NASCAR CUP SERIES: BANK OF AMERICA 400

October 11, 2026

Joe Gibbs

James Small

Press Conference

An Interview with:

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by the winning owner of today's race, coach Joe Gibbs. Second week in a row Chase has taken the victory. Just talk about the, I guess, swing in momentum you've seen amongst his group, whether that be in the shop, at the racetrack, and overall how they've been able to accomplish this feat today.

JOE GIBBS: I think what happens is obviously it's confidence. He's had -- the 19 car has had three weeks in a row. Our pit crew is just outstanding. The last stop was unreal.

So many good things going with that car. Just really proud of the 20, the 11. The 54 got hit there early and broke a piece in the rear end. But just really, really proud of our people, everybody back at the race shop. Tomorrow we hang a banner and get a chance to thank those guys.

But really, our team, our people built our race team. So happy for them.

Of course the sponsors are just -- to have Free Bird on there today, and then I get a chance to call Johnny Morris -- all the way around, everybody knows in our sport how important the sponsors are, it's just a huge deal for us.

Right now I really think the playoffs are going to wind up being exciting for the fans because I think we keep saying, well, this group is going to come out -- who's going to win. But we've had wild things happen so far. I think it'll probably continue the next four races.

Q. Coach, as three of your cars sit right behind Larson in this Chase Championship, I know they're still about 50 points out, but what kind of confidence do you have in these three teams to go close that gap and make a run for this championship?

JOE GIBBS: Yeah, I really think all three teams -- you know, I think if we go all the way back to 2019 when we had four cars that could win, I'm just really thrilled where we are as an organization.

I think we do have three that are sitting there probably 50 to 60 points behind. We don't know what's going to happen.

But hey, with four races to go, all you can ask for in pro sports is to have a chance. I think we have a chance. God has blessed us with some great people that work for us, and I'm just thrilled to be a part of their team.

Q. Coach, I feel like we're watching the same movie that we did late last season when James and Chase really got on a run like this. What have you seen out of them as a pairing and the way they work together that has primed them, it seems like, for these big moments late in the year?

JOE GIBBS: Yeah, when it's crew chief/driver, that is a big deal. We all know that, having been in the sport for a long time. It's hard to get that together where it's really two people can perform like that, because in pro sports, you're constantly facing adversity and success. Those are two things that are hard to handle.

James and Chase, they're opposite ends of the spectrum. But they just really have a way of working together, and it works. I think as odd as it is between the two, it's really a good chemistry.

Yeah, last year, first year with Chase, and it was just outstanding. It's a thrill for us to see him and James get another year here, and where they are is really, really -- it's really important for us.

Q. Throughout your time as both a football coach and a NASCAR owner, you've had to manage personalities, and you kind of touched on what I was going to get to. Two very different personalities between Chase Briscoe and James Small. Have you ever had to have one of those meetings where you had to work on those personalities, or do you just let them handle it themselves?

JOE GIBBS: Actually, those guys kind of handle things themselves. But I would say really out of all the combinations I've worked together, or with, I'd say these two, they're very different.

But I think in some ways maybe that's really good because they have a way of kind of pushing each other.

Q. Coming out of Kansas, Chase said he needed to win five of the next six in order to have a chance at this championship and now he's gone two for two. Does any of that surprise you at all, that he's kind of backing up his talk?

JOE GIBBS: No, I really don't think it surprises me. I just feel like this is -- our sport is really hard. We didn't get off to a real good start. I think this new format that we have for the playoffs, everybody kind of is picking, hey, this group is going to be the one that the champ comes from.

But I think we've kind of seen some wild stuff happen. We start this thing, we see the ninth-place person go to first, we see the tenth go to fourth. So we've got four races left, and this is really going to be interesting because -- I'm thrilled that our cars are somewhere in there at 50 to 60 points or something behind.

But it's going to take a lot because the 5 car is really good.

I wouldn't say, too, that there's not somebody else coming. We've got four left.

Q. Can you expand on your feeling about your collaboration with Toyota because when you came into the sport you came in and you started with Toyota and you have built this relationship. How much have they supported, and are they continuing to support you 100 percent?

JOE GIBBS: Well, thank you for bringing that up. You know, we were honoring Kyle Busch, and what I went back to is one of my all-time memories, greatest memories, is when we got Kyle the first year, we had Toyota for the first year. That combination, they won eight races that year. That's one of the things I'll always remember and cherish.

Toyota has just been a great partner. When you're together for as long as we've been in a pro sport, you go through some tough times. I think that's where real partnerships, you really learn what the partnership is all about.

We have always, when facing any kind of adversity, Toyota has just been a great partner, and we don't focus on, hey, who's responsible. We say, let's fix this. They've really been a great partner for us.

THE MODERATOR: We also have James Small joining us.

Q. To Coach and James, when you saw Christopher Bell running down Chase and then you saw what happened coming off of Turn 4 with that drag race, please explain the emotions that both of you were going through at that particular time.

JOE GIBBS: For me -- let me take it first. That's always when I'm the most nervous, when a couple of our cars are up front because I know how bad Christopher wants to win, how bad Chase wants to win. All four of our guys are that way. They want to win for themselves, their sponsor.

So man, I've got to tell you, it can definitely happen where you get together. I always worry about it. It has happened to us in the past, and it's really -- for me, it's the time that I would say I get my blood pressure and heartbeat gets accelerated for sure.

JAMES SMALL: Yeah, I was like, here we go again. We know how to make it interesting all the time. I'm just glad they checked each other's momentum enough, and we had enough to get across.

Q. Coach, were you watching? Did you turn away or were you watching?

JOE GIBBS: Oh, I was watching. I was watching, yeah.

Q. James, obviously I know these last three races line up very well for you guys, but you also took advantage. What did you see out of Chase in these three races? Was there anything different to maximize, take advantage and do the things that everybody was expecting you to do? Is there something new about Chase, or is this just the Chase that you've seen and you've just been trying to untap for the last year and a half?

JAMES SMALL: Definitely what we've seen and been trying to untap. Every week that's what we're trying to do: Get the most out of him, get the most out of the car.

Last week was a step, and we had a good meeting on Monday and talked about things that we could have done better, especially in that last stage, how we got through traffic, how we managed tires. A lot of little different things.

Today was another step again, especially that last run. If you look back to how we were earlier in the year, I don't think he could have made it live that long. He did a masterful job. The balance was where it needed to be. Just hung on at the end. We had that right front tire unravel. It's halfway gone. That's why our pace kind of plummeted right at the end.

Thankfully he was wise enough to do what he could to fend off Christopher there. But yeah, I'm so proud of him. People want to lay s--- on me or whatever or say I'm hard on him. But it's what it takes.

That's what he wants. That's what he needs. I think we work well together.

Q. I don't see the things that you do; what did you see or what did he do so well today in that last stage that he hadn't been doing earlier this year, and how did you get from that point A to today, to that point where the tires lived, you kept the lead, you got the win, everything worked out?

JAMES SMALL: It's just obviously you're never going to see it, but it's all the behind the scenes work, and it's what we do in the preparation every week and what we talk about, how we prepare, what we have him try to understand looking at other people as well who are exceptional, trying to get to that level and then exceed it. He's been chipping away at it.

Today I feel like even we had adversity there, had a bad restart, the car wasn't as good as it needed to be to start the second stage, and we made some changes, and he hung on there. He didn't get flustered.

The first race here we had a bad restart and then we made some heroic moves that weren't on. That's another thing we talked about.

Like I said, super proud of him. He's doing everything he needs to right now.

Q. This three-race stretch really seemed to favor the Toyotas coming into it. Now that you go into the next four races which are on wildly different tracks, how do you assess yourself compared to the 5 and what it looks like to be the 20 and the 11, which are probably the championship contenders there?

JAMES SMALL: Yeah, I think if we look at Phoenix, we've been good as a group. The last two races we've been really good. We can't seem to keep a right rear tire on it without exploding, but besides that, we've had speed.

The 11 has been good. It's one of the 20's best tracks. If you were going to say there was any weakness, maybe the 5's was Phoenix. But he was exceptional at Gateway as well on the same page. I think it's very even right now. You've still got the Penske cars who have excelled on short tracks, and then Talladega is just an absolute wild card.

It was good for us last year, but it's just going to be about getting through there unscathed.

Q. After Las Vegas you seemed to indicate that to win this championship you guys were going to have to go win races and win out. Now that you've cut the points lead so significantly, it's now 65, you've cut off 58 the last two weeks, do you still feel that mentality of you have to go win or now you can maybe win this championship by just finishing top 5 and up there every week?

JAMES SMALL: No, not really. I think we've got to step on their throats while we can. You've got to keep winning. It's still a big gap.

If they're just consistent and score the points they need to, even if we go and win the next three, it's still very hard to close that gap. Yeah, I'm not going to let off the throttle pedal right now.

Q. James, watching the two of them come off Turn 4, obviously there was contact from Bell. It seemed like he kind of just washed up. Was that all fair, how you saw that coming to the checkered flag?

JAMES SMALL: Oh, yeah, 100 percent. That's just good hard racing. Yeah, you can't get mad about that at all. Thankfully it hurt Christopher a little more than us.

Q. You talked about needing to step on their throat while you can. Do you feel like the next four weeks really set you guys up well to do so? Obviously you talked about Phoenix, but having wins prior at Talladega and running well at Martinsville in the past, do you feel like this is your guys' to go close this gap?

JAMES SMALL: Yeah, definitely. We need to see how we shake up after Phoenix and obviously Talladega. If you looked at any weakness it's Martinsville for us, for Chase. There's a lot of work we need to do there.

And then Homestead. That was early in our life together and we had a really good run there last year. I know that's one of his favorite tracks, and one of my favorite tracks as well.

Yeah, anything's possible, but we're going up against our three teammates and the 5 and everybody else. It's definitely going to be difficult.

Q. Is Chase Briscoe a step-on-someone's-throat kind of guy?

JAMES SMALL: Definitely not (laughter.)

Q. How do you get him there?

JAMES SMALL: Dude, he puts his helmet on and he's silent, but he's like a silent assassin. He may not show it on the outside, but I know deep down he wants to win as bad as us. We've been on his ass to make sure that he hates finishing second as much as we do.

Q. He said that winning, he had to get adjusted that winning at Joe Gibbs is just expected. He said he didn't even see you at the banner celebration on Monday. Does winning two in a row, is that considered exceptional even in the Gibbs world?

JAMES SMALL: Yeah, definitely. I was there as well. He needs to get his eyes tested.

But yeah, any win in this series is good. It's so hard to win a race. The amount that goes into it, all the things you need to execute through a race, all the little pieces that need to come together, it's the hardest thing you'll ever do in your life, trying to win a Cup race.

To win two in a row is special.

Now we've got to go and try and do three.

Q. There was a big crowd behind your box at the end of the race. Is that the most cheerleaders you've ever had at one time there battling for a win?

JAMES SMALL: Yeah, definitely. It's like being at the zoo every time you come to Charlotte. There's people everywhere. A lot of family and friends. Obviously we had a lot of support from all the Free Bird guys. Great to get them their first win on the car as a primary sponsor. Yeah, it was a big day for everybody.

Q. You mentioned Chase learning and adapting. I'm wondering going into that final run how much of a topic of conversation was it about conserving the tires once he got the clean air considering it was the longest green flag run of the day?

JAMES SMALL: Yeah, we honestly didn't have too much. You can tell, we have the data there, and you can have a very good understanding of what he's doing, how much he's overslipping. Just from me watching, we didn't really need to say anything in terms of the management. He was doing a great job. Obviously having the clean air helps as well, all the load on the car.

We could see the 20 starting to struggle a little bit, lose his balance, and we started slowly gapping, gapping, gapping. It looked like it was going to be a nice easy run to the end until we had the tire issue at the end. Yeah, great day overall.