Michael McDowell and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. avoided punishment after NASCAR officials heavily deliberated and dissected their NASCAR Cup Series post-race incident at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
The drivers made contact on the cool-down lap, sending Stenhouse spinning.
On the latest episode of the “Hauler Talk” podcast, NASCAR vice president of racing communications Mike Forde said in-car cameras and an overhead shot were among the many angles that were reviewed.
RELATED: Charlotte results | Listen to McDowell-Stenhouse post-race chatter
“It was a lengthy discussion,” Forde said. “A lot of discussion on whether we penalize, or whether we don’t. I would probably say that this is probably the closest it’s gotten to being a penalty without it being a penalty. But we looked at it as emotion again. And they came down pit road, and Stenhouse went to (McDowell’s) window and had a conversation. It cooled down pretty quickly.”
Forde said both drivers would likely have been penalized if their cars had hit the wall or damaged another car. Both drivers also still had their window nets up.
Bubba Wallace was fined $50,000 for hitting Alex Bowman’s No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet on the cool-down lap after the 2024 Chicago Street Race. Bowman had already lowered his window net, and his car hit a concrete barrier from the bump by Wallace.
Forde said NASCAR officials will meet with McDowell and Stenhouse at Phoenix Raceway to discuss their dustup.
“We didn’t love it, so we did look at different examples of what we did in the past in these types of instances,” Forde said. “We decided that it was close but did not fully rise to necessitating a penalty.”
Other topics covered by Forde and senior director of racing communications Amanda Ellis during the 73rd episode of “Hauler Talk,” which explores competition issues in NASCAR:
— How NASCAR staff adapted to the Sunday doubleheader of the Cup Series and NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series.
— The safety review of Wallace’s crash at Charlotte.
— The rules governing how teams mark and tape their pit stalls.
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.