![\"Corey](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/nascar-punishments-seven-wild-martinsville-fight.jpg\")
\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
NASCAR handed down punishments to seven people following a wild fight at Martinsville, with multiple penalties stemming from the altercations.<\/p>\n
Corey Heim survived a coordinated pit-road ambush at Martinsville Speedway, and NASCAR spent three days deciding how to answer it.<\/p>\n
The answer landed this week as NASCAR\u2019s harshest fight-related punishments in years, with a team owner facing an indefinite ban that could keep him off pit road for good.<\/p>\n
The trouble started after Heim and Treyten Lapcevich spent Saturday\u2019s final restart dogfighting for second at the ValleyStar Credit Union 300, with Heim edging Lapcevich by 0.072 seconds behind winner Caden Kvapil, according to Short Track Scene<\/a>. Into Turn 1 after the flag, Heim\u2019s car rode over the hood of Lapcevich\u2019s No. 77 Chevrolet, wrecking both cars.<\/p>\n \u201cHe tried to pin me under the curb and just kept turning left,\u201d Heim said of the contact, according to Short Track Scene. \u201cMy right front hopped his left front and destroyed a perfectly good race car.\u201d<\/p>\n Lapcevich called the move unnecessary and started toward Heim, according to the Short Track Scene description, before owner Chad Bryant intervened and walked his driver back.<\/p>\n Minutes later, walking toward his hauler, Heim was cut off by Chad Bryant Racing crew members at Martinsville\u2019s hot dog stand and pinned against the building as punches flew.<\/p>\n Denny Hamlin, the 23XI co-owner who signed Heim for 2027, aired his anger on his podcast.<\/p>\n \u201cThose f****** cowards waited on Corey Heim to leave his car and leave his team, and then jump him while he was on the way to his hauler,\u201d Hamlin said, as quoted by Short Track Scene\u2018s Stephen Durham<\/a>. \u201cThere is absolutely no way any of those guys should be in a pit lane for the next year, at least.\u201d<\/p>\n Heim never threw a punch, Hamlin said.<\/p>\n NASCAR PENALTY REPORT \u2014 MARTINSVILLE FIGHT<\/p>\n NASCAR Regional Series \u2022 September 26, 2026<\/p>\n Driver Steven Civatarese Chad Bryant Dylan Jenks Ryden Lapcevich Brad Housewright Chase Burrow Ryan Burrow All penalties issued 9\/26\/2026 in connection with a Martinsville Speedway incident, NASCAR Regional Series.<\/p>\n Corey Heim\u2019s Rise Collides With Old Chad Bryant Racing Ties<\/p>\n The ambush carried extra sting given the history. Heim, 24, made his ARCA debut for Chad Bryant Racing in 2019, years before winning a record 12 Truck races last season for the championship, according to NASCAR.com<\/a>. NASCAR confirmed in May that Heim will drive 23XI\u2019s No. 35 Toyota full-time starting in 2027.<\/p>\n Lapcevich, the 2023 NASCAR Pinty\u2019s Series champion, was not among those NASCAR disciplined.<\/p>\n NASCAR\u2019s penalty report cited Bryant and crew member Steven Civatarese for physical confrontation, fining Bryant $2,000 and Civatarese $1,000, suspending both indefinitely including next year\u2019s Martinsville race, and ordering Bryant into anger-management training, according to NASCAR insider Bob Pockrass<\/a>.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t NASCAR\u2019s Punishment Depends on Who Throws Punches<\/p>\n NASCAR CEO Steve O\u2019Donnell draws a consistent line. Driver fights get a pass, crew involvement does not. Days earlier, Ryan Blaney and Carson Hocevar traded punches at Bristol, and NASCAR declined to penalize either, saying it would not \u201cencourage fighting\u201d but would \u201cencourage passion,\u201d as quoted by Racing News<\/a>.<\/p>\n Martinsville offers the closest precedent. After a 2023 heat<\/a> race there, NASCAR fined drivers Connor Hall and Magnum Tate $500 apiece, and fined a crew member $1,000 with probation, according to NASCAR.com\u2018s official penalty report<\/a>. Bryant\u2019s punishment went further, adding an indefinite ban that crew members avoided.<\/p>\n Five others, including participants in a separate brawl that left driver Brad Housewright bloodied, drew fines of $250 to $500 and probation through 2027.<\/p>\n NASCAR veteran Kenny Wallace said the pattern needs to stop.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re going to kill somebody. You\u2019re going to hit them wrong and go to jail,\u201d Wallace said, according to EssentiallySports<\/a>. \u201cThese f****** crew members attack Corey Heim.\u201d<\/p>\n Heim later displayed the dented menu, according to Racing News<\/a>, a souvenir of another violent Martinsville night.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t \n\t\t\tJonathan Vankin<\/a> JONATHAN VANKIN is an award-winning journalist who covers MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL, boxing, golf, and Olympic sports for Heavy.com. He twice won New England Newspaper and Press Association awards for sports feature writing. He was a sports editor and writer at The Daily Yomiuri in Tokyo, Japan, covering the Olympics, pro baseball, boxing, sumo and other sports. More about Jonathan Vankin<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty NASCAR handed down punishments to seven people following a wild fight at Martinsville, with multiple penalties stemming…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":914615,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[49,48,634,82],"class_list":["post-914614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nascar","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nascar","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/914614","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=914614"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/914614\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/914615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=914614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=914614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=914614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nViolation
\nSection(s)
\nPenalty<\/p>\n
\nBehavioral
\n12-6.1C & 12-6.1C2: Members actions; member-to-member confrontation(s) with physical violence
\n$1,000 fine; indefinite suspension; suspended from 2027 ValleyStar Credit Union 300 at Martinsville Speedway; one-year NASCAR probation.<\/p>\n
\nBehavioral
\n12-6.1C & 12-6.1C2: Members actions; member-to-member confrontation(s) with physical violence
\n$2,000 fine; indefinite suspension; suspended from 2027 ValleyStar Credit Union 300 at Martinsville Speedway; one-year NASCAR probation; required to complete anger management training through a NASCAR-approved program.<\/p>\n
\nBehavioral
\n12-6.1C & 12-6.1C2: Members actions; member-to-member confrontation(s) with physical violence
\n$500 fine; NASCAR probation until December 31, 2027.<\/p>\n
\nBehavioral
\n12-6.1C & 12-6.1C2: Members actions; member-to-member confrontation(s) with physical violence
\n$500 fine; NASCAR probation until December 31, 2027.<\/p>\n
\nBehavioral
\n12-6.1C & 12-6.1C2: Members actions; member-to-member confrontation(s) with physical violence
\n$250 fine; NASCAR probation until December 31, 2027.<\/p>\n
\nBehavioral
\n12-6.1C & 12-6.1C2: Members actions; member-to-member confrontation(s) with physical violence
\n$250 fine; NASCAR probation until December 31, 2027.<\/p>\n
\nBehavioral
\n12-6.1C & 12-6.1C2: Members actions; member-to-member confrontation(s) with physical violence
\n$500 fine; NASCAR probation until December 31, 2027.<\/p>\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1790722937_514_ryan-blaney-carson-hocevar-reactions-fight-NASCAR.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1790722938_635_bubba-wallace-disrespect-hocevar-nascar-comments.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n