TALLADEGA, Ala. – Tempers flared and transitioned into a physical altercation on Saturday afternoon during and after the NASCAR Truck Series playoff race at Talladega Superspeedway.
NASCAR Xfinity Series regular and 2018 Truck Series champion Brett Moffitt emerged victorious in a Front Row Motorsports one-off after another green-white-checkered finish at the Alabama track but the achievement was quickly overshadowed by the theatrics taking place in the garage area.
The initial incident took place during the first overtime of the Love’s RV Stop 250 when championship contender Nick Sanchez drifted into the middle lane below Matt Crafton, triggering a multi-truck incident that left the three-time Truck Series champion furious.
Crafton finished 24th while Sanchez went on to continue in second overtime and finished seventh with a chance to clinch a championship race berth on October 21 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Crafton parked his damaged truck in the Sanchez pit box.
“I was doing my best to stay tight on the bottom lane,” Sanchez said in the post-race media bullpen on pit road. “I tried to go get split three-wide. We came up off of (Turn) 2. I went to the top lane and I held my line, came back down. (I) tried to get out of there, but I got him in the left rear a little bit, but [that’s] plate racing, trying to hold my position to protect myself.”
He leaves Talladega three points above the elimination cutline.
“To be above the cutline is amazing,” Sanchez said. “It’s pressure off myself and I think we’ll have a pretty good truck at Homestead.”
Then came the theatrics.
Crafton and Sanchez were involved in a physical fight that left the latter bloodied and be pulled out of the fracas by fellow racer Cory Roper.
“I’m gonna (expletive) kill you in Homestead,” Sanchez was recorded shouting at Crafton in a video captured by Frontstretch. “You’re (expletive) with the wrong guy, mother (expletive).”
And then:
“I’ll whip your ass,” Crafton said back. “I got you at Homestead, (expletive).”
Sanchez says he was blindsided.
“I was walking back to the hauler, felt a tap on the back, turned around and got punched in the face, “Sanchez said. “A cheap shot but it is what it is I guess. I’m all for fighting but no cheap shots. I never had a chance to get him back. It is what it is I guess. It’s part of racing.”
Related: Talladega carnage reshapes NASCAR Trucks playoffs; Postrace fighting
Crafton issued a social media statement on Sunday morning to articulate his side:
First, let’s address the sucker punch,” Crafton wrote. “Before the cameras started rolling, I approached Nick and said ‘hey’ (and) when he turned around I said ‘what the —?!’ to which he looked right at me and threatened me.
“That is when it all went to hell. I had his attention, words were exchanged, all before anything physical took place, so I did not ‘sucker punch’ the guy. There may not be video, but there were plenty of eyewitnesses.
“What people don’t take into account is that he all but ‘sucker punched’ me at 200 mph. The way he pushed my truck gave me no ability to get out of the situation and he was told multiple times during that race the way he was pushing people was going to cause a wreck and going to get people hurt. There is a consistent pattern of certain drivers having a lack of respect on the track, and it was time for someone to say something.
“Am I proud that it got physical? No. But last time I checked everyone on that track is a grown adult. If a man looks at me and threatens me, I am going to react. Especially when tempers are already flared from being wrecked on the track. I apologize to my team, my sponsors and partners, my family, and the NASCAR community for the negativity and for taking attention away from a good day of racing at Talladega.”
NASCAR says it is investigating the incident. Crafton could face a suspension based on this section of the NASCAR member conduct code in the rule book:
D. Member actions that could result in a fine and/or suspension, or membership revocation:
Member-to-member confrontation(s) with physical violence (e.g. striking another Competitor) and other violent manifestations such as significant threat(s) and/or abuse and/or endangerment.
Matt Weaver is a Motorsports Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.