Chase Briscoe emphasizes ‘surprise’ after having | Sports News

Joe Gibbs Racing’s newest driver Chase Briscoe avoided having his season start on the worst possible foot after his 100-point, 10 playoff-point penalty was overturned this week. 

Even though the 30-year-old thought changing the original ruling “is just common sense,” he still admitted his reaction to the normally stubborn NASCAR backtracking was “a surprise.” 

Following his fourth-place finish at the Daytona 500, Briscoe had his No. 19 Toyota Camry XSE randomly chosen for inspection by the R&D Department. It was found in violation of Section 14.1 of the sport’s rule book due to his modifier spoiler, which is not allowed to be tweaked.

A three-member panel overruled the decision this week. “The panel believes that the elongation of some of the holes on the No. 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,” it said. 

Speaking ahead of Sunday’s Shriners Children’s 500 in Phoenix, AZ, Briscoe peeled back the curtain on how he’s feeling. “It was a surprise,” he said.

“I think, to all of us that it got completely thrown out just because you don’t normally see it but when you look at all the evidence, I went in there feeling like I didn’t know why we were in trouble. When I was watching the evidence of both sides, I was like, how do we not win this… It’s just common sense. So I’m just glad we had the opportunity to make our case.

“I saw all the social media, right? Everyone was like, ‘Oh, that’s why they won the pole,’ and that had nothing to do with it at all. So yeah, I definitely feel like it legitimizes things a little bit more. I know internally that we were totally legit but it was the optics of it, and I think people look at it with less off a black eye now.”

Briscoe surprised many by finishing making the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs. He was off to a strong start in 2025 (minus the penalty) with his new team Joe Gibbs Racing, and the panel’s ruling brings him back into the top 15 of the standings. 

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“We appreciate the process NASCAR has in place that allowed us the opportunity to present our explanation of what led to the penalty issued to our No. 19 team,” legendary team owner Joe Gibbs said in a statement.

“We are thankful for the consideration and ruling by the National Motorsports Appeals Panel. It is obviously great news for our 19 team and everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing. We look forward to focusing on the remainder of our season starting this weekend in Phoenix.”