Was Austin Cindric’s penalty for spinning Ty Dillon too much, not enough, or just right?
Kevin Nix: I’m OK with it. On-track incidents are subject to case-by-case evaluations, and Austin Cindric hooked Ty Dillon in one of the slower sections of Circuit of the Americas during the NASCAR Cup Series race. In some ways, the 50-point penalty is almost worse than a one-race suspension. The only major difference is that Cindric would have lost his playoff waiver had he been suspended, but the end result is still him being outside the top 30 in the standings. He’s almost in must-win territory already.
Aaron Bearden: This one’s tricky. On paper, it seemed obvious to issue a one-race suspension, but I can see how the unique circumstances changed NASCAR’s judgment on this one. I’d prefer consistency but don’t have strong feelings either direction. I just hope NASCAR keeps that same energy when a similar circumstance inevitably plays out down the road.
Christopher Hansen: When I watched a replay, I thought for sure there was going to be at minimum a one-race suspension. In the past, NASCAR has suspended both Chase Elliott and Bubba Wallace for right-hooking Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson, respectively. In this instance, NASCAR should’ve put its foot down that right-hooking another driver, no matter if it’s a road course or a 1.5-mile track, is dangerous, and there will be consequences that follow. NASCAR should’ve given Cindric a one-race suspension.
James Krause: In this case, it’s just right. The end result of the incident does matter. While Wallace’s wrecking of Larson and Elliott’s crash with Hamlin ended the race for all participants, Dillon was able to continue on after being dumped. This should be handled on a case-by-case matter. It’s one thing to spin a guy on lap four of a road course. It’s another to wreck a guy while racing for the win like Austin Dillon did last season. Every scenario has different factors in play, and not taking all of them into account does a disservice to the week-by-week product.
Jake Altmayer: NASCAR made the right decision. While some may take issue with NASCAR race communications director Mike Forde’s explanation that the incident occurred at a much lower speed than previous right-rear hook maneuvers and that Dillon was able to continue on in the race, he has a point. These kinds of incidents do need to be judged individually. When you compare what happened to the incident between Wallace and Larson at Las Vegas Motor Speedway a few years ago, it’s pretty clear there is a drastic difference in both the level of speed and danger involved, despite the intent being the same. In addition, the 50-point point penalty that NASCAR issued Cindric and his team is pretty severe in itself, as it drops Cindric from 11th to 35th in the standings and very well could put him in a must-win situation based on his recent performance. NASCAR sent a clear enough message.
Should COTA stay on the NASCAR schedule, and if not, which track should replace it?
Mike Neff: The racing this past weekend was pretty compelling, but it wasn’t anything extraordinary. We have seen what Road America offers, and that would be a great track to take the place of COTA.
Bearden: COTA is a quality venue in a tourist-friendly location, and the short course made for compelling racing. It makes all the sense in the world for NASCAR to keep going there — though the Midwesterner in me wouldn’t mind a return to Road America instead.
Logan Kendall: Last weekend’s COTA race was the best show NASCAR has had at the track since the exciting race and finish in 2022. I loved the new layout. NASCAR should come back in 2026.
Altmayer: COTA should stay. What we saw last weekend on the shorter layout proved that the track can put on an exciting and compelling race. With NASCAR and Goodyear seemingly making progress in improving the Next Gen car on road courses, I’m not too concerned about the amount of them currently on the schedule, and COTA in particular is a great test of driver skill and versatility.
Nix: It should come back with the current layout becoming permanent. I was not sold on COTA remaining before this year’s race, but last weekend was the best road course race of the Next Gen era. The battle at the end was exactly what NASCAR should be all about, and the layout promotes that type of clean racing. The course is the right mix of speed and precision to fit these stock cars really well.
JR Motorsports teammates Carson Kvapil and Connor Zilisch raced each other hard in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at COTA. Was it a one-time deal, or a sign of trouble brewing at JRM?
Krause: One-time deal. Actually, I was very impressed with how both guys dealt with it. Carson Kvapil didn’t seem all that worked up over being raced hard, while Connor Zilisch was apologetic about damaging his teammate. It showed how mature both are for their ages and experience levels. The on-track battle just came down to the two best drivers and cars battling for their first win of the year. I can’t imagine Kvapil will hold it against Zilisch, nor do I think Zilisch will race his teammates like this every week.
Hansen: The battle doesn’t show trouble brewing. Zilisch had the fastest car the entire weekend. Not even a penalty for pitting with pit road closed early in the race was going to hold him back for long. However, if he continues to rough up his teammates for race wins, it could be a rough go for Zilisch over the course of the season.
Bearden: There shouldn’t be any trouble brewing at JRM. Kvapil and Zilisch are two of the more promising prospects to roll through the Xfinity Series in recent years. If they’re smart, they’ll push each other to be better instead of feuding. But they’re both young and trying to prove themselves, so there’s always a chance this goes in the wrong direction.
Neff: Trouble brewing? That is exactly what you want to see from your drivers. It was hard but it was clean. Years ago, Darrell Waltrip and Neil Bonnett went at each other hard while both driving for Junior Johnson. Don’t forget, Lee Petty protested Richard Petty in a race. The Team Penske drivers have gone at one another hard for years. As long as the drivers don’t wreck each other, it is exactly what we want.
Nix: It was hard racing between two young teammates. There was no issue with the racing at all. The line should be no wrecking teammates, and both Kvapil and Zilisch stuck to that line. Dale Earnhardt Jr. does not want team orders, and I imagine he was a very happy (albeit nervous) car owner while that battle was happening.
Kendall: I don’t think much of what happened between Zilisch and Kvapil. They are both great young drivers at a top team in the Xfinity Series. Naturally, they will find themselves at the front battling each other a lot in the future, If anything serious started to spring up between the two, the Earnhardts would step in to ease tensions.
No driver has won three races in a row in the Next Gen era. Will Christopher Bell be the first to do it at Phoenix?
Altmayer: If you asked me at the start of the season which track Christopher Bell would score his first win of the season at, I would have said Phoenix. Bell has almost always shown great speed at the shorter flat tracks on the schedule. Phoenix is no exception, as he won the spring race there last year and led the most laps in the fall, outrunning the four championship contenders for much of the race. While winning three races in a row has become a tall task in this era of parity, Bell will have a great shot to make history this weekend and get his third consecutive win of the season at Phoenix.
Kendall: With Phoenix being one of Bell’s best tracks, I certainly give him a good chance at it. Like all races, there is so much that could go wrong for a driver, so it is never certain, but Bell could easily get it done.
Hansen: Bell performed exceptionally well at the short flat tracks in 2024, winning at Phoenix and New Hampshire Motor Speedway while nearly triumphing at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway. Bell was the driver to beat in Phoenix last spring, winning the second stage on his way to winning the race. He’ll have challengers like Blaney, Joey Logano and Larson, but Bell will go three wins in a row this weekend in Phoenix.
Krause: Nope. Penske will come out with a win this weekend. Blaney has basically done everything but win at Phoenix; he’s due. Logano has a pair of wins there so he’ll be in the mix, and Cindric would be happy to get some of his points back from COTA. Bell is my third pick behind Blaney and Logano.
Neff: Can he? Absolutely. Will he? Most likely not. The current product on the track is just so incredibly equal between most of the drivers in the field, so it will be tremendously difficult for him to pull it off. He certainly can, but it is highly unlikely.
Kevin Nix has been with Frontstretch since February 2023. Hailing from Gilbert, Arizona, his dream is to be in the NASCAR media sphere full-time. He is a video assistant, working on the back end to streamline video and audio quality of all at-track interviews. Nix also writes about news every Monday for the site.
Nix graduated with a Master's Degree in Sports Journalism from ASU's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication in Phoenix, Arizona. He also has bachelor's degrees in Communications and Political Science. In his downtime, he likes to read, play video games and take walks in the Arizona weather - when it's not too hot.
Aaron Bearden is a Frontstretch alumnus who’s come back home as the site’s Short Track Editor. When he isn’t working with our grassroots writers, he can be found talking about racing on his Morning Warmup newsletter, pestering his wife/dog or convincing himself the Indiana Pacers can win an NBA title.
James Krause joined Frontstretch in March 2024 as a contributor. Krause was born and raised in Illinois and graduated from Northern Illinois University. He currently works in La Crosse, Wisconsin as a local sports reporter, including local short track racing. Outside of racing, Krause loves to keep up with football, music, anime and video games.
What is it that Mike Neff doesn’t do? The writer, radio contributor and racetrack announcer coordinates the site’s local short track coverage, hitting up Saturday Night Specials across the country while tracking the sport’s future racing stars. The writer for our signature Cup post-race column, Thinkin’ Out Loud (Mondays) also sits down with Cup crew chiefs to talk shop every Friday with Tech Talk. Mike announces several shows each year for the Good Guys Rod and Custom Association. He also pops up everywhere from PRN Pit Reporters and the Press Box with Alan Smothers to SIRIUS XM Radio. He has announced at tracks all over the Southeast, starting at Millbridge Speedway. He's also announced at East Lincoln Speedway, Concord Speedway, Tri-County Speedway, Caraway Speedway, and Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Logan Kendall joined the Frontstretch team in 2025 as the Tuesday News Writer and fills in other roles as needed. He resides in the Finger Lakes region of New York and spends his free time writing as a hobby creatively and is a self published author.
Logan can be found on X @LoganKendall48
Jake Altmayer joined the Frontstretch team in 2025, assisting as a news writer and contributing to other weekly columns and articles, such as Friday Faceoff and Xfinity Breakdown. A 2024 graduate of DePaul University. Altmayer has closely followed NASCAR's national series (Cup, Xfinity and Trucks) for nearly a decade and has attended over a dozen races over the course of that time. In his free time, he enjoys cycling, spending time with his loved ones, and listening to his favorite band, the Beach Boys.
This COTA race was great, keep it on the schedule.
The only thing i don’t like about Road America is the huge track length. There would be not enough laps, and the cautions take forever.