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| NASCAR on FOX |
During a interview after yesterday’s NASCAR Xfinity series race a fight broke out between the driver of the No. 18, Daniel Hemric, and driver of the No. 9, Noah Gragson.
This fight was the result of an incident that occurred during pit stops. The No. 18 of Daniel Hemric over shot his pit stall, and wound up in the pit stall of the No. 9. This forced the No. 9 of Noah Gragson, who was also pitting, to pull partly into the neighboring pit stall. Daniel Hemric backed his No. 18 into its assigned pit stall, and Gragson did the same for the No. 9, though through this whole debacle, the No. 9 was crooked and not completely in the pit stall. In an attempt to correct this and avoid penalty (according to Gragson), Gragson continued to back the car up, all the way into the nose of the No. 18. Luckily, neither Hemric, nor his pit were injured (though in theory, in this incident a pit crew member could have been harmed).
In the aftermath of this whole incident, many fans are questioning whether or not Gragson’s actions were intentional.
NASCAR has been known to penalize individuals for interfering with the operations of a team’s pit crew, but in this case they didn’t, and you’d be right to ask why. Well, the most logical reason that NASCAR didn’t penalize Gragson for this incident was because, while the rear end of the No. 9 was in the Hemric’s pit stall, the wheels of the No. 9 were still in Gragson’s pit stall. Another factor that may have contributed to the decision of NASCAR officials is that Gragson claims to have been attempting to fit within his own pit stall, after the No. 18 forced Gragson to pit partially in his neighboring pit stall. This claim may have eventually led NASCAR to determine that this incident was unintentional, and likely lead to their announcement this morning that neither driver would be penalized.
What about the fight was anybody penalized for that? No, again neither driver was penalized for the fight, as NASCAR essentially let this one slip. Gragson was called to the NASCAR hauler after this race, but as previously mentioned, neither Gragson nor Hemric were penalized for either of incidents during and after yesterday’s race at Atlanta.
While NASCAR has settled this incident currently, I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw some heat between the two (former teammates) on track in the future.
PUNCHES THROWN! Daniel Hemric and Noah Gragson brawl on pit road after the Xfinity race in Atlanta. pic.twitter.com/KF8COEkMHp
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) March 20, 2021
Here's the full video. Penalty if right side tires are out of the box. Final pit stop. Judge for yourself. pic.twitter.com/2LCQEiUDQ7
— Noah Gragson (@NoahGragson) March 21, 2021
"There's a hole in the nose of my car and he got popped in the eye. Where I stand from, we're in good shape."@JamieLittleTV talks with Daniel Hemric after the fight: pic.twitter.com/PUpcvK2pVY
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) March 20, 2021
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