Appeals panel overturns NASCAR ruling, penalty on Chase Briscoe, crew chief

The appeal for Chase Briscoe for a penalty stemming from modifications to his car’s spoiler at the Daytona 500 has been heard. And Briscoe has won his appeal

Briscoe’s appeal was heard by the National Motorsports Appeals Panel. They sided with Briscoe and his team.

Initially, NASCAR handed down a steep penalty for Briscoe. He was docked 100 points, 10 playoff points and was subject to a $100,000 fine. In addition, his crew chief James Small was suspended for four races.

NASCAR put a temporary hold on that suspension while Chase Briscoe’s appeal was being ruled on, so Small was able to join the team in Atlanta and at COTA over the weekend.

But now, with the appeal won, Briscoe will have the 100-point and 10-playoff-point penalties removed and the suspension for Small lifted. The governing body made its ruling after taking a closer look at the part in question.

“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,” the body ruled, per Kelly Crandall.

Regardless, the points penalty from NASCAR was a doozie for Briscoe and affected how he planned to approach races in the future. A 100-point docking was essentially the equivalent of two extremely good races or three better-than-average races, meaning Briscoe was in a steep hole.

Chase Briscoe acknowledged that on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

“I would say this year my approach is way different in general,” Chase Briscoe said. “We should be able to go to the racetrack and contend for wins on a lot more consistent basis. So, you know, my whole approach going into this year was trying to win multiple races and that doesn’t change. The points situation obviously is unfortunate. But I mean, we still just need to go win races at the end of the day.

“That’s what we’re here to do is try to win races and you know, potentially try to win a championship, too. To have a chance to win a championship you need to be winning races, anyway. So, yeah, it doesn’t change the approach at all. I don’t even think from a strategy standpoint or anything, it changes anything. You just go there and try to win the race, and you know, hopefully, our cars are good enough to do that.”

Now, though, with the points restored, it’s a whole new season for Briscoe and his team. They’ll certainly be celebrating, as he goes from 46th in the standings to 14th.