Chase Briscoe scored his first victory with his new team, Joe Gibbs Racing, and it came not on a NASCAR track but before an appellant panel. On Wednesday, the panel overturned major penalties levied by NASCAR against Briscoe, JGR and its No. 19 Cup Series team.
The National Motorsports Appeals Panel determined that Briscoe’s team did not intentionally modify a standardized part on the No. 19 car after officials inspected the car at NASCAR’s Research and Development Center in North Carolina following Briscoe’s fourth-place finish in last month’s season-opening Daytona 500.
In February, NASCAR significantly penalized Briscoe and the team by docking them a whopping 100 driver and owner points, docking them 10 valuable playoff points, suspending crew chief James Small for four races and fining JGR $100,000.
The points penalties put a stain on Briscoe’s first season with his new team, having joined JGR in the offseason in place of the retiring Martin Truex Jr. Facing a sizable points deficit, Briscoe’s best — and maybe only — chance to qualify for the playoffs was by winning one of the 25 remaining regular-season races. But now that the penalties have been reversed, his path is less arduous.
Since NASCAR shifted to a single-source supplier for its current model car in 2022, it has come down heavily on any team caught modifying parts that are meant to be the same for every team. This was the case with Briscoe’s team, where officials thought JGR had deliberately altered how the spoiler base mounted to the rear deck lid.
On Wednesday, however, the three-member panel decided otherwise.
“The panel believes that the elongation of some of the holes on the number 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,” the panel said in a statement.
Joe Gibbs, owner of Joe Gibbs Racing, praised the outcome on Wednesday.
“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,” Gibbs said. “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.”
What does this mean for Briscoe’s season?
After just one race into his JGR tenure, it looked like Briscoe’s championship hopes were all but doomed. Even if he won a race to make the playoffs despite the 100-point penalty, his lack of playoff points (bonuses earned in the regular season that drivers carry with them to the final 10 races) would have made it difficult to advance very far.
Now that’s all been restored and Briscoe also won’t have to miss any chances t0 build chemistry with Small, who was set to be suspended for four weeks.
“Biggest points day of my career!” Briscoe posted on X. “We’re back!”
He certainly is. Briscoe is now tied for 14th in the standings instead of having negative points entering this weekend’s race at Phoenix, where he scored his first career Cup Series victory in 2022. JGR has already won two straight races, both with Christopher Bell, and Briscoe is expected to win multiple races this season based on his team’s speed.
If Briscoe can deliver and then make a deep playoff run, this appeals panel decision will no doubt be looked upon as a turning point for the No. 19 team’s season. — Jeff Gluck, staff writer
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(Photo: Peter Casey / Imagn Images)
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