NASCAR today issued penalties against Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick for their post-race extra-curricular activities on pit road at Darlington Raceway.Each driver was fined $25,000 and placed on probation until June 15.
But NASCAR also made it clear that the drivers were being penalized for what they did on pit road -- not what happened on the track.
To recap -- Harvick was furious at Busch, blaming him for wrecking him near the end of the race on Saturday night. So Harvick found Busch after the race and confronted him. They ended up stopped on pit road with Busch right behind Harvick.
Harvick got out and tried to punch Busch through the window of Busch's car. Busch drove off, pushing Harvick's car into the wall in the process.
The penalty is actually bigger than the three weeks probation that Carl Edwards got last year after he launched Brad Keselowski at Atlanta.
So, apparently it's more OK to get somebody airborne at 190 mph than it is for two drivers to look stupid while having a half-hearted fight -- as long as it's on the track.
On the track it's almost anything goes. Off the track it's a $25K fine.
The probation part doesn't matter. NASCAR probation is a meaningless penalty anyway.
It's actually amazing that NASCAR did anything at all, considering its "Boys Have At It" policy. But drawing a distinction between on-track altercations and off-track altercations just makes the whole process look silly.
It is true that NASCAR can't have drivers using cars as weapons on pit road after the race while there are any number of crew members, officials, photographers and others walking around. But nothing happened in this incident and it makes no sense to issue penalties for what might have happened.
If you are going to say "Boys Have At It," it defeats the purpose to start making exceptions. Either let them have at it, or don't.
The smart thing to do in this case would have been nothing at all.
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