Austin Dillon won the NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond Raceway. But he also blatantly wrecked both Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin to do so.
As a result, and even based on NASCAR’s own precedence, both of the aggrieved victims feel like the win should be stripped.
Dillon was leading when a caution with two laps to go reset the race. Logano took the lead on the restart and was five car lengths ahead when Dillon drove into the corner until he slammed into the back of Logano, spinning him out and allowing Hamlin to drive under both.
Dillon then right rear hooked Hamlin into the wall and drove across the line to be declared the winner.
The desperate moves were born from the reality that Dillon entered the weekend 32nd in the standings and nothing less than a win over the final four regular season races would leave him outside of the playoffs.
But that his team told Dillon over the radio to crash them both could leave NASCAR in the difficult decision to review the results. NASCAR has also previously penalized instances of right rear hooks.
Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano speak out against Austin Dillon
“Well, it’s obviously foul. It’s fair in NASCAR. We’re just a different league, right? There is no penalties for rough driving or anything like that. It opens up the opportunity for Austin to be able to just do whatever he wants,” Hamlin said.
“The problem I had, I got hooked in the right rear again. I’m just minding my business. He turned left and hooked me in the right rear. Blew my damn shoulder out. “I don’t know. I mean, the record book won’t care, right, about what happened.
He’s going to be credited with the win. “Obviously he’s just not going to go far ’cause you got to pay your dues back on stuff like that. But it’s worth it because they jump 20 positions in points. So I understand all that. There’s no ill will there. I get it. “I just hate I was part of it. It would have been fun if I was not one of the two guys that got taken out in the last corner. But I understand it. Doesn’t mean I have to agree with it. We’ll talk about it tomorrow.”
Logano was equally furious.
“It’s chicken shit. There’s no doubt about it. He is four car lengths back, not even close. Then he wrecks the 11 to go along with it. Then he’s going to go up there and thank God and praise everything with his baby. It’s a bunch of BS. It’s not even freakin’ close. “Dude, I get it, bump-n-run. I get it,” Logano said.
I didn’t back up the corner at all. He came in there and just drove through me. It’s ridiculous that that’s the way we race. Unbelievable. “I get bump-n-runs. I do that. I would expect it. But from four car lengths back, he was never going to make the corner. Then he wrecks the other car, wrecks the 11 to go with it. What a piece of crap.”
For his part, Austin Dillon responded to calls that his win should be taken away.
Richard Childress also had a different take on the entire situation.