No penalties from NASCAR for Logano, Busch Vegas fracas

Neither the drivers or crewmembers involved in a post-race brawl at Las Vegas Motor Speedway last Sunday will face any penalties from NASCAR.

The sanctioning body released its post-race penalty report Wednesday and the incident was not mentioned and Kyle Busch and Joey Logano were not mentioned.

Sunday Busch was battling for a top five finish on the final lap with Joey Logano.  Entering turn 3, Logano underneath Busch slipped up off the bottom of the turn. He made contact with Busch who was sent spinning.  Busch’s Toyota spun down onto pit road but made no contact. He was able to slide across the line 22nd, Logano was scored 4th.

After the race, Busch confronted Logano. A punch was thrown by Busch; a wrestling match ensued with Logano being pulled away, and Busch tangling with crewmembers on the ground. Busch walked away from the fray bloodied on his forehead.

“After a full review of multiple videos and discussions with both competitors and their respective race teams, we felt Sunday’s post-race incident does not warrant any further action,” Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer told NASCAR.com Wednesday. “NASCAR was built on the racing that took place on the final lap by two drivers battling for position. The emotions of our athletes run high, and Kyle Busch and Joey Logano are two of the most passionate and competitive drivers in the sport. Both competitors are very clear on our expectations going forward and we will be meeting with them in person prior to practice on Friday in Phoenix.”

Logano told FS1’s “NASCAR Race Hub” Tuesday that he and Busch have spoken since the incident.

“We’ve spoken,” Logano said. “Obviously, we didn’t speak much there, so I got a chance to call him up earlier today to be able to talk to him a little bit and at least tell my side of the story. We’re going to have two sides to the story like there is all the time, but really the bottom line is we’re two passionate race car drivers. We’re two of the best in the sport that are going to go for wins that are aggressive and we collided.”

Busch has yet to comment on the incident.

NASCAR did access lug nut penalties to two Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series teams Wednesday. Both the race-winning No. 78 Furniture Row Racing team with driver Martin Truex Jr. and the No. 13 Germain Racing team for driver Ty Dillon were penalized for lug nuts not properly installed following Sunday’s Kobalt 400. In accordance with the NASCAR Rule Book, the crew chiefs No. 78: Cole Pearn, No. 13: Robert “Bootie” Barker for the teams were each fined $10,000.

Greg Engle
About Greg Engle 7421 Articles
Greg is a published award winning sportswriter who spent 23 years combined active and active reserve military service, much of that in and around the Special Operations community. Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.