Kaulig Racing driver Ty Dillon has lashed out at NASCAR after Austin Cindric got away with a fine and a points deduction for their clash in the Cup Series race at Circuit of the Americas.
Team Penske’s Cindric right-hooked the #10 Chevrolet of Dillon on lap 4 of the Texas race last week, sending him spinning down the frontstretch. This followed Dillon sending Cindric wide during a previous encounter between the duo.
Dillon’s car sustained heavy damage in the incident, while Cindric managed to continue to finish 25th.
NASCAR deemed 26-year-old Cindric responsible for the collision, but while a precedent has been set for a one-race ban in such crashes, Cindric was only hit with a $50,000 fine and a 50-point penalty.
The stock car racing authority justified the sanction by stating that the crash took place “at a road course with lower speeds to begin with, and the results didn’t even draw a caution flag.”
However, Dillon wasn’t happy with the reasoning, saying: “I was expecting a one-race suspension.
“I think a one-race suspension is what most of us expected. They set a standard a couple of years ago. I’m glad NASCAR handled most of it. I feel somewhat justified but we’ll see.”
Cindric regretted his role in causing the wreck, adding: “I handled myself poorly in the face of adversity and I need to do better.
“I was faced with adversity and have faced a lot of it to start the season, a lot of emotions and I handled them poorly. If faced with them again, I would like to think I would handle it differently.”
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