Chase Briscoe Faces Significant Penalty for Daytona 500 Spoiler Violation

Bob Pockrass

FOX NASCAR Insider

Chase Briscoe’s impressive debut weekend with Joe Gibbs Racing took a downturn when NASCAR penalized him with a 100-point deduction and suspended his crew chief, James Small, for four races due to a spoiler base modification.

Briscoe, who secured the pole position and finished in fourth place at the Daytona 500, now faces significant challenges in his quest to qualify for the playoffs unless he clinches victory in one of the remaining 25 regular-season races. Currently, he’s at minus-67 points, trailing the playoff cut by 89 points. If he does manage to reach the playoffs, he will start with a 10-point penalty.

JGR intends to contest the penalty.

“The issue arose during the assembly process when the bolts used to attach the spoiler base to the deck lid caused the pre-drilled holes to wear due to interference from supplied parts,” stated JGR.

Essentially, the team believes that the modifications to the pre-drilled holes were the result of the interactions with other parts they used to secure the spoiler base to the vehicle.

Small can begin his suspension at either this weekend’s race in Atlanta or the following weekend at Circuit of the Americas. Alternatively, if the appeal is not reviewed next week, the team might request a delay on the suspension pending the appeal.

Following the race on Sunday, NASCAR inspected both the Briscoe and Austin Cindric cars—identified as the fastest in single-car qualifying—at its research and development center for further technical evaluation. While NASCAR usually conducts thorough examinations, it does not always take cars back for this detailed analysis.

Upon examining Briscoe’s vehicle, NASCAR discovered that the areas where the spoiler base connects to the deck lid had been modified. Teams are prohibited from altering single-source parts like the spoiler base.

The inspection revealed no issues with Cindric’s car.

Bob Pockrass is a seasoned NASCAR and IndyCar reporter for FOX Sports. With decades of experience covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, he has contributed to ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine, and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.