NASCAR
Austin Cindric Given Behavioral Penalty, Briscoe Infraction Wiped Away
Despite not seeing a single car turn a lap anywhere, Wednesday, March 5 saw major changes in the NASCAR Cup Series championship. Two Playoff-caliber teams had their seasons drastically impacted in both positive and negative ways.
Flashing back to the Daytona 500, Chase Briscoe’s pole-winning car was initially ruled illegal. Spoiler mounting holes were deemed as illegally modified, incurring a hefty L2 Penalty. Following today’s National Motorsports Appeals Board hearing, this infraction has been overturned. The Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Toyota likewise is rewarded back 100 points, and their $100,000 fine. Crew Chief James Small also returns atop the box this weekend, no longer having to serve a four race suspension.
The appeals panel said in a ruling that “(we) believe that the elongation of some of the holes on the number 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.”
Briscoe did leave COTA still with negative points, trailing the rest of his competitors in the Cup Series standings. Wednesday’s ruling vaults the No. 19 Toyota up to 15th in points. Entering Phoenix, Briscoe is in the provisional Playoff picture with his penalty effectively ruled null and void. This marks a first in the Next Gen era where a parts modification call has been entirely reversed. See a statement from Joe Gibbs Racing below.
On the flip side of this points discussion now lies Austin Cindric. The Penske No. 2 driver has been issued a behavioral penalty after COTA. Early laps in last Sunday’s race saw Cindric racing aggressively for 30th against Ty Dillon. After contact in turn 20 that ran Cindric wide, the 2 shoved Dillon out of the way down the frontstretch. Dillon did make minor wall contact but was able to continue.
As a result of what NASCAR deemed intentional retaliation, Cindric loses 50 points and is fined $50,000. This drops the 2 from 11th to a distant 34th in points. Now trailing the Playoff cut line by 41 points, Cindric is in all but must-win territory to make the postseason. Team Penske does not plan to appeal this NASCAR ruling.
One other penalty did come out of COTA race weekend. Kyle Larson’s team has lost their tire changer and jackman for two races. This was incurred by a right front tire falling off the No. 5 Chevrolet during Sunday’s race.
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo Credits to James Gilbert and Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images
