Ty Majeski, a NASCAR Truck Series driver, said he plans to appeal a $12,500 fine assessed for not taking part in NASCAR’s content-gathering day Tuesday in advance of the series championship.

His reason for skipping the event? He said he returned to his home state of Wisconsin to vote on Election Day.

“I’ve always, in my whole life, always been an Election Day vote guy. I’ve never done an absentee ballot,” he told reporters Thursday in Arizona. “I wanted to make sure my vote was counted.”

NASCAR fined him for violating the rule that requires championship-eligible drivers from each of NASCAR’s national circuits to attend the content-gathering day, a media obligation.

Majeski said the ThorSport Racing team owners knew he planned to vote in person. He added he didn’t even cement his spot in the Championship 4 until just a few days prior to Election Day.

“Kind of unprecedented,” Majeski, 30, said. “This has never happened before. Everyone knew it was Election Day for a long time. … Unfortunate circumstances for everybody.”

Wisconsin was one of seven swing states in this year’s presidential election, won Tuesday by Donald Trump.

“We have to have a country and a free country to be able to race in, and that’s just part of being a U.S. citizen,” Majeski said about the importance of voting to him.

Per The Athletic, the media day obligation has been on the calendar since July 17. A NASCAR spokesperson told the outlet that had Majeski brought up the conflict, the organization would have seen to it his duties were done early in the day so that he could travel to Wisconsin to arrive before the polls closed.

Majeski is joined by Grant Enfinger, Christian Eckes and Corey Heim in competing in the series championship on Friday at Phoenix Raceway.

–Field Level Media