Shane van Gisbergen’s clash with Richard Childress Racing driver Austin Hill was the most high-profile incident.
Van Gisbergen got into the back of Hill during Stage 1 and spun him up the track, causing damage to the #33 Chevrolet.
Hill pitted after the incident before going back out onto the track to swipe the #97 Camaro under caution.
The other incident involved Front Row Motorsports’ Zane Smith, who rear-ended Carson Hocevar and spun the Spire Motorsports driver.
On Wednesday, NASCAR issued its penalty report, which did not feature any sanctions for the aforementioned incidents.
Speaking on the Dale Jr Download, host Dale Earnhardt Jr. labelled the incident under yellow “short track shit”.
“We all have wanted to do it. We’ve all maybe done it at some point in our careers,” said Earnhardt Jr.
“You get wrecked, you want to go out there and you want to wreck him.
“Austin Hill knows his race is over. He knows it. When your race is over, you’re like ‘I want his fucking race to be over’.
“What can I do on my way out to make his day a long one? So he goes over and slaps the left front, trying to bend a toe link or do something. Maybe he did.”
Earnhardt Jr. referenced comments made by Denny Hamlin about how NASCAR handles incidents.
Hamlin said that the governing body had trended away from letting drivers settle their differences on track.
Earnhardt Jr. said the fear of retribution among drivers was almost a necessary part of stock car racing to keep drivers in check.
“We don’t need to eradicate it or rid it from the sport. Would you agree? A little bit of this is a good thing,” he explained.
“The potential that that guy on the race track might park your ass, that being a possibility needs to be in there. It keeps some guys in line.
“The only thing I care about in all of this is these type of moments are TV gold, they are podcast gold, storyline gold,” he added.
“That is what our sport needs. We need controversy. We need some ruffled feathers. We need some hurt feelings. We need some guys who are pissed off.
“There is a line though. There is a line that you can’t cross that would be in the name of safety.
“There’s a way to turn a guy. If you want to wreck a guy, there’s a way to do it that I wouldn’t say is respected but it’s accepted.”
Atlanta Motor Speedway hosts the upcoming NASCAR Cup Series race on Monday, July 13.
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