Insider doesn't sugarcoat his verdict on NASCAR’s 'inconsistent' $50K penalty to Austin Cindric

Insider Jeff Gluck has called out NASCAR’s ‘inconsistent’ ruling in the wake of Austin Cindric’s penalty. The Team Penske driver found himself in hot water after spinning out Ty Dillon at the Circuit of The Americas, which recently got proven as deliberate.

Cindric and Dillon fiercely fought for the lead, with the latter running in 30th place when the catastrophe struck. The Kaulig Racing driver pushed the Team Penske rival off the track, resulting in their NextGen machines making contact. In retaliation, Cindric right rear hooked Dillon’s #10 Chevrolet, spinning out Dillon on the frontstretch.

And ahead of the Phoenix race, NASCAR deemed Cindric’s action deliberate and violative of the rulebook. However, instead of suspending the #2 Ford driver for the Phoenix weekend, the officials handed the driver a $50000 fine and docked 50 driver points. But this was not the case when Bubba Wallace deliberately wrecked Kyle Larson at the 2022 Las Vegas race.

That said, Gluck voiced concerns over NASCAR’s ruling on Austin Cindric. The insider highlighted that the COTA incident was the officials’ first test to enforce a race suspension that would’ve stripped Cindrc’s playoff points earned in the regular season. But with its ‘inconsistent’ ruling, NASCAR has created confusion about the ‘suspension-worthiness’ of an incident.

“This was the first test of NASCAR's new waiver rule that removes all playoff points for the regular season in the event of a suspension. From my view, NASCAR made an inconsistent ruling that raises more questions about when RR hooks are suspension-worthy and when they aren't,” Gluck Tweeted.

NASCAR chief Mike Forde stated that since the incident occurred on a road course, where the track is tighter than superspeedways, Cindric didn’t receive the same treatment as Wallace after the Larson incident.

---

Ty Dillon blasted Austin Cindric for shattering his COTA run

After taking a year-long break from full-time Cup Series racing, Ty Dillon returned to stock car racing’s pinnacle level with Kaulig Racing. After a P14 at the season-opener Daytona 500 and P29 at the following race in Atlanta, Dillon eyed to post a promising finish on the newly reconfigured 2.3-mile Austin, Texas facility.

However, four laps into the race, Dillon’s desire suffered the brunt of Cindric’s wreck, plummeting the #10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet to a 28th-place finish. He settled in the last in Stage 1, in P37, and climbed to a 29th-place finish in the second stage.

The early incident enraged Dillon, and he didn't hold back from slamming Austin Cindric, as he lashed out on the radio.

"I'm not gonna say anything but you know what I'm thinking. That was some absolute bullshit," Dillon reacted.

Austin Cindric will enter the Phoenix race ranked 34th in the Cup Series standings.