Last weekend at the Circuit of The Americas, drama dominated the headlines. Despite some spectacularly clean racing from Kyle Busch and Christopher Bell as they battled it out to the checkered flag, an incident early in the race caught everyone’s attention. A blatant wreck involving Kaulig Racing’s Ty Dillon and Roger Penske’s driver, Austin Cindric. In the opening few laps, the two drivers were tussling for position when the battle went a bit too far.
Exiting the last corner, the two drivers traded paint when the Team Penske driver right-hooked Dillon into the wall. Of course, a sanction was incoming because the stunt was intentional, and NASCAR frowns on it. The last two occasions saw drivers hit hard by the governing body. Bubba Wallace was suspended for his move on Kyle Larson in Las Vegas in 2022. This was followed by Chase Elliott doing the same to Denny Hamlin at Charlotte in 2023 and he was promptly suspended too, but Austin Cindric? Well, let’s just say he got off lightly.
Roger Penske’s driver got away with a 50-point deduction and $50,000 fine. This was enough to see the #2 Team Penske driver plummet from a 10th place tie to 35th. Under normal circumstances, Cindric would have been slapped with a suspension for intentionally wrecking a rival. However, there were suggestions that the leniency from NASCAR was because Dillon was able to continue the race as the damage was not severe. Interestingly, Kaulig Racing president Chris Rice debunked the light damage theory.
Chris Rice laments the excessive price he had to pay because of Roger Penske’s man
Chris Rice told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, “Front clip, upright on the right front nose, bumper, hood, right front fender, five to eight positions in the race, whatever points that is. I mean, I could keep going deeper and deeper when you look it. If you go back and watch it, he did hit the wall on the straightaway with the right front.” Despite COTA having no retaining walls like oval tracks, there are barriers on the side, and Dillon slammed into them hard, causing mechanical damage that required time and a lot of resources to fix. How much money you ask? Well, let’s say the figure was way larger than what Austin Cindric was fined.
Rice continued, “He goes down into Turn 1 and the right front wouldn’t turn. So they went a lap down fixing it. It took two whole stages to get that lap back and get back through the field. It’s going to be six figures for sure by the time we fix it, and now it’s out of service and things like that. And I’m not saying it couldn’t have happened any other time, but for that wreck, that’s what it cost.”
A damning cost for a team that isn’t one of the big dogs in NASCAR. Despite his gripe with the situation, Rice also showed empathy toward NASCAR for their decision, saying, “At the end of the day, NASCAR did what they thought they needed to do, and I think it was in line with what they did with Hocevar under caution.” In 2024, Rookie Carson Hocevar punted Harrison Burton into a spin while the field was under caution and received a fine, not suspension, for his actions. Hocevar was fined $50,000 and docked 25 points.
However, Rice didn’t hold back from lamenting the financial burden he faced, alluding that NASCAR should not judge such incident solely on the extent of the damage.“It was still a big number for Kaulig Racing, money-wise… I read yesterday that they said something like it didn’t hurt the car but that was a big number.”
Chris Rice also noted that such behavior from any of his drivers would not be tolerated at any level. “I’ll tell you from a race team side, if my driver does something that I feel like that is, I don’t wanna say unlawful, but you know, shouldn’t happen in NASCAR because we are the biggest sport in America, we are professionals, you know, we take it up with our driver ourself.”
Rice was just one among many NASCAR entities displeased with Roger Penske’s driver’s actions, as people made their opinions clear on Cindric’s antics.
NASCAR stars weigh in on Austin Cindric’s antics.
Kyle Busch, driving the #8 for Richard Childress Racing, the team owned by the grandfather of Ty Dillon’s brother, Austin Dillon, said, “I think intent is intent, I do not agree with the call there. Yeah, I’ve been guilty of it before, and I’ve been sat out of it before. So, maybe it’s all in who your last name is.” Busch was referring to Austin being the son of Team Penske president Tim Cindric and the grandson of former IndyCar team owner and Red Roof Inn founder Jim Trueman.
Dale Jr. provided a contrasting view on the incident. He felt that the punishment was worthy enough, despite the lack of a suspension, saying “NASCAR’s going to say, ‘Hey, we’re going to let y’all race, we’re going to let y’all make bad decisions. We’re going to let Austin Cindric make a bad decision. We’re going to penalize him, he got 50 damn points,’” Junior feels that Cindric dropping to 35th in the standings was harsh enough, as it makes every race that much harder for Roger Penske’s driver. However, not everyone agreed with this sentiment.
Denny Hamlin made his feelings known on his Actions Detrimental podcast. “Right hook’s a right hook,” Hamlin said. “There’s a wall on the right side. That’s my opinion. All right hooks.” Being a victim of one such incident himself, Hamlin’s words come from a place of concern for the drivers more than a vendetta against Austin Cindric.
Despite all these views, it seems like NASCAR is going to stay put with their decision. Chris Rice has accepted that fact, and now all we can do is see how Ty Dillon reacts in Phoenix this weekend. Do you think Dillon will retaliate against Cindric? Let us know in the comments below!
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