NASCAR suspended Team Penske crew member Dave Nichols Jr. one race for his role in an altercation on pit road Sunday between Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin at Martinsville Speedway.
Nichols, a tire specialist for Logano’s team, can be seen in the video above grabbing Hamlin from behind and throwing him down to the ground.
Todd Gordon, crew chief for Logano’s team, said that Nichols was trying to help separate Logano and Hamlin but did so too forcefully.
“The direction that our organization has is separate drivers,” Gordon said Monday on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “We don’t want to have drivers beating on each other.
“Unfortunately, in this situation that happened there, the separation was with too much power afterwards and I don’t think the crew member … he was trying to separate the drivers and did so with probably more force than he anticipated and he’s regretful of that.”
Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer, explained Monday morning on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio why a penalty might be issued in this case.
“You had a crew member who, honestly, I don’t think realized the force with which he made that move,” O’Donnell said. “We have some light drivers and some big crew members and unfortunately that’s what happens when those situations take place. I think they understand what’s coming. It’s not something we want to see or encourage but we’ll have to address.”
The issue started after Logano hit the wall while running side-by-side with Hamlin late in Sunday’s race. Logano went to Hamlin to discuss the incident after the race and punctuated his conversation by shoving Hamlin and walking away, triggering the scuffle.
NASCAR met with Travis Geisler, competition director at Team Penske, Gordon and Nichols after the race.