Kyle Busch calls out NASCAR over Austin Cindric penalty: 'He got off with that one'

NASCAR handed out a significant penalty to Austin Cindric for his right-rear hook on Ty Dillon during this past Sunday’s EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at COTA.

Cindric will lose 50 points and have to pay a $50,000 fine, setting him back considerably early in the season. But it could have been worse; NASCAR could have suspended Cindric. Kyle Busch certainly believes Cindric got off easy, he said Wednesday on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

“I think intent is intent. I do not agree with the call there,” Busch said, via Matt Weaver of Sportsnaut. “Don’t care where it is — Daytona, Martinsville, Watkins Glen and it’s not his first time either. He got off with that one.”

On Lap 4, Dillon pushed Cindric off the track. Cindric then caught up and leaned into the right rear bumper of Dillon, hooking him and causing him to spin into the wall. Both drivers continued on in the race, Cindric finishing 25th and Dillon coming across the start/finish line 28th.

NASCAR insider calls out ‘inconsistent’ ruling on Austin Cindric penalty, cites new waiver rule

As a result of the points penalty, Cindric will drop from 11th in the standings to 34th. But he was not suspended, which would have removed all of his playoff points for the regular season. NASCAR’s new waiver rule states that if a driver needs a waiver for a non-medical reason, they lose all of their playoff points for the entire season. That includes any playoff points a driver has accumulated up to that point and any they earn in the future. The rule applies to suspensions as well.

NASCAR explained that the lack of a suspension was due to the race being on a road course, with lower speeds and tighter confines. The incident also didn’t bring out a caution flag, which helped. Jeff Gluck of The Athletic opined on the issue immediately after the ruling. Gluck said that NASCAR made an “inconsistent ruling” based on its new waiver rule.

“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,” Gluck wrote on X. “From my view, NASCAR made an inconsistent ruling that raises more questions about when RR hooks are suspension-worthy and when they aren’t.”

On3’s Thomas Goldkamp contributed to this article.