“That is where NASCAR gets itself into a little bit of trouble”: Ty Dillon rips the controversial verdict for failing to meet his ‘expectations’

Ty Dillon slammed NASCAR for the controversial ruling on Team Penske driver Austin Cindric. The drama began when Cindric deliberately right-rear-hooked Dillon's #10 Kaulig Racing Chevy. The move would've drawn a race suspension, but instead of a ban, the officials took a softer stance.

Multiple incidents impacted the recent Cup Series race hosted by Circuit of The Americas. Ross Chastain and Chase Elliott's collision brought the first caution. However, things escalated on Lap 4 when Dillon pushed Cindric's #2 Ford Mustang off the track while battling in 30th place.

As a result, Cindric retaliated. He right-rear hooked Dillon, sending his NextGen machine spinning down the frontstretch. Despite the hard shove, Dillon resumed his run, albeit with smoke from the damage.

Cindric's move happened several times before Chase Elliott's 2023 Coca-Cola 600 race when he right-rear hooked Denny Hamlin. However, unlike the one-race suspension that Elliott received, Cindric was let go with a penalty of $50,000 and a reduction of 50 driver points

NASCAR explained its side. It iterated that since the incident happened on a road course, where speeds are lower, and because Dillon drove without bringing caution, they didn't believe a suspension was necessary.

However, the justification didn't sit well with Ty Dillon. During the race weekend at the Phoenix Raceway, the Kaulig Racing driver voiced his disappointment with the ruling for failing to meet his expectations.

“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,” Ty Dillon said via Frontstretch.

“I think that is where NASCAR gets itself into a little bit of trouble when they try to get into gray areas, deciding what is fast enough. For the past eight years, they do a safety meeting at Daytona and show a video with a car sitting sideways and getting hit at 75 miles per hour; the amount of damage that does is pretty incredible," he added.

As a result of the penalty, Cindric has slipped to P35 and has been sidelined from the provisional playoff divider.

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Austin Cindric makes feelings known after intentionally wrecking Ty Dillon in COTA

Cindric had a good start in 2025, courtesy of the preseason Duel 2 triumph at the Daytona International Speedway, followed by an eighth-place finish at the season-opener Daytona 500. But things went haywire at the Atlanta Motor Speedway.

During the intense closing-lap duel for the lead with Kyle Larson, the Hendrick Motorsports driver put Cindric's Ford into the wall, resulting in multiple misfortunes and a 28th-place finish for the Team Penske driver.

And the COTA incident added salt to his wounds.

Even though Cindric was pissed off at the moment, he later admitted regret for wrecking Ty Dillon. The Team Penske driver explained his retaliation, admitting to his 'poor' handling of his emotions when adversity struck.

“I handled myself poorly in the face of adversity and I need to do better,” Cindric said via Sportsnaut.

“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," he added.

While Cindric is ranked 35th, his rival, Ty Dillon, is up in 24th place.