Chase Briscoe is no longer last in the NASCAR Cup Series standings after the Appeals Panel overturned L2-level penalties issued to him and the No. 19 team at Joe Gibbs Racing.
The National Motorsports Appeals Panel announced its decision Wednesday afternoon. The panel -- consisting of Mr. Dixon Johnston, Mr. Hunter Nickell, and Ms. Cathy Rice -- heard Joe Gibbs Racing's case and ultimately determined that the team did not violate any rules regarding modification of a single-source part.
The penalties issued after the Daytona 500 said that the team had modified the spoiler section of the No. 19 Toyota Camry XSE. As a result, Briscoe and the team each lost 100 points and 10 playoff points. NASCAR fined JGR $100,000 and suspended crew chief James Small for four races.
Joe Gibbs Racing issued a statement after the penalty and said that it would appeal. The team also said that the issue was in the assembly process and that the "bolts used to attach the spoiler base to the deck lid caused the pre-drilled holes to wear due to supplied part interferences."
The Appeals Panel agreed with this assessment when overturning the penalties.
"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 panel explained in a statement.
With the penalties overturned, Briscoe makes a big leap in the Cup Series standings. He has gone from 46th in the standings to 14th. He is above the playoff cutline after the first three races of the season.
"Biggest points day of my career," Briscoe posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. "We're back! In all seriousness thank you to (NASCAR) for giving us the option to show our evidence and huge thank you to everyone at (Joe Gibbs Racing) who put in countless hours to put everything together."