Kyle Busch urges NASCAR to consider rule change as Austin Cindric backlash continues

Two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch believes that a rule change is needed following Austin Cindric's penalty for an incident during the race at Circuit of The Americas last weekend.

The penalty levied against the Team Penske driver has received a significant amount of backlash. Although Cindric was handed a $50,000 fine and had 50 points deducted for the rear-right hook on Ty Dillon, many argue that his actions should have resulted in a race suspension.

Speaking to Bob Pockrass, Busch reflected on his own experiences and suggested that it could be "based off their last name," referencing the 2022 Daytona 500 champion's father, Team Penske president Tim Cindric. He explained:

“I did it once and maybe twice, got off with it the first time, but definitely not the second time.

“Sat out a whole weekend, two more races the second time. You know that’s not his first offence, I don’t know if it’s his second offence. Like I said, some guys get off on based off who I think their last name is.

“Yeah, I mean, Bubba got it [a suspension], right? At Vegas. I got it before so, I think there’s a couple of other guys who have got it… Yeah.”

As a result, Busch feels that the rulebooks need updating. He added:

Kyle Busch, Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet

Photo by: Sean Gardner / Getty Images

“Put it in the rulebook: A right hook will result in a one-race suspension. Period.”

Defending the decision, NASCAR managing director of racing communications Mike Ford has given some insight into the decision-making process behind the penalty, explaining that it was a "unique incident."

"The reason we landed on the points and fine is we take every situation and every violation as its own unique incident, and I know fans probably don't love hearing that, but it's said because it's true," Ford explained.

"Sure, we do look at past instances to help educate ourselves on how we should handle each subsequent one, but each incident is very different.

"In this case, we did feel that it was significantly different than the previous two. And the reasons are it is at a road course with lower speeds to begin with, and the results didn't even draw a caution flag.

"So those were really the reasons why we chose to err on the side of letting (Cindric) race this weekend in Phoenix with a fine and a significant driver points penalty.

"When I hit social media after this penalty is announced, my guess is that there is going to be several people who feel this is the wrong call. And it may not be the popular call, but when we look at penalties, we do not really care how popular we are. We try to do the right thing here."