NASCAR star DEFIES team orders after huge penalty announcement

Cup Series driver Chase Briscoe has suggested his Joe Gibbs Racing team will not be too happy with him after NASCAR announced the appeal verdict in his penalty case last week.

Briscoe was penalized after the Daytona 500, with NASCAR ruling after an inspection of the No. 19 car that modifications had been made to his spoiler.

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NASCAR ruled that this was a level-two penalty infringement. As a result, several punishments were handed out to both Briscoe and the No. 19 team at JGR, including a 100-point deduction for both Briscoe and JGR and a hefty $100,000 fine.

The team vehemently denied any wrongdoing and, as a result, appealed the decision, the outcome of which was announced on Wednesday.

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Chase Briscoe defies team orders

After the appeal was heard, NASCAR announced that the National Motorsports Appeals Panel had reversed the decision.

And, speaking after the decision, Briscoe revealed that he had celebrated the news by eating chocolate cake. However, he suggested his crew chief, James Small, wouldn't be happy.

"James [Small] is gonna kill me, but I had a chocolate cake," Briscoe admitted to the media.

"I had a lava cake," Briscoe added, before revealing that he also had ice cream on top.

It was all light-hearted, of course, but the reason Small might be disgruntled is because Briscoe was put on a strict diet by his new team at JGR after he joined them from Stewart-Haas heading into the 2025 season.

Last month, the 30-year-old revealed that he had been ordered to lose 15 pounds in total, but that he was not quite there yet.

"So Toyota has you trying to eat some more vegetables?" NASCAR insider Bob Pockrass asked.

"I wouldn't say Toyota as much as JGR," Briscoe replied.

"I think it's like there for Toyota too. I know they have nutritionists and all that, but it's honestly been James trying to get me way down.

"They wanted me down 15 pounds before the season started, I'm down almost ten. I was doing really really good, truthfully, up until about a week and a half ago, so I've been doing way better."

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