Several penalties were recently thrown out by NASCAR right after the Texas weekend; however, it wasn’t what anyone expected. Kyle Busch seems to be running on a cloud of luck, as he managed to walk free, while another driver, in a similar incident, was fined heavily.

RFK driver faces massive fine after contact with Joe Gibbs’ grandson

Ryan Preece was seemingly not having the best day at the Texas Motor Speedway, and shortly afterwards, his Ford was shaken as Ty Gibbs’ rough driving threatened him. This eventually led to a massive meltdown on the team radio for Preece against Gibbs. And moments later, something more interesting happened.

Gibbs spun around and hit the wall, ending his race. Initially, many thought that this was yet another Texas incident, following the many ‘bumpy’ situations drivers had been all weekend. However, it was interesting to note that Preece was racing right behind him at the time. While the latter claimed that he made no contact whatsoever, the onboard cams from other cars told a different story.

After analyzing the entire situation, NASCAR disrupted the silence that followed the race, imposing a massive $50,000 fine on Preece and further docking him 25 driver points.

“We try to look at prior instances,” NASCAR’s Mike Forde said. “The deliberation on how we wanted to handle this one, was the Denny Hamlin penalty. When he wrecks Ross Chastain at Phoenix a few years ago, and then the next day, talked about it on his podcast, later got the exact same penalty. So, he [Preece] said what he said, and then he did what he said. And so, in our view, it was intentionally wrecking another vehicle. That’s where we landed.”

This fine was under Sections 4.3 & 4.4A of the regulations (Member Code of Conduct Guidelines – Behavioral). When Hamlin was penalized in 2023 (as Forde mentioned), the same sections were applied.

All of this happened while Kyle Busch walked free once again. He was under investigation for causing a wreck in the final moments of the race. His contact with John Hunter Nemechek, which was seemingly deliberate, did not face any penalties. Apparently, NASCAR did not find enough evidence, especially considering that Busch didn’t claim that the wreck was intentional.

“The data told us that after the incident, he [Busch] was turning the wheel all the way left, just to go straight. So, we had a feeling that he had some pretty significant damage, and it was inconclusive on if that was a damaged vehicle that caused him to get into the 42, or if it was intentional, you know, the SMT data, there was zero things, in our opinion, that said, he did this intentionally, and rose to the level of penalty,” Forde justified.

However, this isn’t the first time that Kyle Busch has found himself in the middle of these allegations. Back at Bristol, he had a similar exchange with Riley Herbst when he sent him spinning around. Again, he wasn’t penalized at the time. But the frequency of these events has forced the authorities to have a discussion with the #8 team and the rest of the Richard Childress Racing crew.

Truck Series team faces a major blow as NASCAR’s penalties continue

Layne Riggs has been quite impressive in the Truck Series. He has been racing full-time for Front Row Motorsports for the past three seasons and has produced six race wins so far. He had a decent run at the Texas Motor Speedway, finishing in sixth place; however, trouble just started for him as NASCAR imposed the penalties.

As per Sections 8.8.10.4a: Ties and Wheels (under safety), the #34 team’s crew chief, Dylan Cappello, was fined $2,500 and suspended from the upcoming Truck race at Watkins Glen International at the end of this week. This came after a post-race inspection, when the officials came across lug nuts in the truck that were not properly installed. This could have been a major safety concern; however, Riggs managed to finish the race in a competitive spot. He will be racing at The Glen, too, but with a different crew chief.

Time and again, NASCAR has showcased that it can sometimes be too harsh with the penalties. However, it can also be confusing, as was the case with Dale Earnhardt Jr., because he did not agree with the authorities penalizing Preece for the incident.

Ryan Preece, however, has the chance to appeal the penalty in the coming days, which could perhaps put him in a better position. Meanwhile, it seems to be going easy for Kyle Busch, whose only loss in the past weekend was a competitive finish.