Entering the week, Joe Gibbs Racing's Chase Briscoe found himself sitting in last place in the NASCAR Cup Series point standings with negative-28 points, thanks to a 100-point penalty he received after the season-opening Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway.
The penalty was issued as a result of NASCAR discovering that the No. 19 team had made illegal modifications to the spoiler, and modifying a single-source supplier part is considered a cardinal sin in the Next Gen era.
But Joe Gibbs Racing appealed the penalty, and they were confident in their case. As it turns out, no infraction actually occurred, as the National Motorsports Appeals Panel 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.
So Briscoe was given back his 100 points, plus his 10 playoff points, and jumped from 41st to 14th place in the point standings.
However, the qualifying order had already been released for this coming Sunday afternoon's Shriners Children's 500 at Phoenix Raceway, and Briscoe was lined up to qualify 14th.
NASCAR un-penalizes Chase Briscoe (again)
The qualifying metric is based on four variables: car's rank in the owner standings (35%), car's finish in the most recent race (25%), driver's finish in the most recent race (25%), and rank of the driver's fastest lap in the most recent race (15%).
Factoring in his 14th place in the standings, rather than 41st, Briscoe would have actually been lined up to qualify 24th. That 10-spot difference could be a major advantage, given the fact that we generally see quicker speeds from drivers who do their single-lap qualifying runs later in the session.
While NASCAR did not officially publicize a new qualifying order, they deserve props for making this right.
On Saturday, Briscoe went out 24th, not 14th, to do his single-lap qualifying run around the four-turn, 1.022-mile (1.645-kilometer) Avondale, Arizona oval, which is where he earned his first career win from sixth on the grid back in March 2022.
The Shriners Children's 500 is set to be broadcast live on Fox Sports 1 from Phoenix Raceway beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET this Sunday, March 9. Start a free trial of FuboTV today and don't miss any of the action!