Ray Dunlap Weighs In on Hornaday Penalties
Hornaday was docked 25 championship driver points, fined $25,000 and placed on NASCAR probation until June 12.
Dunlap joined co-Host Steve Byrnes on NASCAR Race Hub to talk about the penalties.
Byrnes: The big story breaking earlier today; Ron Hornaday fined for dumping Darrell Wallace, Jr. under caution… he’s also dumped 25 championship points and placed on probation until June 12 for what NASCAR deemed, ‘actions detrimental to stock car race.’
Ray Dunlap: You look at it, it’s not only the 25 points; the $25 grand hurts a lot too. Here’s the thing you have to realize, had they parked Ron Hornaday or suspended him from this next race at Kansas, he would have lost 36 points by not being there, so in a way he got 11 points for free.
Byrnes: I heard Ron (Hornaday) on SiriusXM Radio with Mike Bagley and Pete Pistone the other day. Mike Bagley said, “Ron, you’re going to have to explain to me how this incident is different than when Kyle Busch hooked you in Texas at the end of 2011?’ He said, ‘There is no difference.’
Dunlap: Right, and that’s the thing that’s perplexing a little bit to us. I talked to Chad Little (Truck Series Director) just a while ago on the phone, he said, ‘We look at each and every individual event in its own little bubble.’ I don’t quite understand the difference between these two actions on the race track, but he said, “In its entirety, it is a little bit different, so that’s why they made the ruling in not suspending Hornaday for the Kansas race."
Byrnes: I know it’s early in the season, how difficult is this now for Ron to stay in the championship hunt?
Dunlap: Well that’s a big hit, 25 points, that’s almost like a whole race. They have to go out and win a bunch of events and stay in the top five, be competitive week in and week out. However, had they suspended him, and he misses a race, there’s no chance of recovering from that.