AP – NASCAR on Wednesday penalised Noah Gragson for a deliberate and dangerous crash he caused in the Xfinity Series race at Road America.
Gragson, who turns 24 later this month, was docked 30 points and fined USD35,000 by NASCAR for intentionally crashing into Sage Karam last Saturday at the road course in Wisconsin.
NASCAR cited a rule against “intentionally wrecking another vehicle” and “actions by a NASCAR Member that NASCAR finds to be detrimental to stock car racing or NASCAR”.
Gragson’s swerve into Karam triggered a multicar crash that was so egregious, Gragson was criticised publicly by Dale Earnhardt Jr ahead of the penalty announcement.
The NASCAR Hall of Famer and co-owner of the JR Motorsports team Gragson has represented since 2019 was surprised NASCAR didn’t immediately penalise his driver.
NASCAR said it did not immediately issue the penalty after the 13-car crash because the racing last Saturday on the road course had been so aggressive that it wanted to speak with Gragson and examine his Chevrolet to ensure he had not suffered a mechanical failure.
