NASCAR overturns Chase Briscoe’s Daytona 500 penalty after appeal

The National Motorsports Appeals Panel has overturned the L2 penalty levied against Chase Briscoe at NASCAR Cup Series’ season-opening Daytona 500.

NASCAR had initially penalised Briscoe and Joe Gibbs Racing after the #19 Toyota was found to be running with a modified spoiler base in the Daytona International Speedway race on 16 February.

The team was found to be in violation of Section 14.1 of the rulebook, which deals with overall assembled parts, and 14.5.8, which pertains to the spoiler.

NASCAR had stated that the spoiler base is a single-source part and hence cannot be modified.

As part of the sanction, Briscoe was docked 100 driver points and 10 playoff points, while Joe Gibbs Racing lost a further 100 team points and was hit with a $100,000 fine. In addition, crew chief James Small was suspended for four races.

However, a three-member panel comprising Dixon Johnston, Hunter Nickell and Cathy Rice carefully examined the situation and rescinded all penalties on Thursday.

“The panel believes that the elongation of some of the holes on the No. 19 Cup car spoiler base is caused by the process of attaching that specific spoiler base to the rear deck and not modification of the single source part,” it said in a statement.

Team owner Joe Gibbs responded by saying that “we appreciate the process NASCAR has in place that allowed us the opportunity to present our explanation of what led to the penalty issued to our No. 19 team.

He added: “We are thankful for the consideration and ruling by the National Motorsports Appeals Panel. It is obviously great news for our 19 team and everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing. We look forward to focusing on the remainder of our season starting this weekend in Phoenix.”

Briscoe, who joined Joe Gibbs Racing in 2025 from Stewart-Haas Racing, has jumped from 40th to 15th in the standings after the decision. He now has 72 points on board.