"Right-hook is a bad-bad deal for us" - CARS Tour official Kip Childress gets real on NASCAR's decision over Cindric-Dillon COTA feud

NASCAR drivers Austin Cindric and Ty Dillon clashed at the 2025 EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas. The Team Penske driver was penalized by NASCAR for his actions, which led to the crash. CARS Tour official Kip Childress recently came out to address NASCAR’s decision and the penalty given to Cindric.

CARS Tour Executive Director Kip Childress was featured in a YouTube video uploaded by FOX8 WGHP as he discussed the incident with host Chris Weaver. Childress shared his opinion about the penalty slapped by NASCAR and explained why the association didn't consider a harsher penalty for Austin Cindric. He said,

“It's an instance where Austin could have probably made a little better decision on that. It is unfortunate tha Ty ran him off the racetrack here. All fighting for position as they come off of turn 20, you know, but we, you know, we at the cars tour, we've had this similar situation where, you know, at our level, because our drivers are, you know, they're learning their racecraft, they're learning, you know, how to get around a racetrack.” (10:10 onwards)

“And anytime you see retaliation like that and a right hook is just a bad, bad deal for us. And we actually, we've parked some folks, we've sat some folks out a week, and, you know, for us, that kind of makes a bigger statement than maybe getting in their pocketbook,” Childress added.

Kaulig Racing's Ty Dillion forced Austin Cindric outside the track limits in the early stages of lap one. A whole group of cars was bunched together as the two went side by side into the final corner at COTA. The last corner is a high-speed flowing corner, which led to Dillion drifting wide and pushing Cindric on his outside beyond the track limits. It is to be mentioned that Dillion also had another car on inside.

Austin Cindric was furious with the No.10 driver's move and showed his retaliation by hooking the right rear of Dillon. This caused the Kaulig Racing driver to spin around and sent him towards the back of the grid. NASCAR reviewed the incident after the race and penalized Cindric with a $50,000 fine and 50 championship points.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. slams NASCAR over Austin Cindric’s penalty

Bubba Wallace and Kyle Larson were involved in a similar incident to Austin Cindric and Ty Dillon, where the 23XI Racing driver retaliated against the No.5 driver and slammed his car into the Hendrick Motorsports entry. Wallace received a race suspension for his actions. However, Cindric didn't receive a suspension despite showing retaliation, which confused many, including Dale Earnhardt Jr..

The former stock car driver shared his opinion on the Dirty Mo Media YouTube channel, as he said,

“What’s the point of the penalty? They feel like, in their words, it wasn’t that severe because other cars didn’t run into them. So because they were going slower, because there wasn’t a big crash, it didn’t cause a yellow. That’s the way NASCAR views these things. I don’t agree with it.” (5:53 onwards)

As per NASCAR's ruling, Cindric wasn't penalized harshly because there wasn't any caution, and the incident happened at a relatively slower speed.