NASCAR drops the ball on fight penalties from Talladega truck race

According to Craftsman Truck Series driver Nick Sanchez and his mother, who witnessed the scene, fellow competitor Matt Crafton sucker-punched an unsuspecting Sanchez in the face in the garage area post-race at Talladega after the two of them were involved in a crash. Sanchez was left with blood streaming down his face while he was held from fighting back.

NASCAR's weak response was to fine both Crafton and Sanchez, and revoke Sanchez's father's garage access for the rest of the year after he got involved in the fight.

Let's be frank: for all intents and purposes, Crafton assaulted Sanchez. It's one thing to have a post-race skirmish in which both parties consent to fighting; it's another for one driver to blindside another from behind while completely defenseless. There's no place for that in NASCAR, or anywhere else.

Had Crafton done what he did away from the track, he would have likely been arrested and charged. Earlier this season, NASCAR indefinitely suspended Cup Series driver Cody Ware due to a domestic dispute — obviously a different situation, but it shows that the sport isn't afraid to hand out consequences for physical violence when there are legal ramifications involved.

Fining Crafton is nothing more than a slap on the wrist. He should not be racing when the Truck Series returns at Homestead in a few weeks, and possibly for the rest of the season.

Then there's the decision to additionally penalize Sanchez (albeit a lesser fine than Crafton), as well as his father. The latter may be the biggest injustice of all about this situation — imagine you firsthand witness your child get ambushed by someone more than twice his age; any good parent would have the same reaction.

It's hard to think of a way in which NASCAR could've screwed up this situation any worse. They had a chance to send a message to Crafton much like they sent to Ware, and to Bubba Wallace and Chase Elliott for on-track incidents in the past year. 

Instead, they let the instigator off the hook and served the biggest punishment to the family of the victim.