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Danica Patrick: 'NASCAR makes a really big mistake of fining for some stuff'
After NASCAR decided not to punish Austin Dillon for his actions in the Xfinity Series race at Phoenix, Danica Patrick wishes NASCAR had previously used that monetary discretion when it comes to giving drivers consequences.
Dillon used his wrecked car to pinch Cole Custer into the wall during last week’s race after contact with Custer led to Dillon’s initial incident. NASCAR parked Dillon for the rest of the race after his actions but didn’t take any further disciplinary action when announcing penalties in the middle of the week.
“Give me my money back,” Patrick said. “I also got fined here [in 2016] for Kasey Kahne right-rearing me on the front straightaway at 215 miles an hour and I gave him this sign, and I got fined for that, too.
“I think NASCAR makes a really big mistake of fining for some stuff, especially something that happens in the car because it makes for good TV – just like fights and all that stuff. We can handle it. I think it’s a mistake. I might be speaking too much, but I’ve been fined a few times and I think that it makes for good TV and I think that we handle it out on the track ourselves.”
Patrick was fined $20,000 for gesturing towards Kahne after she crashed at Auto Club Speedway the site of Sunday’s race. She got the fine because she broke a NASCAR rule that prohibits drivers from walking on or towards the racing surface. The rule was implemented after Tony Stewart struck and killed sprint car driver Kevin Ward in a dirt track race.
Dillon’s incident with Custer came just after NASCAR officials brought up the use of cars as weapons when discussing the ramifications from Kyle Busch’s attempted punch of Joey Logano at Las Vegas. While not penalizing Busch for what he tried to do to Logano, NASCAR said it would draw the line when drivers used their cars for vengeance.
While Dillon was appearing to do that, his contact with Custer wasn’t with the gusto that Busch used against Ron Hornaday in the Truck Series in 2011 or Matt Kenseth used towards Logano at Martinsville in 2015. Both Busch and Kenseth got suspended for their actions.
Patrick said she preferred NASCAR’s non-punishment of Dillon be the precedent going forward or, at the least, some transparency of where fine money was going. All fines paid to NASCAR go to the NASCAR Foundation.
“Yeah, I’d rather that be the standard,” Patrick said. “I mean, what does that really do? I’m not gonna not go on vacation. I would actually rather know what it did. I would actually love to see like the playground that got built for it, or homeless people that got food. I would like to see actually what the money does for fines because it’s supposed to go to charity, right? So what does it really do? I would like to see that.”
Dale Earnhardt Jr. had a novel idea of how Dillon should have been punished for his actions.
“I am serious, I would have sent him on a Winner’s Circle appearance somewhere,” Junior said. Those appearances are when drivers travel to the market where an upcoming race is being held and do interviews and promotional appearances. “None of the drivers like doing those. And we complain about it to NASCAR all the time having to go to these tracks out of market and do these appearances. Now, when we go do them we do have fun, but drivers are spoiled and we don’t like to do that stuff, so I would sign him up for an out of market appearance to promote the next Phoenix race in the fall. And I would get him — the NASCAR children’s charity can never have enough donations, so he could write a small check to them and be done with it. It doesn’t really have to be anything that is harmful really to Austin.
“It’s that — what message do you send to all these guys that are racing at all the local tracks around the country? Are you sending the message that it is okay for them to drive into each other’s door after the race is over with? So, that is all I worry about. I know Austin knows right from wrong. It’s not about trying to teach him a lesson. It’s really what are we trying to tell everyone else all the other drivers?”
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of Dr. Saturday and From the Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
