HAMPTON, Ga. >> A massive fine left Chase Briscoe facing a huge points deficit heading into Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Even so, Briscoe insists he feels no new pressure. He says he already felt an urgency to win this week because those are the expectations at Joe Gibbs Racing, his new NASCAR home.

“I mean, I feel like I’m in a must-win situation just starting at JGR,” Briscoe said Saturday. “Like you need to be winning at JGR. ... So yeah, I don’t feel like it changes anything from that standpoint.”

Ryan Blaney won the pole on Saturday for Sunday’s race. Two other Team Penske drivers, Austin Cindric and Joey Logano, will start second and fourth, respectively.

“Hopefully the first stage you can control but it’s not going to stay that way the whole race,” Blaney said of the potential for the teammates to help each other.

Briscoe won the pole for last week’s Daytona 500 and then finished fourth before NASCAR announced on Wednesday its inspection found Briscoe used a modified spoiler on the No. 19 Toyota in time trials. Joe Gibbs Racing was docked 100 driver/owner points and 10 playoff points and fined $100,000. Also, crew chief James Small was suspended for four races.

Small is still coordinating Briscoe’s plan for Sunday’s race as the team appeals the devastating penalties. Briscoe was left with negative 67 points and dropped from 10th to 39th in the standings.

“You know, if we don’t win the appeal, you’ve kind of used up your mulligans,” Briscoe said.

Briscoe acknowledged “I was bummed” on Wednesday before realizing he had to approach the Atlanta race with the same goal for his No. 19 Toyota.

William Byron surged from ninth on the final lap of overtime to win the Daytona 500, giving the Hendrick Motorsports driver a repeat win in the sport’s biggest race.

Daniel Suarez won in Atlanta last February, edging Blaney and Kyle Busch in Atlanta’s closest finish. Suarez beat Blaney by only 0.003 seconds, the narrowest margin at any 1.5-mile track.

Logano won Atlanta’s second race last year in the opener of the NASCAR playoffs..

Hendrick drivers aim for 3 straight wins

Chase Elliott, who won in Atlanta, his home track, in 2022, opened this season by winning the Clash. Byron will start 16th, Kyle Larson will be 17th and Elliott 19th as Hendrick Motorsports drivers will be looking for a third straight win to launch the season.

The last year a team won the Clash and the first two points races was in 1997 when Hendrick Motorsports’ Jeff Gordon won the first three races.