NASCAR will not penalize Austin Cindric for Gateway incident
Austin Cindric will not be penalized for a late-race incident in the NASCAR Cup Series race Sunday at Gateway.
Elton Sawyer, NASCAR’s VP of Competition, appeared on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. Sawyer said officials reviewed the incident and “deemed it as hard racing.”
Entering turn one on lap 220, Cindric went three-wide with Austin Dillon to his left and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. to his right.
Stenhouse appeared to move down slightly, Cindric reacted and Dillon moved up. That caused Cindric to clip Dillon’s right-rear quarter panel and sent him into Stenhouse.
The wreck knocked Dillon and Stenhouse out of the race. Meanwhile, Cindric finished 13th.
Some industry members, including Denny Hamlin, pointed out Cindric’s SMT data at the time of the incident. This comes as NASCAR suspended Chase Elliott after an independent review of SMT data also publicly published by Hamlin himself after Elliott wrecked him in the Coca-Cola 600.
After NASCAR said they won’t penalize Austin Cindric, he issued this statement and video on Twitter:
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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