F1 may have experienced a relatively quiet weekend, but that certainly isn’t the case across the world of motorsport, with two NASCAR drivers involved in a bloody brawl.
The event took place following Saturday’s race at the Talladega Superspeedway, with the footage from the incident immediately going viral on social media.
It showed 22-year-old Nick Sanchez with blood on his face claiming that he “would kill” the 47-year-old Matt Crafton.
This allegedly happened because Crafton looked to punch Sanchez in the face after an incident while racing.
This was largely to do with the fact that Crafton felt Sanchez was responsible for their collision.
The aggression didn’t stop even after Crafton had time to cool down in the medical centre.
The 47-year-old reportedly stormed out of the unit looking for Sanchez and was looking for an old-fashioned brawl.
“I was walking back to the hauler, got a tap on my back, got punched in the face,” Sanchez said.
“Cheap shot, but is what it is I guess. I’m all for fighting, but no cheap shots, and I got a cheap shot. Never really had a chance to get him back, but it is what it is. It’s part of racing.”
Sanchez confired that it looked nastier than it actually was and stitches would not be required.
“No, I think they just glued my face and a slight break over here, I don’t know,” Sanchez said, pointing towards his nose.
“But I’m fine.”
“I’m going to kill you. You fucked with the wrong motherfucker”
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) September 30, 2023
No fight like a NASCAR fight. @rubbinisracing
pic.twitter.com/YD52bvhyll
The video clearly shows Sanchez repeatedly shout “I am going to f**king kill you at Homestead”, followed by, “You f**ked with the wrong guy, motherf**ker!”
Crafton tries to justify behaviour
Crafton only responded to the controversy the next day.
“First, let’s address the ‘sucker punch’,” he said.
“Before the cameras started rolling I approached Nick and said ‘Hey’ 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, and 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 apologise 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.”