Marcos Ambrose Punches Casey Mears, Won't Apologize: NASCAR Driver Fined $25,000 (VIDEO)
Marcos Ambrose punched Casey Mears after their NASCAR race last Saturday night at Richmond International Raceway, but the driver isn't apologizing, even after a stiff fine of $25,000. Although Ambrose and Mears got into it, the Australian driver said he is happy to pay the fine.
Marcos Ambrose and Casey Mears first got into a heated exchange after the race, in which Ambrose finished 18th and Mears finished 19th after a battle for position. Ambrose said he was caught off guard by the altercation, as he was intending to speak to another driver, David Gilliland, about the race.
"The altercation I had with Casey was quite impromptu," the 37-year-old NASCAR said at a media event Thursday at Charlotte Motor Speedway. "Some words were said and I was confused about why Casey was so annoyed at me … To be honest with you, once he put his hand on me and started pushing me around I was just trying to stand up for myself and my country and my family and my reputation and I threw a punch down on him to get him out of the way."
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He added that he and Mears have spoken since and if he saw him around that he wouldn't mind buying his fellow driver a beer. Still, he admitted that he deserves the $25,000 fine, though he didn't apologize for throwing a punch after being shoved. Mears also received a $15,000 fine from NASCAR for his part in the incident.
"No, I got myself in a bad situation. I caused an action that NASCAR needed to reprimand, so I'm happy to pay it and happy to move on," Ambrose told Sports Illustrated. However, his team owner Richard Petty wholly disagrees.
"As you can see in the tape, he did not initiate any of that," Petty said. "He was trying to get away, so I think, from that standpoint, I don't know what [NASCAR's] rationale is. I'll just have to talk to them and see what they come up with."
