NASCAR officially announced its penalties for the Wurth 400 over the weekend, and it sparked some controversy.
The NASCAR Cup Series opted to punish Ryan Preece on Tuesday, and not to Kyle Busch. Preece was accused of intentionally wrecking a fellow driver. Busch, meanwhile, was also involved in a wreck, though he escaped without any penalties.
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NASCAR defended the decision.
“We do look at all available resources, whether that’s the video, in-car audio, SMT data,” NASCAR’s Mike Forde said on the “Hauler Talk” podcast. “And really what this came down to is … (Preece) said what he said, and then he did what he said.”
“And so in our view,” according to Forde, “It was intentionally wrecking another vehicle.”
(Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images
But many in the NASCAR world disagreed.
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NASCAR fans and media members felt that if you’re going to punish Preece, you need to punish Busch, too.
Dale Jr. sounded off on the penalty decision
Speaking out in a video posted to social media, Dale Jr. sounded off on the penalty decision.
Dale Jr. thinks that neither should be penalized.
“I didn’t think either one would get penalized,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “If you’re not going to penalize Kyle, I don’t think you can penalize Preece.”
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Dale Jr. doesn’t think that intent should always matter.
“I’m going to assume it was because he all but admitted to what he was going to do,” he added. “But honestly, I don’t agree with this one.”
Ultimately, Dale Jr. was stunned.
“I was really, really surprised by this decision,” Earnhardt Jr. explained. “This is quite an interesting turn of events.”
This story was originally published by The Spun on May 7, 2026, where it first appeared in the NASCAR section. Add The Spun as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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