Chase Briscoe and Joe Gibbs Racing dodged a season-crushing bullet Wednesday when the National Motorsports Appeals Panel overturned a brutal L2-level penalty from the Daytona 500.
The No. 19 JGR Toyota rolled out strong in the 2025 opener—Briscoe snagged the Busch Light Pole and banked fourth under the lights. Post-race, though, NASCAR’s R&D Center in Concord, North Carolina, flagged a modified spoiler base, a single-source part under Sections 14.1 and 14.5.8 of the Rule Book. No tweaks allowed.
The initial hit was savage: 100 driver points and 10 playoff points stripped from Briscoe, 100 owner points and 10 playoff points yanked from JGR, a $100,000 fine, and a four-race ban for crew chief James Small. Briscoe plummeted to 40th with -28 points.
The panel—Dixon Johnston, Hunter Nickell, Cathy Rice—saw it differently: “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.” Penalty gone.
Joe Gibbs didn’t mince words: “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. 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, now 15th with 72 points, roared on social: “Biggest points day of my career! We’re back! In all seriousness thank you to NASCAR for giving us the option to show our evidence and huge thank you to everyone at (Joe Gibbs Racing) who put in countless hours to put everything together.”
Next up: Phoenix Raceway, Sunday, 3:30 PM ET—FS1, MRN, SiriusXM. Briscoe’s back in the hunt.
