"Keep showing favoritism to certain drivers": Fans react as NASCAR cracks down on Chase Briscoe after Daytona 500

NASCAR driver Chase Briscoe was penalized this Wednesday, February 19, 2024, after his #19 Toyota was found in violation of the rules. According to the reports, Briscoe’s car’s spoiler was found in violation of the parameters set by NASCAR.

As per NASCAR, the modification to the spoiler of the #19 entry was found during an inspection at the NASCAR Research & Development Center in Concord, North Carolina. As a result, Briscoe was penalized with 100 regular season and 10 playoff points.

On the other hand, Briscoe’s team, Joe Gibbs Racing, was fined $100,000, lost 100 owner points and 10 playoff points for the same and the #19’s Crew Chief James Small has been suspended for four races.

Chase Briscoe took the pole position at the first race of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series race at the Daytona International Speedway. The 30-year-old finished the race in P4 following the massive crash between Denny Hamlin and Austin Cindric on the penultimate lap.

Motorsports Journalist Jeff Gluck reported Briscoe getting penalized after the Daytona 500 on X and fans have reacted to this.

“Keep it up NASCAR you just keep out doing yourself! Take your crap and stick it where the sun doesn’t shine! Keep showing favoritism to certain drivers!!”, wrote a fan as he responded to Gluck’s tweet.

Another fan commented, “How can they dock @chasebriscoe 100 driver points if they only had one race and he has 33 driver points on the young season?”

“Okay seriously im just asking HTF does he pass prerace inspection and then this. Do we have video of his team doing this during the race? They need to be more transparent like those fake debris cautions. Nascar is fucked up starting in 2025. PK got screwed - not a good start,” wrote another.

Chase Briscoe was awarded 33 points for his P4 finish at the Daytona 500. However, following the penalty, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver sat on negative 67 points and was sent to the back of the championship i.e. 39th in the standings. Fans took a dig at the same.

“Now we all have 67 more points than the 19 team. Insanity!”, wrote a user.

“I am officially 67 points ahead of Chase Briscoe in the Nascar Cup points standings”, mentioned another fan.

A fan commented, “Do we think JGR wins this appeal? Maybe the raw material of the spoiler gave them a loophole? Nascar then adds metal or plastic sleeves to correct it...theory but it could check out”

Following NASCAR’s decision to award the team and the driver with the penalty, Joe Gibbs Racing has decided to appeal the decision, as they released an official statement about the same.

Joe Gibbs Racing’s statement following NASCAR’s decision against Chase Briscoe’s #19 Toyota

As Chase Briscoe and the team were penalized for the spoiler infringement, Joe Gibbs Racing came out and made a statement suggesting they would be appealing the decision. Motorsports reporter Bob Pockrass took to social media platform X and tweeted the statement made by the team, which read:

“The issue in question was caused in the assembly process when bolts used to attach the spoiler base to the deck lid caused the pre-drilled holes to wear due to supplied part interferences.”

As per NASCAR’s report, the spoiler base was found to be modified while JGR appealed that it happened because of a supplier part interference. NASCAR also issued penalties to the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports of Todd Gilliland and the No. 51 Rick Ware Racing of Cody Ware for safety violations.