DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Noah Gragson has been fined $35,000 and docked 30 points in the drivers’ standings for rough driving during Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Road America.
NASCAR officials penalized Gragson for violating rulebook Sections 4.4.C&E: NASCAR Member Code of Conduct.
More: Karam: ‘Zero Respect’ For Gragson After Intentional Wreck
JR Motorsports was also assessed a 30-point penalty in the owner standings.
Vice President and co-owner of JR Motorsports, Kelley Earnhardt-Miller, addressed the penalty in a statement released Wednesday afternoon.
“We understand today’s penalty. Noah is a passionate race car driver, and his actions occurred in the heat of the moment,” Earnhardt-Miller said. “Learning how and when to keep his emotions in check is all part of the learning experience.”
The penalty comes after Gragson swerved into the path of fellow competitor Sage Karam, triggering a massive 13-car pileup on lap 25 of the race.
Karam shared his thoughts with SPEED SPORT after the race, stating that Gragson was “crazy” for the way he raced.
“It basically confirmed what I already knew, or what I felt out there on the road,” Karam said. “We were racing hard, just a little bit of rubbing, which is fine. And I thought anything that he did to me before that incident on straightaway there, anything I may have gotten into him was just bumping and racing and hard racing for a top five. I wouldn’t have expected anything less, but then I just never expected to be turned into (on a straightaway). And that’s exactly what happened.”
Gragson was not penalized during the race, however, NASCAR officials called him to the Xfinity Series hauler to discuss the incident after the race.
NASCAR’s vice president of officiating and technical inspection Elton Sawyer appeared on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio and addressed Gragson’s maneuvers at Road America.
“He made a bad decision on lap 25 of a 40-some lap race there,” Sawyer said. “As a championship contender, a bad decision. We did speak to Noah post-race in the Xfinity hauler. He understands our position of what we expect from him going forward.”
JR Motorsports co-owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. voiced his thoughts on the incident during an appearance on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
“I was shocked, to be honest with you, when I saw Noah make that decision. I was just completely shocked and in a bit of a disbelief not only that he made that choice but that he, you know, that it created such an accident and got so many other guys involved,” Earnhardt told SiriusXM NASCAR radio. “So that was kind of, I don’t know, that was tough to watch, really tough, and kind of surprising that NASCAR didn’t penalize him. I think that NASCAR doesn’t want to over officiate the races, but I think in some situations there’s some things that do cross over a line.”
Other penalties handed out by NASCAR on Wednesday, included to the No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet team for Xfinity Series points leader A.J. Allmendinger for a single unsecured lug nut found during the mandatory post-race check.
Allmendinger’s crew chief Bruce Schlicker was fined $5,000 for the penalty, his fourth such fine of the season. Mechanic Sean Kerlin also received an indefinite suspension from NASCAR for violation of Sections 4.1 & 10.1 (Behavioral — SAP).