned out, only half of the cat was out of the bag, which gave fans and even Kyle Larson their coveted chances to bring humor to the platform. Since Christopher Bell did not take the last name of the driver in an attempt to rectify his mistake, Chase Elliott’s teammate grabbed the chance to have some fun. He shared Toby Christie’s tweet on X, writing, “Man totally blind sided by this news! Wishing @chaseelliott the best on his new adventure at @JoeGibbsRacing. Have enjoyed you as a teammate! 😂 Good Luck #d19“.

And soon began a social media slugfest, with users looking up other Chase(s) to tag. One fan wrote, “Omg congrats @GarageGuyChase @Chase_Raudman2,” while another congratulated 24-year-old Truck driver Chase Purdy, “Congratulations @chasepurdy12“. Some even brought up an old but similar incident of Kyle Busch, suggesting that maybe it is something in the Gibbs stable. They remarked, “Must be a Gibbs thing, Kyle Busch announced JGR was going to Toyota before it was official 😂”

Back in 2007, rumors suggested JGR was going to switch from Chevrolet to Toyota, after 8 years together (1992-1996, 2003-2007). While the team and its then drivers, Denny Hamlin and Tony Stewart chose to stay tight-lipped, Kyle Busch, slated to join JGR in 2008, after leaving Hendrick Motorsports wasn’t one to follow rules. In a pre-race interview at Auto Club Speedway, the racer blatantly revealed the big news ahead of any official announcements.

As for the ‘Chase hunt’, the comparison did not stop within the NASCAR world. Tom Holland aka Spider-man has a history of revealing Marvel’s information and plans. Thus, fans began to place Holland and Bell on the same side of the scale when it came to being terrible at keeping secrets. A fan wrote, “He’s taking notes from Tom Holland“. Another said, “This is why @MarvelStudios doesn’t tell @TomHolland1996 anything“.

Other fans took the ride away from jokes, as they claimed they already knew it was going to be Briscoe. “Got to be Chase Briscoe…since he’s looking for a ride anyway,” a fan said. Another expressed their happiness, “I could not be happier for @ChaseBriscoe_14! He’s like the only driver in Union County so he’s the only one we get to see out and about on this side of CLT”. 

While Chase Briscoe’s future is secured now, the other three SHR drivers’ future still hangs in the balance. However, we are not expecting any more slip-ups, because the JGR seat is now already taken. How do you think the 2025 season will pan out for the rest of the drivers?