“Guys Would Settle This in the Garage”: Austin Cindric’s Penalty for Wrecking Fellow NASCAR Driver Leaves Fans Uncertain

Although NASCAR has consistently discouraged intentional wrecking, penalizing, or even suspending drivers who instigate such incidents, there have been times when their decisions between intentional and unintentional actions have seemed inconsistent. This inconsistency was highlighted recently when Austin Cindric was penalized for retaliating against Ty Dillon at COTA, leaving some fans perplexed about the enforcement.

Bob Pockrass from Fox Sports reported that the governing body will dock 50 points and place a $50k fine on the Team Penske driver for the incident at COTA.

In response, fans voiced their opinions on his X post. One fan nostalgically remarked, “Back in the day, guys would settle this in the garage. Now it’s just fines and Twitter debates.”

Another fan expressed frustration with the severity of the decision, saying, “Oh lord… just let them police themselves … nascar is over as we know it.”

Meanwhile, some fans supported NASCAR’s firm stance, with one calling for even stricter consequences, stating, “What a joke. Should be suspended.”

Another agreed with the punishment, noting, “That’s the right call. It was out of character, but it was a rather egregious move made on impulse that could have easily collected other vehicles.”

One supporter, while endorsing the penalty, remarked that it didn’t warrant a suspension, thus applauding NASCAR’s judgment: “I don’t mind this not being a suspension it’s not just “a RiGhT hOoK iS a RiGhT hOoK” we can make judgment calls. This was over a line but not worth a suspension.”

As Cindric began the race at the back of the field, his frustrations soon escalated into an incident that captured the attention of NASCAR officials. After being edged out early in the race by Ty Dillon, Cindric allowed his emotions to flare, and in a moment of heated reaction, he intentionally veered Dillon into the right on the front stretch.

The maneuver led Dillon to crash into the outer wall while other drivers swerved to avoid the fray. In the past, such deliberate actions typically resulted in suspensions, but Cindric managed to evade such a severe repercussion this time.

As per a NASCAR spokesperson, he wasn’t suspended because of the slower pace of the incident, compared to the speeds at intermediate or superspeedway tracks. Hence, it did not cause as much damage to Dillon’s car. Besides, the contact did not even result in a caution.

Also, a suspension did not feel appropriate owing to the new waiver rules which state that the driver who misses even a single race in the regular season due to any other reason but emergency or medical, will lose all playoff points earned during the regular season, and it would have been too severe for what happened on the track.

Overall, the season hasn’t started well for Cindric. He was knocked out of contention while leading on the final lap of the Daytona 500, experienced a similar fate with three laps remaining at Atlanta, and found no reprieve at COTA either.

JGR won the appeal to reverse Chase Briscoe’s penalty

Briscoe faced penalties when his #19 car was taken to NASCAR’s research and development center after the Daytona 500, where officials discovered that the holes in his spoiler base were larger than when initially provided to the team. Consequently, the #19 team was fined a substantial $100,000, and crew chief James Small received a four-race suspension.

Nevertheless, the team contested the ruling and ultimately won their appeal. The adjudicating panel stated:

“The panel believes that the elongation of some of the holes on the No. 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.”

The decision to reverse the points penalty propelled Briscoe from the bottom of the standings to a tie with Carson Hoecvar for P14 place, amassing a total of 72 points.