NASCAR fans love a good villain, but they’re aiming at the wrong target when it comes to penalties. Last Sunday’s Circuit of the Americas race has lit the fuse yet again: Austin Cindric got shoved off the track by Ty Dillon, fought back onto the course, and hooked Dillon’s right rear, spinning him. It’s a move that’s sparked suspensions before—think Bubba Wallace hooking Kyle Larson at Vegas in 2022 or Chase Elliott hooking Denny Hamlin at Charlotte in 2023, both on high-speed ovals. But Cindric? Just a fine and points hit. No suspension. Cue the social media meltdown.
Fans, already lukewarm on Cindric despite his clean racing rep, cried foul and demanded consistency. Additionally, some drivers piled on, including Kyle Busch while conveniently forgetting his teammate Austin Dillon right-hooked Denny Hamlin at Richmond Raceway on August 11 of last year, but was not suspended. Dillon’s aggressive run for the win included dumping Joey Logano followed by a right hook on Hamlin’s bumper that spun him up the track. When the dust settled, NASCAR allowed Dillon to retain the race win but issued a points penalty and monetary fine in addition to denying him a playoff berth. They also suspended Dillon’s spotter for yelling, “Wreck him!” on the radio. However, they stopped short of suspending Dillon despite that the infraction was quite clearly a right hook. Whether the denial of a playoff berth was intended as a substitute for a suspension is irrelevant. The point is that NASCAR calls it how the see it, assessing each and every incident on an individual basis.
Their rationale for Cindric’s penalty includes that the right hook happened on a road course, additionally in a slow section of the track, resulting in a situation that was not nearly as dangerous as prior incidents. Moreover, Ty Dillon was able to keep rolling—no caution, no chaos. Compare that to the right hooks of Wallace and Elliott on high-speed ovals, both of which risked bigger wrecks, potential driver injuries, and disruption of the field with a caution. Taking everything into consideration with hooks being illegal, Cindric got dinged—but the penalty fit the scale of the crime, according to NASCAR.
That is precisely the point—the penalties are “according to NASCAR”. Fans torching Cindric—or any other driver for the inconsistency and/or severity of a penalty—are missing the mark. NASCAR is the entity that swings the hammer. Cindric didn’t fine himself. Wallace didn’t suspend himself. Elliott didn’t bench his own car. And Dillon didn’t opt out of the playoffs. The sanctioning body decides, and drivers live with it. Denigrating them on social media is like blaming a quarterback for a ref’s bad call—it’s misplaced rage.
Sure, NASCAR’s consistency can be shaky, with several incidents that manage to skate by while others catch heat. But that’s on the officials, not the drivers. Be mad at a driver for a dirty move; that’s fair. But the penalty? That’s NASCAR’s lane.