Chase Briscoe’s Daytona 500 seemed like a strong start: in his first race for Joe Gibbs Racing, he took Toyota’s first pole in the Daytona 500, then finished fourth in the race. Things are looking much worse for Briscoe and JGR, now, as NASCAR found illegal modifications to his car’s rear spoiler. The result is staggering loss of both 100 driver and 100 owner points, as well as the loss of 10 playoff points.
Following the penalties, Briscoe now sits at negative 67 points, dead last in the standings. JGR crew chief James Small has been suspended for the next four points-paying Cup races and fined $100,000. He cannot return to the pit box until the March 23 race weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The team will appeal, and this now stands as the biggest points penalty since Stewart-Haas Racing was found to be counterfeiting parts during the 2023 season.
The part in question came from a single supplier, and NASCAR rules state that single supplier parts cannot be modified in any way. The sanctioning body has had zero tolerance for any manipulation of a single-source supplied part, and this week was no different.
Watch: Up To Speed: No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing team levied L2-level penalty after Daytona
The spoiler issue was discovered because Briscoe’s No. 19 Toyota was one of the cars taken back to the R&D Center for further inspection following the Daytona 500. NASCAR also took Austin Cindric’s No. 2 Team Penske Ford was inspected as well, but passed the review.
NASCAR issued points penalties to other drivers and teams following Daytona as well: both the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford driven by Todd Gilliland and the No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Ford of Cody Ware were docked a relatively minor 10 driver and 10 owner points for the same issue — unsecured ballast.
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