News of Austin Cindric‘s penalty for turning Ty Dillon this past weekend at Circuit of the Americas broke yesterday to quite the mixed bag of opinions, and the Frontstretch team was no different.
Cindric was docked 50 points and fined $50,000 dollars, but no suspension was handed down for the infraction. According to NASCAR, because the cars were moving at a slower pace and there was no severe damage caused to Dillon’s car, Cindric’s infraction did not warrant a full suspension. However, 50 points in nothing to scoff at, and there were concerns that NASCAR broke precedence with its ruling. Thus, enter into this week’s debate in 2-Headed Monster.
Like It or Not, It Makes Sense
Let me start by saying that if you are scratching your head about the penalty NASCAR handed down to Cindric, I don’t blame you. It’s nearly impossible to deny that, once again, NASCAR has created another gray area in the rulebook to be left up to interpretation.
Now, was the penalty brought down on Cindric justifiable? While I have questions of my own, it is understandable and the right amount.
Let’s start with the spin itself. Cindric was pushed wide by Dillon off turn 20 at COTA, which was the nature of his anger. It became pretty clear that Cindric retaliated, hooking Dillon on the frontstretch. To call a right-rear hook “casual” wouldn’t be right, but Cindric’s hook wasn’t as severe as what we saw out of Bubba Wallace at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2022, or Chase Elliott in the 2023 Coca-Cola 600.
Both of those incidents mentioned above occurred on high-speed intermediate tracks. Elliott’s incident with Denny Hamlin specifically occurred where the frontstretch wall has an angle on Charlotte’s D-shaped oval. In Wallace’s case, he chased Kyle Larson all the way down the frontstretch, and he ruined two playoff contenders’ days.
That doesn’t give Cindric an excuse to right-rear hook someone but consider that it was at the lower speeds of a road course, plus a caution did not come out. And while Zane Smith was unfortunately bottled up behind Dillon, the No. 10 did not spin in front of a stampede of oncoming traffic, which helped influence the non-caution call.
While Wallace’s and Elliott’s incidents will be compared to this, another such case of the right-rear hook has happened more recently with a similar result to Cindric’s scenario.
In the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series finale at Phoenix Raceway, Anthony Alfredo was walled by Stefan Parsons while exiting turn 4 during the race. Alfredo then hooked Parsons on the apron of the dogleg, causing Parson’s to make hard contact with the wall.
While Alfredo said the contact was unintentional, NASCAR held him for two laps, then fined him $25,000 and docked him 25 driver points later in the week. Granted, it was the last race of the season, but no suspension was handed down and a smaller fine was given as well.
Ultimately, we can sit here and compare different examples over the years, but here’s where the penalty earns validity. Cindric was docked 50 points, dropping him from 11th to 35th in points. In Elliott’s first race back from suspension, he earned 32 points. Wallace scored 30 in his return, then 15 in the 2022 season finale for a total of 45 points over two races.
What that points to is the fact that a 50-point deduction hits harder points-wise than a one-race suspension most of the time. A driver can earn a maximum of 61 points in a race (now that the fastest lap bonus is in play), but that is not a frequent occurrence. Plus, Cindric is averaging roughly 27 points a race. Based on that average, a 50-point penalty would nearly cover two races of the number of points that the Team Penske driver typically earns. And should NASCAR have suspended him for the Phoenix race, the weight of which penalty is more effective gets even more debatable since he struggles at one-mile tracks, with no top 10s in six starts.
The discussion then pivots to what rules should be left up to interpretation. And while consistency on right-rear hooks would be nice, there are factors that have to be considered — as there were here. In addition to the speeds, the track size and whether there was a caution or not, let’s go back to the fact that Cindric is 35th in points now.
Sure, he could go out and win a race at some point this season. But when it comes to points racing, the No. 2 team has been put in an unfavorable position, especially considering the fact that he would have missed the playoffs had he not won at World Wide Technology Raceway last year.
Did NASCAR just open another can of worms when it comes to consistency and interpretation? Maybe. But when you break down the components that went into this decision, the penalty can be justified.
The Penalty Opens Up a Concerning Possibility for Fans
In sports, penalties are part of the grander scheme. Soccer has its red cards, Hockey has the penalty box, American football has its flags, basketball has its fouls. It’s elementary, right? Or at least it should be.
Then, all eyes turned to NASCAR on Wednesday, and anybody who expected any sort of consistency must have been really, truly shocked.
If sarcasm isn’t your go-to language, then allow me to simplify.
In 2022, Wallace spun Larson at Las Vegas after he and Larson traded some paint just a few moments earlier. The next season, NASCAR ruled that Elliott intentionally spun Hamlin during the Coca-Cola 600, and while the intention of that accident is still debated, the ruling can’t be. Both drivers were suspended for one race, and to spare repeating the details of my esteemed colleague Luken, the penalties made sense.
However, I want to stay in 2022 for a moment, because after Wallace was handed his penalty, NASCAR’s chief operating officer Steve O’Donnell took to the airwaves to discuss the decision-making process that took place in the Wallace incident.
“Our actions are really specific to what took place on the racetrack,” O’Donnell told SiriusXM Speedway host Dave Moody. “And when we look at how that incident occurred, in our minds, really a dangerous act. We thought that was intentional and put other competitors at risk. And as we look at the sport and where we are today and where we want to draw that line going forward, we thought that definitely crossed the line and that’s what we focused on in terms of making this call.”
Nobody is disagreeing with O’Donnell here. That act back in 2022 put other drivers at risk outside of the two that it involved, and per the rules and precedents set by NASCAR, warranted a suspension. Fair enough, roll on. NASCAR drew the line, and that was that.
On Wednesday, that line moved. Sure, it was at lower speeds than on a superspeedway or 1.5-mile track, and maybe Dillon’s car didn’t scrape a wall at 170 miles an hour, but that’s not the point here.
If the line in the sand is the fact that it puts other drivers in danger, then this shouldn’t be a discussion. Ask Todd Gilliland how he feels about it. He was just outside of Dillon when Cindric spun him. Ask Elliott, who was behind the crash, how he felt about it. Ask Zane Smith how he felt about it. I guarantee that while they may not have been as worried about the speed, they sure as hell were worried about Cindric’s actions ending their race.
And if a low-speed spin doesn’t warrant any penalty, what happens the next time someone gets spun intentionally at a short track? Or worse, what happens next time someone gets turned on a road course and causes someone to actually get hurt?
These frustrations are not with Cindric. He’s a professional athlete that let his competitive edge shine through a bit too much, and that’s understandable.
The fans’ frustrations are with NASCAR itself, because they moved the line, and fans are now concerned whether or not they’re going to move it back. – Tanner Marlar
