Gragson has been fined $ 35,000 for violating the code of conduct for NASCAR members. The team has also lost 30 owner points and 30 driver points.
On lap 25 of 48 of Saturday’s race at Road America, Gragson collided with Sage Karam in the corner of turn 4 in retaliation for Karam’s previous contact in the race.
The impact diverted Karam’s car on a straight, where it removed dirt and dust and caused a multi-car accident that eventually picked up a total of 13 cars.
Gragson was not penalized for his actions during the race.
After the race, Gragson said of the incident, “I just got hit. That’s one thing if you’re faster than someone. I pointed AJ (Allmendinger) all day. (Karam) I’d just throw him in there and it would get you off the racetrack on the corner and take you off and get you off the track.
“Finally, after the third time, I overcame it. It’s not the ideal situation for him and his team, but I’ve finished three times. “
Karam said: “Unfortunately, he has let his emotions take advantage of him the best of today. I’ve seen that with him. He walks like he’s like the old man on campus around here and everything, and then it does things like that. It’s just not a good role model. “
In an appearance on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Wednesday before the sanction was announced, Gragson said he “made a mistake.”
“There’s a bigger picture of retaliating or retrieving Sage for the multiple times it took us. I made a mistake,” he said. “I hope I don’t make that mistake again”.
Dale Jr. reacts
Gragson car owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. also addressed Gragson’s shares in SiriusXM on Wednesday morning.
“You have to get that out of your choices. You can’t intentionally become guys directly and, you know, I just hope you realize it’s really something you have to be careful about to move forward,” Earnhardt said. .
“Noah wants to run at Cup level, he wants to get to Cup level and we want to help him get there, whether he drives a Cup car for us one day or for someone else, when he takes that kind of decisions. And that’s what I told him, I told him, ‘You’re wasting this opportunity. You’re getting dirty, having your reputation. And that’s the last thing you want to do when you’re trying to get job offers. “
“I told him he could be behind him on almost anything, but he couldn’t defend it.”
Earnhardt also said he was surprised NASCAR did not issue a penalty when the incident happened in the race.