“That one’s gonna sting for a while…”
For the second straight year, Chase Briscoe will see his name listed right below Shane Van Gisbergen’s when looking at results for the NASCAR Cup Series’ annual trip to Sonoma Raceway. Last season, that result was rewarding for Briscoe, but fast forward 11 months, and the mood is very different in the camp of the No. 19 team.
In 2025, Briscoe didn’t have anything for Shane Van Gisbergen – other than being able to hang with the three-time Supercars champion for a corner or two after the restarts. But this year was different. The Mitchell, Indiana-native had real pace, and when the tires were worn down at the end of the run, the No. 19 Columbia Bank Toyota Camry XSE was quicker than Van Gisbergen, the driver who has dominated so many road course events since debuting on the scene in 2023.
But, when pushing at ten-tenths to chase down the driver of the No. 97 Red Bull Chevrolet in the final laps of Sunday’s event, there was one noticeable mistake (which Briscoe later confirmed was nearly a big accident) that ultimately cost the 31-year-old a chance at taking the victory, as a massive bobble in Turn 1 with four laps remaining cost him a full second on the racetrack.
Briscoe only lost the race by 0.357 seconds.
“I was better,” Briscoe said after the race. “I just messed up with three or four to go getting into [Turn 1]. I don’t know. I didn’t time my downshift right and about wrecked. I lost a ton of ground and was able to run him back down, but if I didn’t make that mistake, I truthfully, probably win the race. That one is going to sting for a while. Trying to beat him would just be a big accomplishment. Proud of our Columbia Bank Toyota group. That one stings. That is a tough one.”
While there is obvious disappointment in falling short of the team’s first win of 2026, James Small, crew chief of the No. 19, praised Briscoe for being able to take the fight to Shane Van Gisbergen, who, with his win Sunday, becomes the second winningest road course racer of all-time in the Cup Series.
“He did an excellent job; he progressively got better as the day went on, managing his tires, and you know, the last stage of the race, he did an exceptional job, especially after that last green-flag cycle.” Small told Fronstretch. “Been harping on him, you know, just trying to get him to learn from Shane [Van Gisbergen] because he’s the master at that, one of the best in the world, and I really think we outshone him in that respect.”
In a sophomore season with Joe Gibbs Racing that has seen Briscoe have his fair share of bad luck and on-track struggles, while teammate Denny Hamlin racks up the victories, Sunday’s Toyota Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway matched his best result of 2026, which came in February at EchoPark Speedway.
With just eight races remaining until the beginning of “The Chase” (all of which are on ovals), the focus for Briscoe and crew chief James Small continues to be maximizing the team’s points position, as they look to repeat what was an effective championship run last November, making the Championship 4.
Leaving Sonoma and heading to the mile-and-a-half Chicagoland Speedway, Briscoe sits 11th in the NASCAR Cup Series standings, just behind teammate Christopher Bell.
