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NASCAR announced Tuesday that Craftsman Truck Series drivers Matt Crafton and Nick Sanchez both received behavioral penalties following a fight between the two in the garage area after Saturday's race at Talladega Superspeedway. Crafton has been fined $25,000 for his actions, while Sanchez was fined $5,000.

The issue between the two drivers stemmed from a crash on a restart with three laps to go, when a move by Sanchez to the middle of three-wide led to contact with Crafton and triggered a 10-truck crash on the front straightaway that ended Crafton's day. Getting out of his truck on pit road, Crafton could be seen making terse remarks toward Sanchez's pit box before the situation escalated in the garage area.

Later, the tail end of a fight in the garage between the two drivers was caught by Frontstretch.com. The spectacle ended with Sanchez being pulled from the altercation with a bloodied face and threatening to "kill" Crafton in the series' next race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Differing accounts of what transpired emerged afterward. After being released from the infield care center, the 22-year-old Sanchez -- who suggested he may have a slight break in his nose from the fight -- claimed to reporters the 47-year-old Crafton sucker punched him unprovoked.

"I was walking back to the hauler, tap on my back, got punched in the face," Sanchez said. "... I'm all for fighting, but no cheap shots. I got a cheap shot. I didn't really have a chance to get him back, but it is what it is."

In a thread on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, Crafton disputed Sanchez's sucker punch claim, saying that he confronted Sanchez about his driving and that the rookie driver responded by threatening him. While there was no video to substantiate Crafton's claim, he cited eyewitnesses in the garage area in making his point.

"What people don't take into account is that he all but 'sucker punched' me at 200 mph. The way he pushed my truck gave me no ability to get out of the situation and he was told multiple times during that race the way he was pushing people was going to cause a wreck and going to get people hurt," Crafton wrote. "There is a consistent pattern of certain drivers having a lack of respect on the track, and it was time for someone to say something.

"Am I proud that it got physical, no, but last time I checked everyone on that track is a grown adult. If a man looks at me and threatens me, I am going to react. Especially when tempers are already flared from being wrecked on the track."

Some of the indignation from Crafton, a three-time Truck Series champion, was justified in the sense that the accident did lead to a driver being injured. Greg Van Alst, who took a hard hit into the outside wall, was taken to a local hospital and later diagnosed with a fractured vertebrae.

In addition to the penalties assessed to the two drivers, Nick's father, Rene Sanchez -- who could be seen throwing a punch as a non-driver in the altercation -- was suspended by NASCAR for the final two races of the 2023 season.