JGR President Lashes Out at NASCAR’s Unwarranted $100,000 Shutdown With Bold Accusations

Joe Gibbs Racing felt hard done by. Despite Chase Briscoe making a bright start to his 2025 campaign, the No. 19 Toyota driver finds himself with an uphill task to climb. He qualified at pole for the Daytona 500 and ended up fourth at the season-opener, but the joy was short-lived after NASCAR penalized the racer 100 driver points and 10 playoff points for violating modifications being made to the spoiler, which is a single-supplier component.

To make matters worse, the team was also fined a staggering $100,000, and crew chief James Small was suspended for four races. While Joe Gibbs Racing has appealed the verdict, the team’s president, Dave Alpern, has shared his thoughts on the L2 penalty in a candid conversation with Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.

Initially, the news sent shockwaves through the NASCAR community. It was far from the start Chase Briscoe was hoping for, entering a new chapter of his career with Joe Gibbs Racing. According to the sanctioning body, the No. 19 Toyota’s spoiler base had been modified, a change that could allow the part to bend further, thus reducing the drag. This small but significant change could drastically alter the vehicle’s performance, increasing top speed, especially at Daytona International Speedway, as the track’s high banks means that drivers barely have to lift.

However, Joe Gibbs Racing President Dave Alpern has dismissed talks of ‘modification’, revealing, “We screwed the spoiler on, it passed inspection. It raced legally and it passed inspection afterwards. When they took it off, some of the screw holes were offset because when you go to install it, they don’t line up perfectly. To me, that’s not modifying a part. It didn’t make us go faster. We screwed something on and it met the perfect template. Some of the screw holes were offset because the screws didn’t line up perfectly.” For many, there’s a sense almost of history repeating itself.

Back in 2022, NASCAR handed down a massive penalty for Kevin Harvick and his team for modifying a single-source part, resulting in the driver losing 100 driver and owner points, while crew chief Rodney Childers was suspended for four races. In that instance, the sanctioning body had justified its decision by comparing the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing car with other vehicles, pointing out the discrepancy as the reasoning for the harsh verdict.

Accusing NASCAR of following a similar template this time around, Alpern said, “They will articulate that to some degree by showing the variations in the holes, talking to other teams and saying, ‘If you take theirs off, you’re probably going to see the same type of things.’” While Joe Gibbs Racing has filed an appeal, it remains to be seen if the verdict can be overturned. As things stand, Chase Briscoe is 67 points in the negative and a staggering 118 points behind leader Ryan Blaney after just two races. With 25 races to go before the playoff field is decided, will the racer manage to overcome the deficit?

Briscoe remains optimistic despite bleak prospects

Chase Briscoe has already had a topsy-turvy start to his Joe Gibbs Racing career. It’s not the first time the racing driver has been in the middle of a controversy, as in 2023, his No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford was found with a counterfeit part. That resulted in an L3 level penalty, causing him to lose 120 points in the drivers and owners standing, as well as 25 playoff points. The odds are stacked against him, as only 16 verdicts have been overturned since 1999 despite 175 appeals being filed. However, the racer isn’t letting the unfortunate circumstances get him down.

Sharing his thoughts for the season ahead, Briscoe candidly said, “I’m excited for what this opportunity is. You know, I was literally telling Marissa (Briscoe, wife) just last week. Like, in the past, I’ve told myself I can win a Cup championship, but down deep, I’m like, man, the odds are it’s probably not gonna happen, being where I was. Now, I feel like I can legitimately go win a championship. So just from an equipment standpoint, like the expectations and just even the performance, just the small window I’ve had, just Bowman Gray and Daytona, like, it’s been very eye-opening, just what I feel like I’ve been racing against.”

However, questions about the Joe Gibbs Racing driver’s performance after the 2025 AmBetter Health 400 will be raised. Despite showing a lightning-fast pace and finishing fourth at Daytona International Speedway, the 30-year-old couldn’t keep up with that momentum in Atlanta despite both being drafting style tracks. Could the absence of the controversial spoiler have something to do with it? While it’s too soon to rule Briscoe out from a championship triumph, the L2 level penalty has made his prospects of lifting the Bill France Cup at Phoenix Raceway bleaker than ever.