Austin Cindric was fined $50,000 and docked 50 championship points after an incident with Ty Dillon in the NASCAR Cup Series race at Circuit of the Americas last weekend, NASCAR revealed March 5 in its penalty report.
Cindric’s contact with Dillon, in which his No. 2 right-hooked Dillon’s No. 10 into the frontstretch wall, was deemed intentional by NASCAR, earning him the penalty.
The penalty drops Cindric from 11th in points down to 34th post-COTA.
Meanwhile, Kyle Larson‘s team was hit hard with a penalty for a loose wheel that came off the No. 5 following a pit stop at COTA
Larson’s jackman (Brandon Johnson) and front tire changer (Blaine Anderson) were issued two-race suspensions.
Larson finished 32nd after serving a two-lap penalty for losing the tire on the racing surface, while Cindric wound up 25th.
He should have been parked for 1 race like Wallace and Elliott was. Nascar is too inconsistent on their penalties like this.