NASCAR fines Brad Keselowski, Tony Stewart for Charlotte incidents

NASCAR on Tuesday levied a $50,000 fine on driver Brad Keselowski for his role in a series of heated incidents at the end of the Sprint Cup Series race at Charlotte on Saturday night.

Keselowski, a former Cup champion who drives the No. 2 Ford for Team Penske, also was placed on probation for the next four races.

NASCAR also levied a $25,000 fine on three-time champion Tony Stewart and placed him on probation for the next four races.

But the other two drivers involved in the fracas, Denny Hamlin and Matt Kenseth, were not penalized.

Keselowski, irked at how Hamlin and Kenseth had made contact with his car toward the end of the race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, first struck Hamlin’s car and then Kenseth’s as the field slowed after the race ended.

In hitting Kenseth’s car, Keselowski also ran into the back of Stewart’s car, prompting Stewart to put his car in reverse and slam into Keselowski’s Ford.

The heated emotions spilled into the garage where Hamlin and Kenseth went after Keselowski after all had climbed from their cars, with Kenseth briefly putting Keselowski in a head-lock.

“These penalties are about maintaining a safe environment following the race,’ Robin Pemberton, NASCAR’s senior vice president for competition and racing development, said in a statement.

“We knew that the new Chase format was likely going to raise the intensity level and we want our drivers to continue to be themselves,” Pemberton said, referring to the new knock-out style Chase for the Cup title playoff.

“However, the safety of our drivers, crew members, officials and workers is paramount and we will react when that safety could compromised,” he said.

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