Chase Briscoe did not mince words about his experience at Phoenix.
To say Briscoe has had a rough start to the 2026
NASCAR
Cup Series season is an understatement. The Joe Gibbs Racing star has finished outside the top 30 in three of the first four races, with
Phoenix
marking the second straight race he’s failed to finish.
Considering how mightily he struggled this season, Phoenix could have marked the turnaround he needed. Instead, it was another painful day,
as many drivers also experienced a tire issue throughout the afternoon
.
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On X, the “Rubbin is Racing” account posted a video of Briscoe crashing his Toyota in Stage 2, with the very apt caption: “This hurts to watch.” Replying to the video, the star had a simple four-word retort, writing: “It hurt inside too.”
With the crash knocking him out of the race, Briscoe explained that he hadn’t had an opportunity to look at the onboard in more detail, as another one of his races ended with him outside the top 30. “I’ve only seen the replay one time, it almost looked like something in my left front,” Briscoe said, according to NASCAR.com.
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“When I had my vibration, I told them that I thought it was in the front end. Just par for the course for how this year started. It was another car that was extremely fast, felt like we were certainly going to be in contention for the win and just another failure for us.”
He added that the situation was “definitely frustrating” and that the team’s collective mindset is turning things around at Las Vegas as he looks to have more success.
“All the JGR Toyotas seemed to be strong and marching towards the front, how was the racing in these hot and slick conditions? It was a blast, I was having a lot of fun,” he continued,
according to NBC Sports
.
“We were driving them extra power, it’s only 70 horsepower more, but it feels like way more than that. We were sliding all over the place and it made it a lot of fun. I think Darlington is going to be out of control when we go there with this package. It was a lot of fun, wish I was out there until the end and the JGR cars were certainly good.”
Along with his four-word response, Briscoe posted a message on X about his struggles four races into the season.
“Another race winning speed car with a 37th place finish. Can’t catch a break this season. Get a little luck to go along with all this speed and it’s gonna be a lot of fun. Got a big hole to dig out of but we can do it,”
he posted on social media
after his race day came to an end.
