Bazzana Bananza at the Corner!
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NASCAR has fined Ryan Preece $50,000 and stripped him of 25 driver points for spinning Ty Gibbs into the wall during the Wurth 400. RFK Racing is appealing the penalties assessed against Preece.
NASCAR Defends Preece Penalty as RFK AppealsIcon Sportswire - Getty Images
RFK Racing will appeal the penalties NASCAR assessed Ryan Preece for an incident between him and Ty Gibbs at Texas Motor Speedway in Sundayâs Wurth 400.
âWe appreciate the opportunity to share our findings with the National Motorsports Appeals Panel at the appropriate time,â RFK Racing said in a statement released Thursday evening. âAdditionally, our organization respectfully embraces the forum provided by NASCAR to present our case.â
Tuesday evening, NASCAR assessed Preece a $50,000 fine and the loss of 25 driver points for spinning Gibbs into the third-turn wall on lap 101 of the 267-lap race. The incident eliminated Gibbs from the race and relegated him to a 36th-place finish in the 38-car field. Preece finished 14th.
NASCAR Cup Series Managing Director Brad Moran says NASCAR issued the penalty after reviewing audio, video and SMT data.
âThis was very similar to the same penalty that was handed out to Denny Hamlin a few years back with Ross Chastain,â Moran said Wednesday on SiriusXMâs The Morning Drive.
âWe get reports throughout the entire event. Itâs not uncommon that we would hear long before the incident happened, some of the conversations that were being had. Once we reviewed everything⊠it would have been pretty hard for us (not) to say that was a little bit of aggressive racing.â
Prior to Preeceâs contact with Gibbs, he said on his two-way radio, âWhen I get to the 54 (Gibbs), Iâm done with him. (Bleep) idiot! ⊠I canât stand when idiots like him have fast race cars that they can do stupid (bleep) and get away with it!â
After Gibbs spun, as he headed to pit road, he said over his radio, âIâll get him (Preece) another time.â
James Gilbert - Getty Images
NASCAR fined Ryan Preece $50,000 and deducted 25 driver points for spinning Ty Gibbs into the wall during the Wurth 400.
RFK Racing is appealing to present their findings and challenge the penalties assessed against Ryan Preece.
During the Wurth 400, Ryan Preece spun Ty Gibbs into the third-turn wall, which eliminated Gibbs from the race.
Ty Gibbs finished in 36th place out of 38 cars after being eliminated from the race due to the incident with Ryan Preece.
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The Preece/Gibbs incident wasnât the only one that caught NASCARâs attention. Headed for the white flag, there was a door banging incident between Kyle Busch and John Hunter Nemechek that sent Nemechek into the wall. Both finished the race and within one position of each other. Busch finished 20th and Nemechek 21st. Moran said no penalties were assessed in that incident after everything was reviewed because it was determined Buschâs car was difficult to turn because of damage sustained when his Chevrolet hit the outside wall.
âThey went down into turn three on the last lap and everything we looked at we felt we could not issue a penalty on all the information we had,â Moran said.
Moran said the carâs toe links will bend when hitting the wall like Buschâs did and that makes the car a âhandful.â
âGoing into the corner for the first time with a damaged car, we took that as part of the information that led us not to do the penalty on the eight car (Busch),â Moran said.
Moran said NASCAR would have a discussion with Busch and Nemechek at Watkins Glen prior to this weekendâs race. He said they wanted to make sure everything was good with both drivers so something larger didnât occur that would force NASCAR to get involved.
Moran says he knows people believe if a penalty is issued for one incident, it should be assessed for the other, but thatâs not the way NASCAR operates.
âWe look at every incident individually,â said Moran, who noted audio, video and data was used in the Busch/Nemechek incident.
In Saturdayâs NASCAR OâReilly Auto Parts Series race, Mason Maggio and Austin Green tangled and spun in turn two. After the caution period began, Maggio restarted his car, pulled up the track in front of an emergency vehicle and nearly hit the pace car. The pace car driver took evasive action to avoid the collision. Moran said NASCAR met with Maggio and his spotter after that race.