Kevin Harvick said during Sunday's prerace show that NASCAR should have suspended Austin Cindric following last week's race at COTA.

NASCAR's decision not to suspend Austin Cindric for his hit on Ty Dillon came down to it happening at a road course instead of an oval. Dillon warns that this is the exact type of gray area that gets NASCAR into trouble.

NASCAR penalized Austin Cindric 50 points and fined him $50,000 on Wednesday for intentionally spinning Ty Dillon in last weekend’s Cup Series race at Circuit of the Americas.

Last week at COTA, Austin Cindric turned Ty Dillon around in retaliation. NASCAR deemed it worthy of a penalty, but not suspension. In the past on high-speed ovals, officials have suspended drivers for a race for right-rear hooks.

Cindric retaliated with a right-rear hook on Dillon, which led to Dillon's car spinning wildly. To Dillon and his team, this driving appeared deliberate. Surprisingly, NASCAR officials decided not to penalize Cindric during the race, although there's a chance they might review it in the coming week.

Austin Cindric is short 50 points and $50,000 lighter in his wallet thanks to his retaliation against Ty Dillon. Cindric right rear hooked Dillon on the track at COTA.

Austin Cindric's $50K penalty has become a hot topic in NASCAR's ongoing debate over regulations, now drawing reactions from Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin.