Rulebooks are the ultimate judge, jury, and executioner in any form of professional sports. The mandates in them exist to make things black and white, leaving no space for uncertainty. NASCAR has its rulebook as well. However, how seriously it follows the lines in it is a big question. The events that have transpired since the beginning of this season are a testament to that doubt.
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Austin Cindric was levied a fine of $50,000 and docked 50 points for intentionally wrecking Ty Dillon in COTA on Sunday. Such an infraction typically receives a suspension. Nonetheless, officials declared that Cindric would not be suspended since the mistake was committed on a road course, where cars don’t race at high speeds.
Opinions about this decision erupted against NASCAR since the likes of Bubba Wallace and Chase Elliott had been suspended for the same move in earlier seasons. Veteran reporter Jeff Gluck pointed out on his X handle that he just wanted to know what the definite outcome would be when an incident like this occurs on the track.
NASCAR, however, reiterates that each case is unique and that its decisions will vary based on the situation. This effectively creates a large gray area in the sport. Motorsports writer Austin Konenski wrote on X, “The last thing NASCAR needs is more gray areas. Feels like we continue adding to the pile.”
The incidents involving Wallace and Elliott came in Las Vegas (2022) and Charlotte (2023), respectively. NASCAR’s managing director of racing communications, Mike Forde, clarified that those offenses cannot be categorized under the same head as Cindric’s since they were on different track types.
As much fairness as NASCAR wants to bring to the table, how sensible is it to sacrifice consistency? A fan noted, “That would be great. Whatever the rule, let us have some freaking consistency.” Not all sections of the fandom are against the promotion. Some can see the point that it is trying to make.
One comment hit Gluck with a question that went, “If you get caught speeding at 5 over the limit vs 105 over the limit you broke the same law; should the penalty be the same for both? This isn’t that difficult of a concept, Jeff, we levy punishment on a sliding scale based on severity all the time in life.”
If you get caught speeding at 5 over the limit vs 105 over the limit you broke the same law; should the penalty be the same for both? This isn’t that difficult of a concept, Jeff, we levy punishment on a sliding scale based on severity all the time in life.
— John (from Beyond) (@BYNDmetropolis) March 5, 2025
Cindric’s right hook into Dillon’s No. 10 Kaulig Racing car was not as egregious a crash as what Wallace or Elliott did. Many believe that this is reason enough not to punish him as hard as the others were. A fan explained, “I want proportional penalties, and that means factoring in speed & surroundings to consider how reckless the driving was.”
What can be understood from the contrasting opinions on the table?
The bottom line is that people have different definitions of fairness. Some believe that things ought to be black and white based solely on the rule book, while others want the men in charge to assess the situation and deliver a fair verdict regardless of what the book says.
On another front, Chase Briscoe got his Daytona penalty overturned after going to the National Motorsports Appeals Panel. NASCAR had levied an L2-level penalty on him and Joe Gibbs Racing after finding his car’s base spoiler slightly modified. The team made an appeal to the panel claiming that there were no modifications and that the quirk that officials had found was due to a manufacturing whim.
The panel accepted the reasoning and lifted the 100-point deduction, the 10 playoff point deduction, the four-race ban for crew chief James Small, and the other punishments. It is an agreeable fact that NASCAR is not making itself look good with such bad and inconsistent decisions. But does it care about that? The words of Forde answer the question.
He said about the decision to not suspend Cindric, “It may not be the popular call, but when we look at penalties, we do not really care how popular we are. We try to do the right thing here.” What we are left with is the doubt that has always remained in a corner of our thoughts: Can NASCAR’s attempts to play fair based on the situation be termed “inconsistent”?
