NASCAR Hands Xfinity’s Noah Gragson Hefty Fine After Chaotic 13-Car Wreck

The 23-year-old driver and JR Motorsports were also both dealt 30-point deductions in the drivers’ and owner standings.

NASCAR not only dealt Xfinity’s Noah Gragson a substantial fine of $35,000 on Wednesday but also docked him 30 points after rough driving that culminated in the apparent intentional crash of Sage Karam this weekend.

The incident at Road America involved 11 other cars.

The two drivers initially made contact going into Turn 1 of lap 26, and Gragson decided to retaliate the same lap, appearing to intentionally turn right into Karam’s side. 

Karam said to NBC Sports after the crash, “Unfortunately, he let his emotions get the best of him today. I’ve seen that with him. He walks around like he’s like the big man on campus around here and everything, and then he does stuff like that. It’s just not a good role model that he is.”

A massive accident during the @NASCAR_Xfinity Series race at @RoadAmerica.

Noah Gragson gets into Sage Karam, triggering a huge crash behind him involving Brandon Brown, Myatt Snider and many more. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/e5kTYQ60dh

— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) July 2, 2022

At the time, NASCAR did not penalize either driver following Saturday’s incident, though reporter Bob Pockrass confirmed officials spoke with Gragson afterward. There was significant backlash following NASCAR’s decision to not penalize him at the time. 

Earlier on Wednesday, Gragson said on SiriusXM NASCAR radio that he “made a mistake” and “there’s most definitely going to be a penalty.”

“What I would do differently is try and keep my temper or aggression and keep that under control and try and remain cool, calm and collected,” Gragson said. “There’s a bigger picture than retaliating or getting Sage back for the multiple times that he doored us.”

According to nascar.com, JR Motorsports was also dealt a 30-point deduction in the owner standings. Dale Earnhardt Jr., who is the co-owner of JR Motorsports, appeared on SiriusXM Wednesday and said, “I was shocked, to be honest with you, when I saw Noah make that decision. I was just completely shocked and in a bit of disbelief not only that he made that choice but that he, you know, that it created such an accident and got so many other guys involved.”