[Purist]

Unfortunately, NASCAR really only has itself to blame. In their sphere, they've done their best to encourage this "boys have at it" attitude. They've glorified that 1979 Daytona 500 fist fight, and every subsequent altercation. On top of that, they've promoted the drivers over everything else, to the extent that they had a car that was absolutely identical across all the manufacturers, until the manufacturers pushed back. They won't suspend a star driver,, because they fear the hit in attendance/TV ratings that could result.

And it isn't only NASCAR in some of these things. If Romain Grosjean had been a race winner, or had hit guys who were normally back-markers, I'm not sure that he would have been suspended after that start incident at Spa. Heck, the fact he hit regular front-runners and championship contenders was highlighted in the subsequent press release on the matter.

(I'll try not to speculate too much, but my engineer's brain, at some level, DEMANDS to figure these things out for itself, and isn't content to just wait to be spoon-fed whatever somebody else has come up with.)

Based on what I've seen so far though, it doesn't sound good for Tony. I'm no fan of his, but I wouldn't wish this sort of thing on any driver, no matter how much I dislike him.

Keep in mind, racing drivers are NOT in line with the general population when it comes to risk-taking, aggression, and a certain sense of invulnerability, or at least, that they think they can avoid situations, and the bad consequences will fall upon someone else who just isn't quite as good. Also, since death has become so much rarer, certainly in the upper echelons of racing, there is a measure of complacency and a lack of carefulness on the part of everyone. It's not that the drivers intend to be careless, but rather, they aren't FORCED to be as careful, and therefore, the level of precaution they take has slipped compared to yesteryear.