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Truck Series drivers Custer and Nemechek not penalized for on and off-track contact

Nick Bromberg
·College football and motorsports writer
Custer comes in for the form tackle (FS1).
Custer comes in for the form tackle (FS1).

While Kyle Larson and Ryan Newman each got points penalties for their cars failing post-race inspection after the Sprint Cup Series’ Southern 500 on Sunday night, two Truck Series drivers who tangled during that afternoon’s race weren’t officially sanctioned by NASCAR.

Cole Custer and John Hunter Nemechek made contact while racing for the win on the last lap at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park. After bumping Custer, Nemechek drove him off the track and the two careened off the wall and through the grass towards the finish line.

Nemechek was declared the winner because his truck crossed the finish line first. As he was waiting for the checkered flag as NASCAR was reviewing the race results, Custer sprinted at Nemechek and tackled him.

NASCAR fined Truck Series drivers Spencer Gallagher and John Wes Townley earlier in the year for their altercation and on-track contact at Gateway.

The absence of Custer and Nemechek in the penalty report isn’t surprising. The likely difference between the situations is that Gallagher and Townley weren’t racing for the win. NASCAR typically gives much more leniency for drivers who are going for a win.

Much of the justification for Matt Kenseth’s two-race suspension following his punt of Joey Logano at Martinsville in 2015 was due to Kenseth’s position as a car multiple laps down while Logano was leading at the time of getting crashed.

Custer will need to keep that Kenseth standard in mind if he wants to take Nemechek out on track later this season during the Truck Series Chase. If he does it blatantly while one or the other is back in the pack he could be subject to a severe penalty. If he retaliates while the two are racing for a spot near the front of the field late in a race, he could get a much lesser penalty or nothing at all.

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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!