NASCAR Cup Series Championship contender Chase Briscoe doesn't believe teammates are as important in modern NASCAR, with the Joe Gibbs Racing star competing against Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell. JGR has three drivers - Hamlin, Bell, and Briscoe - still in contention to win the Cup Series Championship in the final two races of the 2026 season.

There are three of the seven possible future champions, with defending title holder Kyle Larson currently leading Hamlin by 73 points. The Cup Series heads to Martinsville this weekend before the season finale next week at Homestead-Miami.

Yet, ahead of crucial races, Championship contender Briscoe has revealed that he doesn't believe that teammates are as important in modern NASCAR as they were in previous eras. The 31-year-old says data can tell him a great deal about how to tackle tracks compared to seeking advice from the likes of Hamlin, who has a proven track record.

"One thing about the Cup Series now is with all the data that we have, I can kind of go see any driver at any race track that they're really good at and have a pretty good understanding of kind of how they get around there," Briscoe said.

"I think in today's world of Cup racing it doesn't matter as much now who's your teammate. Even when I was at SHR (Stewart-Haas Racing) I could see how Denny Hamlin drove the race track. I could see his throttle, his steering, all those things."

Briscoe did, however, acknowledge that competition meetings with his Toyota teammates are valuable, helping him understand what works at tracks where Hamlin, Bell and Ty Gibbs have performed well. "I think that's the biggest advantage," Briscoe said.

However, he also highlighted a potential drawback: replicating his teammates' success can be difficult when their driving styles differ.

"You try to mold everything based off them and their success, and you know naturally you do drive a little bit different than them," he added.

Simulators have become an increasingly important tool for race preparation. However, Briscoe admitted they are not without their limitations.

He revealed that he spent almost 400 laps in the simulator on Wednesday to find the right rhythm for Martinsville, but acknowledged that the experience can only go so far.

"No matter how good it is, it still is never real life," Briscoe said. "Some of the feel you have in the sim, it's hard to replicate how it'll actually feels in real life, just the timing of things is a little bit off in the sim."