NASCAR Fines But Will NOT Suspend Austin Cindric for Incident at COTA
What’s Happening? NASCAR has fined and penalized Austin Cindric for intentionally wrecking Ty Dillon on the front stretch at Circuit of…
NASCAR’s first short track race of the season is in the books. Both the Xfinity and Cup Series races had numerous storylines and great finishes. Regardless, both races had their fair share of drivers who walked away, only hoping to improve this weekend in Las Vegas. Here are the biggest losers from NASCAR’s Spring race at Phoenix.
Justin Allgaier put together one of his career-best outings at Phoenix Saturday night. The veteran driver led 130 laps, won the Xfinity fastest lap, and stage two. However, despite his stellar drive, Allgaier walked away seemingly empty-handed that evening.
As the No. 7 drove off into the Arizona sunset, a late race caution flag stopped Allgaier’s march to victory. The driver of the No. 7 was unable to regain the lead on the restart and found himself a witness, rather than a participant, in the race’s narrow finish.
2025 was supposed to be the official debut season for NASCAR on the CW. While the broadcast has been received moderately well, there have been some complaints from NASCAR fans. For example, some are still confused about the CW App integration. This has included issues like the in-app exclusivity of practice and qualifying and races being available on TV only.
In rare cases, some fans had complained about the races being cut early in their local markets for other sports. This came to a head Saturday night when Peachtree TV, the CW affiliate in Atlanta, cut to a commercial as drivers took the white flag. The affiliate did not return to Phoenix, opting for that evening’s Atlanta Hawks game. Ultimately, a major market of fans missed out on one of the best Xfinity Series finishes in recent history.
Ty Gibbs had a hot start to the 2024 season. Though he fell off as the year went on, this start was good enough to make the 2024 playoffs. Yet, since making the playoffs, Gibbs’s performance has slowly fallen to a career-low. Since Oct. 6, 2024, the fall race at Talladega, Gibbs has just one top-20 finish.
Entering Phoenix, Gibbs had finished no better than 16th and had only finished on the lead lap twice in the eight races of this poor stretch. Sunday, in Phoenix, Gibbs would, once again, fail to break the top-20, finishing 25th. To compound this, NASCAR on FOX displayed a brutal graphic specifically highlighting Gibbs’ poor stretch.
Bad luck was not in Spire Motorsports’ plans entering Phoenix. The team, once a backmarker in the NASCAR Cup Series, has continued to improve year over year. This year, with a revamped lineup, looks to be a legitimate playoff contender in the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season.
Through three races, all three cars have had speed, and, led by reigning Sunoco Rookie of the Year Carson Hocevar, has shown consistent race speed. The team backed this up with a stellar qualifying performance Saturday, with all three cars starting in the top ten. However, two of their cars, the No. 7 and No. 77, would find themselves out of the race early, finishing 34th and 36th, while Michael McDowell brought home his No. 71 in 27th.
Ty Dillon had a rather frustrating weekend in Austin at Circuit of the America. Not only did he struggle to find speed, but he had his entire race derailed early on after Austin Cindric intentionally wrecked him. To add insult to injury, Cindric would not be suspended by NASCAR for this action, something that, though the sport justified, did not follow precedent.
That being said, thanks to luck and strategy, Dillon found his No. 10 in place to win Sunday afternoon in Phoenix. Dillon kept the car clean all afternoon while his team held onto its two sets of the faster option tires. Dillon made massive gains when he used his first set and, with a late race caution, went in for his last set. However, all this work and planning came to an unfortunate end when Dillon got caught speeding on pit road. In turn, the No. 10 did not win, coming home a disappointing 16th.
What’s Happening? NASCAR has fined and penalized Austin Cindric for intentionally wrecking Ty Dillon on the front stretch at Circuit of…
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