Chase Briscoe’s debut season with Joe Gibbs Racing this year turned out to be one of the biggest surprises. He started out as an underdog, and very few expected him to make it all the way to the finale. In fact, even in the finale race itself, he was bet the least on.

But Briscoe showed some genuine championship-caliber play throughout the year. After his initial slump in the season to adjust to the JGR ways, he kept improving race after race post that. His seven poles, the most in the season, showed what he can do with his abilities. So even though his breakthrough season didn’t convert into a debut title, it’s just a matter of time before it will, according to NASCAR veteran Jeff Burton.

Jeff Burton’s bold championship take on Briscoe

Many in the NASCAR community see a lot of hidden potential in the 30-year-old, including Jeff Burton. Speaking on the Inside the Race, he said, “I think, what I hope for him is that he recognizes how good he is. There’s times where he questions how good he is. Tonight was a deposit on a future championship. You got here, you experienced it. I don’t care what they say, they’re all calm, everything’s good. No… You’re not.

“Everything’s nerve-wracking, and now you’ve experienced it, you’ve done that. Now you come back the next time, ‘Okay, I understand what to expect. I know what the week goes like, what the race feels like.’ I think that that experience is extremely valuable.”

Briscoe has now gotten the taste of the big stage. By reaching till Phoenix, he knows what the finale vibe is. That’s what Burton points out. All he needs to do is realize his true potential of what he’s capable of, and then just convert it while experiencing the entire “nerve-wracking” atmosphere that he is going to again, when he reaches there.

Burton added, “If he can keep his perspective with gaining the swagger that his talent deserves, then it’s going to be unreal. That’s what he strikes me as, he strikes me as this, ‘Oh shucks! I’m replaceable.’ I’m like, ‘Nah, if you were, I would have drove. I want to be a race car driver, you have to actually be good at it.'”

Burton is again pointing out how Briscoe often downplays his own talent. He’s too humble, and that can turn into self-doubt quickly, if not handled well. This has been seen in Briscoe’s talks about his racing.

Earlier in September, he said, “I always feel like I’m auditioning, still, every week to a certain extent.” But some confidence had certainly started to show as he added, “I don’t think you can ever say, ‘Oh, yeah, man, I’ve made it.’ But in the same sense, I’ve certainly made it. I never in a million years thought I would race a single Cup Series race…Now, to have four Cup Series wins, yeah, I’ve certainly made it from that standpoint.”

Which is why Burton says if the No. 19 Toyota stays grounded but also develops more confidence like this, he’ll be on some other level very soon. Basically, Burton just wants Briscoe to see the same greatness that he sees in him.

“He keeps coming back from setbacks and when he comes back and is faced with the scenario for the second time, he wins. I promise you, the next time that Chase Briscoe, mark my words, he has a chance to win the championship in any format. Mark him down as the champion, cause that’s what he does,”said Burton.

That pretty much sums it up, the trust and belief that Burton has in Briscoe. He’s seen Briscoe fight his way through every level of racing, turning setbacks into comebacks. He was told he wouldn’t even make it to ARCA. And here he is, not just crossed that hurdle, but also won at Xfinity, and now contending with the Cup elites for the championship.

Briscoe’s never-give-up attitude

The Phoenix finale was a tough pill to swallow for many. It was the toughest for Denny Hamlin, who lost his fifth shot at it, but it was also sad for Briscoe, who started from flat tires twice on Sunday, ultimately finishing 18th after starting from 12th.

Of course, he was bitterly disappointed to lose out on a maiden NASCAR Cup title. However, he had an ‘eventful’ race, filled with multiple tire failures, falling victim to a few himself. But his attitude didn’t change. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver declared, “We never gave up. That’s been the story of my whole career, never giving up. You never know what can change at any point. Felt like we were good enough. We came from the front to the back two or three different times.”

Briscoe admitted that he hoped that everyone would be on equal footing. According to him, he was close to making a move on Championship 4 rival William Byron when his tyre blew. Eventually, the 30-year-old didn’t think much about it and dismissed it as part of racing.

In the end, he was grateful to Joe Gibbs for giving him a chance to compete for more wins and championships like these, and he hopes that 2026 will be kinder. And with Burton’s words for him, plus Briscoe’s own never-give-up attitude, it definitely seems like it’s not long before we see a champion in the No. 19.