Crew members, no drivers penalized after Texas Motor Speedway brawl
NASCAR punished six members of Hendrick Motorsports for their roles in the pit road brawl between drivers Brad Keselowski and Jeff Gordon on Sunday after the AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, NASCAR announced.
Keselowski and Gordon were not punished for their role in the melee, which started after Keselowski tried to maneuver his car between Gordon and Jimmie Johnson on lap 335 of the race.
Keselowski hit Gordon’s car causing a flat tire and spinning him out of control. Johnson won the race, Gordon finished 29th and dropped from first to fourth in the Chase standings. Keselowski is seventh in the standings going into Sunday's race at Phoenix.
After the race, Gordon pulled up beside Keselowski on pit road and walked toward Keselowski while Kevin Harvick pushed Keselowski from behind, inciting the brawl, where there were several punches thrown. The incident left Keselowski and Gordon with cuts and scrapes.
Keselowski is already on probation through Nov. 12 and was fined $50,000 for making contact on pit road following last month's race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Gordon's crew chief Alan Gustafson was fined $50,000 and placed on probation through the the rest of the Sprint Cup Series championship points races. Kasey Kahne’s crew chief Kenny Francis received the same punishment.
Four other Hendrick crew members were fined $25,000 and suspended for the next six NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship points races.
NASCAR said that the crew chiefs violated several rules including taking responsibility for the actions of his team members and actions detrimental to stock car racing. They were cited for a behavioral penalty.
"While the intensity and emotions are high as we continue through the final rounds of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, the actions that we saw from several crew members Sunday following the race at Texas are unacceptable," Robin Pemberton, NASCAR senior vice president/competition and racing development said.
Owner Rick Hendrick said he would not appeal the punishments.
- Scooby Axson
