The decision hasn’t gone down well at ThorSport Racing. The National Motorsports Appeals Panel has upheld the fine issued to Ty Majeski after the racing driver missed out on media commitments ahead of the Championship 4 fixture at Phoenix Raceway. Hailing from Seymour, Wisconsin, the racer opted to fulfill his civic responsibilities in his home state by casting a vote on Election Day, instead of making a trip to North Carolina and fulfilling his NASCAR obligations on November 5th.

However, the verdict has left a bitter taste in the mouths of the ThorSport Racing hierarchy. The team’s owner Duke Thorson took to social media to express his thoughts about the situation with a sarcastic video that was aimed at NASCAR.

Duke Thorson takes an indirect jibe at NASCAR

It’s hard to blame Ty Majeski for wanting to make his vote count. The 2024 Truck Series winner simply wanted to exercise his civic duty as a responsible citizen, but it ended up coming at a big cost. Literally. Unfortunately for the 30-year-old, Election Day also coincided with NASCAR’s Championship 4 Media Day in Charlotte, North Carolina, which forced the racer to make a difficult decision. After informing his team, the racer opted to miss out on his commitments, despite being contractually bound to fulfill them irrespective of the circumstances. Another mistake that the driver made was that he failed to disclose the ‘reason’ for missing out on media duties, even though he informed the sanctioning body of being unavailable.

Predictably, it came back to hurt him. Ty Majeski was slapped with a hefty fine just days before the biggest race of his career, a decision that didn’t go down well with the racer, as well as his team’s owners and fans. Indirectly accusing NASCAR of being unpatriotic, ThorSport Racing co-owner Duke Thorson took to social media and uploaded a sarcastic video, which showed a character saying, “Well, you can do what you want to us, but we’re not going to sit here and listen to you badmouth the United States of America.”

It’s not difficult to see why ThorSport Racing and Ty Majeski are feeling hard done by. Describing the penalty as “unprecedented”, the racing driver justified his decision to miss out on media obligations by saying, “I felt like I needed to do my duty as a U.S. citizen to vote. My team owners and I, we all made the decision to exercise that right.” However, should he have informed NASCAR about the reason for not fulfilling his contractual obligations? Had he done so, would it have avoided an unnecessary but expensive debacle? It’s all open to speculation.

Justifying their decision to uphold the penalty, the panelists said that the “Driver failed to meet contractual agreement with NASCAR. One of the most, if not most, important media obligations of the entire season.” Given that Ty Majeski eventually ended up winning the 2024 Truck Series later that week, the verdict seems to be a harsh one from the sanctioning body and the National Motorsports Appeals Panel, one that doesn’t paint them in a flattering light. With elections happening once in four years, but media days occurring every week during the season, should NASCAR have planned better?

Is Ty Majeski at fault for the ongoing debacle?

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While it’s easy to get caught in the ‘patriotism’ and ‘civic responsibility’ narrative, it’s also important to see the other side of the story. Ultimately, it all came down to a lack of communication between the sanctioning body and Ty Majeski. Media duties are an important part of any sport, more so when it’s just before a title-winning race of the season. However, the racer was absent on November 5th but went on to win his first title at Phoenix Raceway later that week, which meant NASCAR had no production day material for the ThorSport racer.

Moreover, all it probably needed was an email or a phone call to avoid the unnecessary debacle. If NASCAR had been informed about the reason well in advance, they could have made alternate arrangements so that it didn’t clash with his civic responsibilities. However, the sanctioning body was left high and dry, after receiving no communication from the driver or his team. Moreover, the state of Wisconsin allows early and absentee voting, options that Ty Majeski should have considered, given his circumstances. However, Majeski’s reason for not opting for absentee voting was, “I wanted to make sure my vote was counted.” With every vote being vitally important, Majeski didn’t want to take a chance that his vote got misplaced due to him not physically casting it.

Ultimately, it seems like nobody has won in this scenario, as it left NASCAR and the appeals panel in a tricky spot, while Ty Majeski is being forced to pay a considerable sum of money. However, all hope is not lost. Majeski and ThorSport Racing can escalate the matter further to the final appeals officer. Although, if history is any indication, the result is unlikely to be any different. It would be wiser for both the driver and his team to accept the verdict, even if it’s a bitter pill to swallow and comes to a significant cost.