Following the Daytona 500, NASCAR dropped a massive penalty on Chase Briscoe and Joey Gibbs Racing for failing a post-race inspection. Having finished the race in P4, Briscoe and his team suffered heavy penalties, with the former losing 100 driver points and 10 playoff points while the latter was hit with a $100,000 fine.
Furthermore, JGR also faced a deduction of 100 owner points and 10 playoff points. Crew Chief James Small will additionally serve a four-race suspension.
With NASCAR hitting JGR with a huge penalty following the season opener, we take a look at some more of the sport’s wildest penalties, dating back to the first-ever penalized driver.
The First-Ever NASCAR Penalty Was a Lawsuit
What is now known as the Cup Series was once called the “Strictly Stock Series.” During the first official NASCAR race on June 19, 1949, on a dirt oval track at the Charlotte Speedway, Glenn Dunaway was the first to cross the finish line, but the officials were skeptical of how steady his car was.
Upon investigation, it was found that the car owner had spread the rear suspension, improving the car’s handling. Dunaway was subsequently disqualified and classified as the 33rd finisher.
Unhappy with the ruling, owner Hubert Westmoreland took NASCAR to court and sought $10,000 in damages. However, the court ruled in the sport’s favor, claiming they had the right to enforce their rulebook.
A Life Ban for 2 Drivers
Having honed his racecraft while driving his family’s moonshine in the 1940s to make a career out of it, Curtis Turner was hit with a life ban from NASCAR.
Turner and his business partner, Bruton Smith, asked the Teamsters Union to help them assemble a driver union in hopes of asking for better prizes. But once Bill France Sr. refused, only two drivers — Turner and Tim Flock — remained with the union. Both drivers were subsequently banned for life from the sport.
A Penalty That Killed a Whole Organization
In October 1983, Richard Petty of Petty Enterprises raced to his 198th victory in NASCAR at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Hours later, the authorities disqualified him on two grounds — his engine was too big per the regulations, and he was running left-side tires on the right side.
Docked 104 points and $35,000, the team paid the fine and felt the jolt immediately. They did not have enough money to field two cars, leading to Richard leaving the team while Kyle Petty stayed put.
Kyle would also opt to leave soon after, leading to the team contesting just four events in 1985. The team managed to survive for decades before it was transformed into the Legacy Motor Club.
The Penalty That Changed a Driver’s Career
One of the most consistent drivers in the Cup Series, Mark Martin, was 27 points away from picking up the 1990 championship over Dale Earnhardt.
Penalized for running an illegal carburetor in the second Richmond race, Martin was docked 46 points and hit with a $46,000 fine. When the season ended, Martin finished in P2, 26 points behind the championship winner. Had he not been hit with a penalty, his career could have been very different.
Spingate
One of NASCAR’s biggest scandals, “Spingate,” is the name given to the events that transpired at the 2013 Federated Auto Parts 400 in Richmond.
It was the final qualification race before the playoffs, and three teams — Michael Waltrip Racing (MWR), Team Penske, and Front Row Motorsports (FRM) — colluded to ensure Martin Truex Jr. would make the playoffs.
In reviewing the audio between drivers and crew chiefs, NASCAR discovered that Clint Bowyer spun intentionally to bring out a caution flag. Meanwhile, Brian Vickers had pulled into the pits for no reason. At the time, the two moves put Truex into the playoffs, but not for long.
MWR was hit with a $300,000 fine, and all three drivers were docked 50 points, bumping Truex out of the playoffs. Each crew chief was put on probation, while general manager and vice president Ty Norris earned a suspension.
The Only L3 Penalty in the Modern Era
In NASCAR, there are three levels of penalties one can be hit with. L1 includes penalties for things like failure to meet minimum weight. L2 encompasses bigger infringements, such as modifications to single-sourced parts. And L3 is the highest level of penalty, including acts such as modification of engine performance.
In May 2023, Briscoe’s No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing car was hit with the only L3 penalty in the sport’s modern era. The car was found to be running on illegal parts. NASCAR stated that the car was running on counterfeit NACA ducts that pump air from the engine panel to the rest of the body.
SHR did not appeal the claim, serving a 120-driver and 25-postseason point deduction. Crew chief Johnny Klausmeier was suspended for six races, and the team had to pay a $250,000 fine.