Joey Logano Penalty Explained: Why Was Team Penske Star Fined by NASCAR?

Joey Logano lost his cool at the end of the NASCAR Cup Series race at the Richmond Raceway after he was spun out by Austin Dillon, in a bid to secure victory on the last lap. As he made his way down the pit road following the incident, the Team Penske star could not control his emotions. He drove up near the #3’s pit box and performed a burnout in front of Dillon’s family. As a result, NASCAR fined him $50,000.

Logano’s anger was understandable but what he did could have put a lot of people in harm’s way. Granted NASCAR should have done a better job of keeping people away from the pit road but the driver did not make any attempt to avoid them. He pointed his car at the people on the pit road and burned his tires. His actions drew an angry reaction from a NASCAR official who seemed quite animated at the time.

“Totally understand the emotion — I get it, I’ve been there a few years back. But you have to respect the fact that we do have people on pit road. Our officials will be there, security will be there. We’ll do a better job on our side to make sure that families and young children and sponsors and of that nature are not on the hot side,” NASCAR’s senior vice president of competition Elton Sawyer said to the media.

Dillon did not get away with it either. NASCAR took the bold decision of awarding him the win but not making him eligible for the playoffs based on that result. As per Sawyer, SMT data showed intent and he believes that the driver had crossed a line during his final lap theatrics.

Fans call for harsher penalties for Logano

A fine of $50,000 might sound hefty but a lot of fans believe that it’s nothing to a man like Joey Logano. He has a net worth of $44 million reportedly and fans do not believe that the penalty is harsh enough for what he did. “Now this idiot could have really hurt someone or worse, 50 K really?” one user asked on X. “Dudes worth millions and gets a 50k for almost hitting 3 small children. Good job NASCAR,” tweeted another.

Some believe that the Team Penske star should have been suspended for putting people’s lives in potential danger. “Fan of Joey, but they should have suspended him or something.  What he did was stupid and reckless,” one user expressed. “Kick him out of the sport. Fine him too,” quipped another. “That’s it??? Money is nothing to these drivers. Figures,” claimed another fan.

The Team Penske star seemed to know that he had crossed the line the moment he got out of his car. Emotions ran high and he just lost is cool. It’s understandable why but putting others in danger, especially children, is never the best way to go about it.