DJR Team Penske’s Scott Pye has received a 15 point penalty following contact with Nissan driver James Moffat in Race 15 at Hidden Valley.
Stewards deemed that Pye had failed to give racing room during an inside pass on Moffat’s Altima at Turn 5 on lap 20 of 70.
The pair had been battling for 16th place at the time of the move, which saw Will Davison follow Pye through on Moffat as the Nissan was forced wide on the exit.
The incident was not captured by television cameras.
Moffat approached Pye post-race to express his frustration, but his rival was having none of it.
“I thought it was a fair move, to me it was just racing,” Pye told Speedcafe.com.
“If there was any contact it was only very slight because I didn’t even feel it in the car.
“Moff was fuming after the race but it took me a second to realise what he was even talking about.”
Moffat and Pye eventually took the flag 14th and 16th respectively, with the former lamenting the incident.
“I just got driven off the track by Scott Pye,” said Moffat in a team release. “It’s not first time he has done that and it probably won’t be the last.”
“That cost us quite a bit of time – those things are just completely unnecessary.”
Pye argues that V8 Supercars risks discouraging drivers from attempting overtakes by handing out points penalties for such incidents.
“I think that the decisions that are being made are really inconsistent,” he said.
“I’m not too sure where we’re at with that side of it but I fear it’s going to ruin the racing for the fans if we keep on doing what we’re doing.
“Yesterday there was plenty of overtaking and obviously some people are going to be upset along the way, but we need to be careful that we don’t put a stop to the racing completely.
“Fifteen points is a lot to someone at the front of the championship and people won’t be game to overtake with these sorts of penalties.”
Pye, who missed the opening event of the season before replacing Marcos Ambrose, drops one position to 24th in the championship standings following the penalty.
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