NASCAR responds to Joey Gase's Xfinity race bumper toss viral incident, imposes nominal penalty

NASCAR imposed a $5,000 fine on Joey Gase for creating an "unsafe environment" after throwing off his bumper on the running #4 Chevy of Dawson Cram.

During the Xfinity Series race at Richmond last week, Cram and Gase made contact while battling on the 173rd lap. The former got into the inside, spinning Gase around. He had a hard impact with the wall on turn 1 and was consequently forced to retire from the race.

In a shocking incident, Joey Gase pulled out the hanging bumper from his car and threw it on Dawson Cram, who was passing by him at the time. While Gase was not given a penalty immediately, NASCAR imposed a $5,000 fine on him for behavioral misconduct and creating an unsafe environment for the driver on the track.

No formal penalties affecting his follow-up race were awarded to Gase. The fine was counted as a violation of section 8.8.8k, which states: A safety violation may be imposed for any action or omission by a competitor or vehicle that creates an unsafe environment or poses a threat to the safety of the Competitors, as determined by NASCAR.

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Joey Gase expresses discontent with Dawson Cram after NASCAR Xfinity Series race incident

Joey Gase throwing off the bumper on Dawson Cram's car could have led to a fatal incident in case it had hung on the windshield. However, it flew away from the slow car, and caution was put out as well.

Gase, however, was not completely done with the driver after almost getting him into a dangerous situation.

Speaking to the media after the race, he expressed his desire for Cram to understand the impact of his actions. He also acknowledged Cram's talent but noted that he "loses his head" during races.

"I just wanted to give him a souvenir," Gase said. "Let him know what he did. I gave the kid his first ever start in Xfinity and comes over borrows our tools and parts and pieces every week. And you know, he's a good kid, but he loses his head every frickin race."

Dawson Cram finished the race in 25th place, maintaining his 34th position in the championship. Meanwhile, Joey Gase finished ten places behind him, securing 44th position overall. Neither driver has yet claimed a race victory.