Austin Cindric penalized for COTA incident in NASCAR Cup Series race
CONCORD, N.C. — NASCAR penalized Austin Cindric for intentionally wrecking Ty Dillon in the NASCAR Cup Series race at Circuit of the Americas.
NASCAR docked 50 driver points from Cindric, dropping him from 11th to 34th in the Cup Series points standings. They also fined him $50,000.
Cindric hooked Dillon’s right-rear quarter panel, sending him spinning down the frontstretch.
Similar incidents in the past, such as Bubba Wallace wrecking Kyle Larson at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2022 and Chase Elliott wrecking Denny Hamlin at Charlotte Motor Speedway the next year, have led to a one-race suspension. However, NASCAR didn’t suspend him because of these factors:
- Road course with lower speeds and tighter confines
- Incident didn’t lead to a caution
The 50-point penalty is arguably more severe than getting suspended. In 2022, it took Wallace the two races before getting suspended to earn 50 points. Throughout the season, he had only earned 50 or more points once – when he won at Kansas Speedway five weeks before the Las Vegas incident.
In 2023, Elliott never earned more than 49 points in a single race.
Cindric was 13 points above the NASCAR Cup Series playoff cutline. Now, he is 37 points below it.
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Jonathan Fjeld View All
Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.
A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.
Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick's final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen's stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers' stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.
Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com