A NASCAR Precedent Of Unprecedentedness

Whenever a key NASCAR decision is about to be handed down, I find myself filled with a small sense of dread. 

It’s not because of the nature of the penalties themselves, of course. They have no bearing on me and my personal life. 

I’m just sick and tired of not knowing which direction the sanctioning body is going to go in until the moment the penalty is handed out. 

The latest example came Tuesday (Oct. 18), when myself and countless others waited until 5 p.m. ET for NASCAR to announce its penalty decision for Bubba Wallace after he appeared to intentionally right-hook Kyle Larson toward the outside wall during Sunday’s Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

There were numerous questions ahead of the decision. When would the penalty be announced? What would it be? Would the sanctioning body focus on precedent or the severity of the accident itself? 

In the end, NASCAR went with one of its harshest options, suspending Wallace one race. He’s the first driver to be suspended for any NASCAR national series event since Johnny Sauter for an intentional crash of Austin Hill under caution at Iowa Speedway in 2019, and the first Cup driver to be forced out for a race since Matt Kenseth after his infamous 2015 crashing of Joey Logano at Martinsville Speedway. 

Make no mistake, the powers that be at NASCAR had little choice but to suspend Wallace. The act was too egregious and came at a time when safety concerns from Cup drivers are as significant as they’ve been in decades. Two drivers are currently out with concussions, including the original driver of the No. 45 Toyota that Wallace used for his accident, Kurt Busch. 

The only real issue with the decision is that it stands in contrast to others in recent weeks. 

Just three months ago, Noah Gragson intentionally crashed Sage Karam in an Xfinity Series race at Road America, setting off a massive accident that ultimately had playoff repercussions for Landon Cassill and left Brandon Brown rattled and upset. Gragson was fined $35,000 and docked 30 points for the incident, but was allowed to continue competing. 

Not even a month later, Carson Hocevar appeared to intentionally hook Colby Howard into the outside wall in the Camping World Truck Series’ return to Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park. His penalty? Nothing. Nothing at all. 

While not as severe, Ryan Blaney intentionally turned Daniel Suarez after the conclusion of July’s Cup Series race on the Indianapolis Motor…