Sean Hingorani, a lower-division NASCAR driver who most recently competed in the sanctioning body's ARCA Menards Series, has been suspended for one race for intentionally wrecking another car on track. Complicating the matter is that the driver Hingorani wrecked was Dean Thompson, his teammate at Venturini Motorsports.
Both Hingorani and Thompson are part-timers in the ARCA series, three divisions below the marquee Cup Series on NASCAR's national development ladder. Their problems with one another started mid-race, when Hingorani attempted a move for the lead on Thompson in Mid-Ohio's final corners. He was run off track, spinning and dropping out of contention. An incident like that while racing hard for position is typical in NASCAR, particularly at the lower levels, and generally not penalized unless intent is clearly established. What Hingorani does next is what creates the issue.
Thompson had fallen to second by the final lap, but Hingorani had fallen off the pace entirely. Hingorani, just 16 and starting his fourth-ever national-level ARCA race, slowed to fall a full lap down and find Thompson, 21, on track. With just a few corners remaining in the race, he intentionally ran Thompson into a sand trap, beaching his own car in the process.
As the two are both part-timers at Venturini and neither is fighting for a championship, this is not a typical wreck between teammates. Hingorani's part-time status also means that the actual suspension for one race at Iowa is effectively irrelevant to him; he was not planning to enter the race anyway. No matter the situation, wrecking a teammate is always a major mistake. Wrecking one on purpose should result in bigger career issues than a one-race suspension.
