“Yeah, I mean I totally accept the penalty and the repercussions that come from my actions.” This is the kind of remorse Bubba Wallace was feeling after right-rearing Kyle Larson at the 2022 Las Vegas race. The repercussion was a one-race suspension. Plain and simple. But clearly, Austin Cindric, after the Circuit of The Americas race, will not feel the same remorse. And almost all his Cup colleagues believe that he should!
So, at COTA, Ty Dillon moved Cindric up, and in retaliation, Cindric right-hooked Dillon. It spun him, and eventually, the #10 ended up against the wall. And while everyone, including Dillon, was not expecting to see Cindric at the Phoenix race, NASCAR has not taken that route. The Penske driver was not suspended but rather had 50 points docked and is now $50,000 poorer than when he started the COTA race. However, NASCAR veterans Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin believe that it wasn’t enough!
Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin lash out at NASCAR
Like Wallace, even Kyle Busch has had to sit out in the past. Remember the 2011 Texas Turck Series race? Busch was parked by NASCAR officials after intentionally crashing into the back of Truck Series title contender Ron Hornaday. That too, under caution. And Busch did this in retaliation after Hornaday raced him too hard for P2 earlier in the race. Back then, Rowdy had said, “I’ve had a lot of time today to sit and reflect and try to put my thoughts into words as best I can.” Read an open apology letter issued by Busch. “I want to sincerely apologize for my actions.”
If you look, it’s like a pattern. Sitting out one race is the worst nightmare for a driver. You lose on the points and, more importantly, you lose on the chance to race for a whole weekend. And that’s enough to create a warning for the driver to never repeat it ever again. And Kyle Busch thinks Cindric should have made to feel the same. “I don’t wanna be in that business if I was NASCAR. Calling Balls and strikes is not who I wanna be if I am a NASCAR official. Intent is intent. Put it in the rulebook. A right hook will result in a one-race suspension. Period.” And technically, Wallace’s incident, Busch’s Texas one, and now Cindric’s. All have retaliation as the common theme. Then why is the penalty different? That’s puzzling to everyone.
Well, Busch thinks it for having a certain surname. “I did it once and maybe twice. Got off with the first time but definitely not the second time. Sat out the whole weekend to more races the second time. So that’s not his first offense… I don’t know if it’s a second offense. Like I said, some guys get off based on who I think their last name is.”
While Busch’s emotions are aimed at the right place, we don’t know if the ‘Cindric’ last name holds that much weight in NASCAR. His father, Tim Cindric, used to be Roger Penske’s right-hand man. But he stepped down and now only looks after the IndyCar operations. So, he’s got no bearing on NASCAR. However, it is worth noting that Busch’s comments may stem from the fact that Ty Dillon’s brother, Aystin Dillon, is Busch’s teammate, adding a spicy storyline to this drama.
Anyway, we know what Busch was trying to get at, so let’s not yank his chain. Meanwhile, even Hamlin believes that the rule should be the same no matter who you are. “You judge intent. I don’t think the result should matter… The intent should matter… Anytime you have a new rule. There is going to be cause and effects to it. Sometimes it’s gonna seem worse than it should be and sometimes it’ll seem like not enough. That’s where you gotta draw a line and say that it doesn’t matter what the result is… A foul is a foul. A flagrant one is a flagrant one.” Hamlin, being a victim of a right rear hook in 2023 from Chase Elliott, was understandably all in for the suspension of Cindric.
Other NASCAR drivers open up on the penalty
Naturally, Ty Dillon was expecting NASCAR to do more. And as we previously spoke about, even Dillion believes this kind of penalty is not enough to create a precedent. “I was expecting a one-race suspicion. I’m glad they did something, though. I think 50 points and $50,000 is probably enough to make him think about doing something like that again. You hope it’s enough, but I think a one-race suspension is what most of us expected.”
The Kaulig Racing driver also sent out a warning to Cindric ahead of the Phoenix race, saying, “To me, they [NASCAR] did a good enough job of making something out of it. But just got to make sure that he knows specifically that he can’t do that again, especially to me.” The words of a man who is evidently fuming at the actions of Austin Cindric. Meanwhile, Mike Forde, NASCAR’s managing director of racing communications, recently made a justification for the leniency.
NASCAR believes that because it was a road course and is relatively slower, it’s probably less dangerous there than a few other places. Hence, an inconsistency in penalties. “In this case, we did feel that it was significantly different than the previous two. And the reasons are it is at a road course with lower speeds to begin with, and the results didn’t even draw a caution flag,” said Mike Forde.
But Chase Briscoe disagrees. “It doesn’t really matter if it’s at Talladega or Martinsville, whatever, the consequence is still the same. The guy who gets right-rear hooked is going to the back, is probably going to crash his car to a certain degree. I definitely think that it doesn’t matter what speed you’re going or how much the car gets torn up. It’s still the intent of doing it.”
However, not everyone is of this opinion. Erik Jones agrees with NASCAR’s reasoning: “If we go to Vegas next week and someone does it, it’s not OK. I think it’s pretty well established where it’s going to be an issue and what’s going to be an issue. I think what NASCAR was saying at COTA, and I agree with them, it was no different than spinning a guy out on a short track.” Basically, what Jones is saying is that this won’t fly next weekend at Phoenix, but at a track like Watkins Glen? A similar case could be made.
