NASCAR penalized driver Chase Briscoe and Joe Gibbs Racing on Wednesday for modifying a spoiler on the No. 19 Toyota at the Daytona 500 last weekend.
Briscoe, who won the pole for the season-opening race and placed fourth behind winner William Byron, lost 100 driver points and 10 playoff points. Briscoe, in his first season with Joe Gibbs Racing, fell from 10th to 39th in the driver standings with negative-67 points.
JGR was fined $100,000 and docked 100 owner points and 10 playoff points. Crew chief James Small was suspended for four races.
NASCAR said modifications to the spoiler were found during inspection at the NASCAR Research & Development Center in Concord, N.C. There was a violation because the spoiler base is a single-source part and cannot be modified.
JGR released a statement later Wednesday indicating it plans to appeal the penalty.
“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,” JGR explained in the statement.
There were other penalties announced Wednesday pertaining to Sunday’s race at Daytona Beach, Fla. The No. 34 Front Row Motorsports team of driver Todd Gilliland and the No. 51 Rick Ware Racing team of driver Cody Ware were penalized 10 driver points and 10 owner points for a safety violation of adding ballast to their cars.
Gilliland drops to 27th in the standings with 10 points and Ware is 35th with two.
