After the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season-opening Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway, NASCAR supposedly discovered that the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing team had modified a single-source supplier part at Daytona International Speedway.
NASCAR issued them an L2-level penalty after further inspection at the NASCAR Research & Development Center in Concord, North Carolina revealed that the team had made modifications to the No. 19 Toyota's spoiler, and modifying a single-source supplier part is considered one of the cardinal sins of the Next Gen era.
As a result, Briscoe was docked 100 points, and the No. 19 team was docked 100 points in the owner standings. The team was fined $100,000, and crew chief James Small was suspended for four races.
But Small remained with the team for the following two races at Atlanta Motor Speedway and Circuit of the Americas (COTA), as Joe Gibbs Racing felt they had a good case and planned to appeal. Even if they lost the appeal, they would simply defer the suspension.
As it turns out, Joe Gibbs Racing won the appeal, and the penalty has been fully rescinded.
The panel that reviewed the appeal determined that the elongation of some of the spoiler holes did not actually take place due to a modification. They determined that it took place due to "the process of attaching that specific spoiler base to the rear deck".
Panel on why it overturned Briscoe penalty: “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.” https://t.co/64SdNMfbTX
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) March 5, 2025
In other words, NASCAR made a mistake, and Briscoe and the No. 19 team would have paid for it had the panel not made this discovery.
And so Briscoe, instead of being in last place in the point standings with negative-28 points, is now in a 14th place tie with 72, placing him five points above the playoff cut line.
Briscoe took the pole position for the Daytona 500 and finished in fourth place, the highest for a polesitter since Dale Jarrett won the race in 2000. He finished in 21st at Atlanta and 14th at COTA.
This weekend, NASCAR is set to visit Phoenix Raceway, where Briscoe won in 2022. The Shriners Children's 500 is set to be broadcast live on Fox Sports 1 beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET. Begin a free trial of FuboTV today and don't miss any of the action!