In NASCAR, time doesn’t always bury grudges. It just gives drivers space to explain them. For instance, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. still gets asked about decking Kyle Busch. Chandler Smith’s swing at Cole Custer hasn’t faded from memory. Now, two years after the infamous “Punchgate” controversy, Ross Chastain is also revisiting his own moment. And this time, he is offering a blunt, almost casual explanation for why he punched Noah Gragson.

“He has got the most punchable face,” Chastain explained with a smirk. “We were actually in the gym the next morning, Monday morning, shook hands, and worked out together. That’s so great about guys. We didn’t hold a grudge.”

That matter-of-fact explanation sums up how Chastain views the infamous clash from the AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway in 2023. With around 60 laps remaining, the race took a sharp turn when Chastain, driving the No. 1 Chevrolet for Trackhouse Racing, edged up into Noah Gragson’s No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Chevy while powering through Turn 4. The move sent Gragson into the wall and effectively ended any chance of a calm post-race conversation.

Gragson, already frustrated by a tough rookie Cup season, didn’t let it slide. After the checkered flag, he marched down pit road and confronted Chastain face-to-face. What began as an intense verbal exchange quickly escalated when Gragson grabbed Chastain by the firesuit near his right shoulder.

After a brief shove-and-pull by Gragson, Chastain couldn’t hold on any longer and fired a right hand that landed flush on Gragson’s face. Gragson tried to punch back instantly, but NASCAR officials were quicker to intervene. At the time, Gragson didn’t hide his anger. Watch the brawl here:

“He just fenced us off of [Turn] 4 [with] 60 laps to go in the race,” Gragson said. “I don’t get it. Completely used us up and fenced the s— out of us… I went down there and grabbed him and showed my displeasure.”

Two years later, the punch hasn’t been erased, but neither has the handshake. But one question remains:

Why did Chastain escape punishment back then?

After Ross Chastain’s right hand connected with Noah Gragson’s jaw on pit road at Kansas, the biggest question buzzing around Race World USA wasn’t why it happened. It was what NASCAR would do next. The rulebook is clear. NASCAR reserves the right to fine, suspend, or even revoke membership for “member-to-member confrontations with physical violence,” including striking another competitor.

On paper, Chastain’s punch checked that box. Yet, no penalties were handed down. Neither Chastain nor Gragson faced fines, suspensions, or probation, and that decision wasn’t accidental. NASCAR’s senior vice president of competition, Elton Sawyer, later explained the league’s thinking, leaning heavily on context and emotion rather than a strict letter-of-the-law approach.

“We’ve looked at that, we’ve talked about it, and we’ll continue to have conversations with Ross and Noah,” Sawyer stated, “As we’ve said before, our sport is an emotional sport. Our guys, again, using Sunday, everybody was on the edge, so when you felt like your day hasn’t gone the way you had hoped it would, and someone may have impacted that in a way that you’re not happy, you’re gonna show your displeasure.”

In NASCAR’s eyes, the incident fell under a long-standing gray area: a brief, emotional flare-up that didn’t spiral into a full-blown fight. The altercation was over almost as soon as it started, thanks to NASCAR security stepping in immediately. Gragson never got the chance to throw a counterpunch, and the situation was neutralized before it could escalate into something uglier.

Sawyer also credited Trackhouse Racing, Legacy Motor Club, and NASCAR officials for managing the scene properly and giving the drivers space to cool off while ensuring safety remained the priority.

In the end, NASCAR treated the punch as a moment of raw frustration, not malicious intent. And two years later, with both drivers having long since moved on, the league’s no-penalty decision looks less like leniency and more like consistency with its emotional, old-school roots.