Hauler Talk: NASCAR explains how penalties were issued for Martinsville fight involving Corey Heim

NASCAR officials spent nearly two days analyzing video from multiple altercations in the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 at Martinsville Speedway before issuing penalties Tuesday.

Seven team members were punished for two separate fights Saturday. The first incident took place after a heat race and resulted in fines and probation for four competitors in the NASCAR Regional series.

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The heaviest punishments went to three team members for an attack on Brickyard 400 winner Corey Heim in the pits after Saturday night’s main event.

Team owner Chad Bryant was fined $2,000 and suspended indefinitely. Chad Bryant Racing team members Steven Civatarese ($1,000 fine, indefinite suspension) and Ryden Lapcevich ($500, probation through 2027) also were penalized.

On the latest episode of the “Hauler Talk” podcast, NASCAR vice president of racing communications Mike Forde said the identities of all the perpetrators were finalized Monday night after the lengthy review of an event that featured nearly 90 drivers entered and at least a few hundred team members.

“There's no facial recognition software at Martinsville Speedway, so it took a little bit of time to find out,” Forde said. “We had to hunt down the IDs of a couple people during the heat race so we were able to get everyone accounted for, and it boils down to very simply what we've said. When a crew member gets involved and puts his or her hands on a driver, that is unacceptable, and we are going to react in kind.

“We took it seriously. I hope that's a message to those up and down the NASCAR ranks, whether it is a local racing series event or a NASCAR Cup Series event. When crew members get involved with putting their hands on the drivers, we’re going to react in a fashion that you probably don't want to dip your toe into those waters.”

After taking the checkered flag in second, Heim collided with Chad Bryant Racing driver Treyten Lapcevich in a Turn 1 crash that precipitated the fight.

“We reviewed that,” Forde said of the post-race collision between Heim and Lapcevich. “I believe we had everyone into the hauler afterwards. We did review that (incident) and chose not to penalize and focused more on the fight and the crew members.”

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Other topics covered by Forde and senior director of racing communications Amanda Ellis during the 71st episode of "Hauler Talk," which explores competition issues in NASCAR:

-- An interview with Carl Goodman, the managing director of powertrain at NASCAR, about how the post-race engine dyno process was handled after Kansas Speedway. -- The future of the metric formula used to set starting lineups in the event of qualifying being rained out. Click on the embed below to listen or search for "Hauler Talk" wherever you download podcasts to hear it on your phone, tablet or mobile device. Nate Ryan has written about NASCAR since 1996 while working at the San Bernardino Sun, Richmond Times-Dispatch, USA Today Co. and for the past 10 years at NBC Sports Digital. He is a contributor to the "Hauler Talk" show on the NASCAR Podcast Network. He has also covered various other motorsports, including the IndyCar and IMSA series.