Briscoe penalty 'not ideal' but doesn't change outlook with JGR
Yesterday at 02:19 PM
Chase Briscoe is focused on the appeal process for the penalty issued to his Joe Gibbs Racing team after the Daytona 500, but he doesn't believe it will ruin his season if it’s unsuccessful.
"It's not ideal, but there's still a chance to appeal," Briscoe said Saturday at Atlanta Motor Speedway. "That's what we're doing now, and just thankful that we even have that opportunity. Hopefully, we'll be able to prevail."
Briscoe's No. 19 team was penalized for modifying a single-sourced supplied part (the spoiler). The violation was found when Briscoe's car was one of those taken for future inspection by the NASCAR R&D Center. The team was docked 100 points, 10 playoff points, and fined $100,000.
Additionally, Briscoe's crew chief, James Small, was suspended for the next four Cup Series races. Since the team is appealing, however, Small is with the team at Atlanta because the suspension is automatically deferred. NASCAR has not announced an appeal date.
Briscoe is three race weekends into his new job with Joe Gibbs Racing. If the appeal is unsuccessful, he and Small will miss four weeks of competition together as they continue to build a relationship.
"Obviously it's not ideal timing-wise, especially at the beginning of the season just as we're trying to understand each other and get to know each other more," Briscoe said. "It would sting, for sure, but also, there is a ton of depth at JGR. I don't know who they would go with, but having Gabehart and all the people they have in place, at least it'll be a little bit easier than some other companies would have if something like that happened.
"But I definitely want James there, especially this early in the season. Just us getting that chemistry going is super important. That's why he's here this week, too."
Gabehart is the competition director at Joe Gibbs Racing. He spent the last six seasons as a Cup Series crew chief with Denny Hamlin.
Briscoe now sits on -67 points after the penalty and -10 playoff points. Although he hopes the appeal goes the team's way, Briscoe doesn't mind having his back against the wall. It is a position he feels he does well when put into.
"I feel like I'm in a must-win situation just starting at JGR," he said. "You need to be winning in JGR stuff. I feel like it's a must-win situation every year for me, just from a career standpoint. I don't really feel like it changes anything…"
What it will change is the margin for error. By being put in a hole – as Briscoe was last year with Stewart-Haas Racing when they were penalized in the summer, and he won his way into the playoffs in the final race of the regular season – there will be no more chances for a mulligan. Briscoe, Small, and the No. 19 team will not be able to get by with a rough season.
"If we don't win the appeal, you've kind of used up your mulligans," Briscoe said. "You kind of have three or four times where you can have a DNF throughout the season and still make the playoffs, but if we don't win the appeal, we've used those up. I don't have any weekends I can have bad.
"That'll definitely change things, but you're still going to have to win. If you want to be a championship contender, you're going to have to win a race anyway to get in the playoffs, and hopefully that's what we can do."
