After the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season-opening Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway, NASCAR took the pole-winning No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota of Chase Briscoe back to the Research & Development Center in Concord, North Carolina and discovered what they believed to be illegal modifications to the spoiler.
Modifying a single-source supplier part is one of the cardinal sins of the Next Gen era, so NASCAR dropped the hammer on the No. 19 just one race into the year, fining the team $100,000, docking them 100 points and 10 playoff points in the owner standings, docking Briscoe 100 points and 10 playoff points in the driver standings, and suspending crew chief James Small for four races.
But Joe Gibbs Racing appealed, and they were confident in their case from the start. They did not back down, with Small even remaining atop the pit box for the next two races at Atlanta Motor Speedway and Circuit of the Americas. Even if it didn't work out, they'd simply defer his suspension.
The National Motorsports Appeals Panel ended up overturning the penalty. They determined that the elongation of the spoiler holes took place due to "the process of attaching that specific spoiler base to the rear deck", rather than an illegal modification.
Other teams should sit up and take notice: the appeals process works, and NASCAR is not always right.
NASCAR felt they were in position to make a statement. And in doing so, they completely overstepped their boundaries in a way that teams need to remember for a very long time.
It will be interesting to see if NASCAR accepts the reasoning for the penalty being overturned or if they double down on being wrong. Either way, this is a lesson to all teams. If you didn't actually cheat and NASCAR accuses you of cheating, don't be afraid to challenge it, because the system works.
We saw something similar unfold in 2023.
NASCAR penalized all four Hendrick Motorsports teams for unapproved parts modifications relating to the hood louvers at Phoenix Raceway. The hood louvers were confiscated after practice, and all four cars passed technical inspection. None of them raced with illegal parts, and William Byron went on to win the race.
Among the penalties were 100-point deductions in the point standings. NASCAR was displeased when an appeals panel overturned that portion of the penalty, even though the illegal parts were not used in the actual race and therefore the penalty should have never reached that point anyway.
But sometimes NASCAR persists after they've been outdone.
After this decision was made, the next race took place at Richmond Raceway. Was it a coincidence that NASCAR picked two Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolets to inspect post-race and found greenhouse violations on both, resulting in 60-point penalties?
When NASCAR has a bone to pick with someone, they tend not to let go. Look no further than the fact that the antitrust lawsuit involving 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports is not only still going, but has now resulted in NASCAR issuing needless threats to the sport's other 13 teams as well.
Did someone say monopoly?
But I digress.
Sure, where there's a grey area, teams are going to try to find leeway and take advantage. That has always been true. But the Briscoe appeal shows that if a team hasn't actually cheated, NASCAR should not get away with handing down ridiculous penalties that could completely alter the playoff picture. For the sake of the sport's integrity, everybody else should take notice.