With the appeals process behind him, Austin Dillon has shared his side of the story over what he believes happened on the final lap at Richmond Raceway and why he still feels he should not have been stripped of a playoff berth.
Dillon remains the winner of the Cook Out 400 at Richmond, but it came only after he initiated contact with both Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin in the final corner to reach the finish line first. It took three days for NASCAR to review the data but it ultimate stripped him of the benefits that came with his victory, primarily the playoff berth.
That decision was made after reviewing throttle trace telemetry that painted a pretty damning picture about his intent regarding both Logano and Hamlin. Spotter Brandon Benesch was also suspended three races for radio transmission that said ‘wreck him’ but it was reduced to one race on appeal.
Richard Childress Racing appealed the penalty on the whole but it was upheld by the three-member National Motorsports Appeal Panel and upheld again by Final Appeals Officer Bill Mullis.
Dillon, speaking to FOX Sports’ Bob Pockrass on Saturday at Darlington Raceway was adamant that the data showed Hamlin drifting up into him and that Logano slowed in front of him.
“The 11 had 45 degrees of steer angle to the right coming up the track sliding into me,” Dillon said. “So there were two parts to that wreck. They said that the reason they took our playoff berth was a three-part problem, and it was the entirety.
“We were able to disprove that the spotter had anything to do with it, because the wreck had already ensued when he said ‘wreck him’ and it was the context that he said it.
“Second, between Joey and I, he gets out of the car afterwards and says I was four or five car lengths back. The true distance was two car lengths from NASCAR. We superimposed SMT and pictures, it was one and three-quarters car lengths back. He was three miles an hour slower on entry on his final lap than his white flag lap. That’s the reason I was able to get to his back bumper. In any case, when you get all this together, there was two parts to every part of it. So it was frustrating.”
Also, regarding the Hamlin contact, Dillon says that Hamlin drifted up the track because he was pushing to beat him to the line. The SMT data showed that Hamlin took a lower line than the previous lap to avoid the incident and that Dillon turned hard left.
The natural line moves up the race track on corner exit.
“The biggest thing is in that situation, Denny has been in a lot of different moments where (people) come up the track and people lift or hit the wall because of it,” Dillon said. “His spotter is consistently saying ‘outside, outside’ as he’s coming up the track and contact his right rear with my left front.
“He lost lateral as he is sliding. He’s just trying to get to the start-finish line fast just like I was. Both of us were trying to get to the start-finish as fast as we could. So what am I supposed to do in that situation when he’s coming up and hits me? Go to the wall with him and finish second? I just did whatever I had to do to react to him sliding into me.”
Dillon also believes, based on past precedence, that the penalty for right rear hooks like the one he was charged with committing on Hamlin came with a suspension but also a playoff waiver. This was also an unprecedented scenario where a right rear contact decided a race and playoff spot.“We did our due diligence on the appeal,” Dillon continued with FOX. “We really put a lot of effort in for all of our employees at RCR. Didn’t think the penalty fit the crime. If you look back throughout NASCAR and history, guys with intent, wrecking people – Chase Elliott-Denny in Charlotte, given a waiver after that.
“Another one would be William Byron turning Denny under a caution, given 25 points penalty, $100,000 [fine] — they appealed it, got their points back and was back in the playoffs. So many cases where we felt like the penalty didn’t fit the entirety of the crime, and that that is the biggest financial penalty in the sport’s history from a judgement call, what it really comes down to it.”
His grandfather and team owner, Richard Childress, said earlier in the day that the decision by NASCAR and the appeals panel will change the final lap of the sport forever and said what amounts to a one million dollar fine when accounting not making the playoffs would not hold up in a court of law.