In their final in-race penalty report of the 2024 season, NASCAR fined Xfinity Series driver Anthony Alfredo $25,000 and docked him 25 championship driver points Tuesday for violating Sections 4.4.B of the NASCAR Rule Book for intentionally crashing Stefan Parsons during last Saturday night’s Xfinity Series Championship Race at Phoenix (Ariz.) Raceway.
Despite the points deduction, he will remain 15th in the final Xfinity Series standings for 2024.
While battling for a spot around the top-20, Parsons and Alfredo made contact off Turn 4 on Lap 63. The contact caused Alfredo to hit the wall.
A few seconds later, Alfredo hooked Parsons’ No. 45 Chevrolet, slamming him into the wall and ending his night.
Under the caution for the incident, NASCAR held Alfredo for two laps for reckless driving. Later in the race, Alfredo later crashed out of the event after suffering an apparent blown tire.
Parsons finished last in 38th, while Alfredo faired only two positions better in 36th with 152 of 213 laps completed.
After the race, Alfredo declared his innocence, claiming he did not purposely remove the Alpha Prime Racing driver from the race.
“No, I mean unfortunately, obviously, I didn’t mean for that to happen,” Alfredo told reporters after he was released from the Phoenix Raceway infield care center Saturday night. “I’m really glad he didn’t hit harder because it could have been a lot worse just at that angle in the dogleg.
“Once we got into the wall off (Turn) 2, and I bounced off – I was just going to side-draft him, and I honestly anticipated him cutting more of the dogleg, and he didn’t. I shouldn’t have assumed that, it put us in a bad position.
“Unfortunately, I got into his right rear. It wasn’t intentional. It sucks we got a penalty and it had an effect on our race. But I’m glad he’s OK, and to be honest, I’ll take the penalty cause NASCAR has made a rule about that: whether it’s intentional or not, you can’t get into a guy’s right rear.”
Despite being in the heat of the moment trackside, Alfredo said he respected NASCAR for their decision.
“I have two months to figure out how I could have prevented that although like I said, I didn’t do it on purpose,” he added. “I respect NASCAR for being straightforward and sticking with the rule.”
Alfredo, 25, is in his third full-time Xfinity Series season delivered two top-five and seven top-10 finishes for Our Motorsports. He returned to the team after driving for B.J. McLeod Motorsports in 2023.
The Ridgefield, Connecticut native, even with an impressive season isn’t expected to return to the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro in 2025. A full-time NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series driver this season is the leading candidate to replace Alfredo next season.
Stewart-Haas Racing, in their final Xfinity Series race under the SHR banner, won the race with Riley Herbst at the helm, while Justin Allgaier won the series’ championship, recovering from a number of setbacks earlier in the race.
I think @anthonyalfredo is a really good racecar driver & really good person. He called me to apologize for this, and I 100% believe the contact wasn’t intentional. He’s always raced hard, but fairly with our cars. Hate the whole thing essentially ended both our days. https://t.co/VonDE5B1k8
— Tommy Joe Martins (@TommyJoeMartins) November 12, 2024
Follow Chris Knight on X (Twitter) @Knighter01 or email at [email protected].
