Carson Hocevar made a lighthearted comment in response to Chase Briscoe’s successful appeal against NASCAR. Briscoe was handed a 100-point penalty after the Daytona 500, but the decision has now been reversed.
Carson Hocevar Reacts to Chase Briscoe’s Appeal Win
NASCAR’s 100-point penalty for Chase Briscoe and the $100,000 fine for Joe Gibbs Racing, issued after the Daytona 500, have been overturned following an appeal.
“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,” the three-member appeal panel said in its statement.
The appeal was heard by a panel consisting of Dixon Johnston, a seasoned motorsports marketing executive, Hunter Nickell, the former president of Speed Channel, and Cathy Rice, former general manager of South Boston Speedway.
Once a final appeal decision is made, NASCAR is unable to challenge. Teams and drivers, however, have the option to challenge an initial appeal.
Briscoe had battled his way to a fourth-place finish in The Great American Race at Daytona International Speedway during the opening weekend of the Cup Series season. However, controversy quickly followed, as NASCAR handed down a series of penalties to the Joe Gibbs Racing team after discovering that the spoiler base on Briscoe’s car violated regulations.
After inspecting Briscoe’s car at its research and development center post-race, NASCAR discovered that the spoiler base mounting holes were larger than the original specifications.
NASCAR maintains a strict policy against alterations to single-sourced parts. So even though there were no concrete evidence that the design gave Briscoe an unfair advantage, NASCAR decided to impose the penalty and fine.
Crew chief James Small was among those penalized, receiving a suspension for the next Cup races. Briscoe himself faced a 100-point driver deduction and a 10-point playoff penalty.
Once the penalty was overturned, Briscoe jumped to 14th in the Cup Series standings with 72 points, moving up from dead last.
Biggest points day of my career! 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 @JoeGibbsRacing who put in countless hours to put everything together. https://t.co/En1viYh3OJ
— Chase Briscoe (@chasebriscoe) March 5, 2025
Briscoe was thrilled to hear the news and took to X to express his feelings.
“Biggest points day of my career! 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 @JoeGibbsRacing who put in countless hours to put everything together.”
The points reversal prompted a humorous response from Spire Motorsports’ Hocevar regarding his own place in the standings.
“Just when I thought I got a free spot, you had to jump up and tie me in points today,” he playfully replied to Briscoe’s post on X.
