Joey Logano has commented on the punishment his Team Penske teammate Austin Cindric received for his actions during the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix. Critics have suggested that Team Penske received favorable treatment in the incident, and Logano has now shared his perspective.
Joey Logano Shares His Honest Opinion About the Austin Cindric Fine
Following a right-hook maneuver on Ty Dillon at Circuit of The Americas (COTA), Cindric was penalized with a 50-point deduction and a $50,000 fine. Since the incident happened at a slower speed on a road course and did not result in a caution, officials chose not to issue a suspension. This meant Roger Penske’s team did not need to apply for a playoff waiver.
Jeff Gluck from The Athletic provided his reaction to the ruling on X, stating:
This was the first test of NASCAR's new waiver rule that removes all playoff points for the regular season in the event of a suspension. From my view, NASCAR made an inconsistent ruling that raises more questions about when RR hooks are suspension-worthy and when they aren't. https://t.co/4wjdMfblau
— Jeff Gluck (@jeff_gluck) March 5, 2025
“This was the first test of NASCAR’s new waiver rule that removes all playoff points for the regular season in the event of a suspension,” Gluck wrote. “From my view, NASCAR made an inconsistent ruling that raises more questions about when RR hooks are suspension-worthy and when they aren’t.”
The penalty dropped Austin Cindric from 11th to 34th in the standings. Despite the setback, Team Penske management was likely relieved to avoid a suspension.
Veteran journalist Bob Pockrass asked Logano about the issue during a pre-race media session at Phoenix Raceway ahead of the Shriners Children’s 500 on March 9. Logano, a three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, shared his thoughts:
“I think all of this… just go and look back and say, okay, what is acceptable and what is not and how are things called because it’s case by case, right? It’s just what they say. Now we know what that means. That’s how everyone interprets the rules. You know, it’s one thing to be written in the rule book, and sometimes it’s really hard to understand because it’s a lot of legal mumbo-jumbo.”
Next time something like this happens, fans and teams will look back at Cindric’s penalty at COTA to see if it is handled similarly.
Logano, currently sitting 12th in the standings with 77 points, is focused on securing his first win of the season and the 37th of his Cup Series career.
