At Richmond Raceway, excitement and controversy surrounded the NASCAR Cook Out 400 conclusion, which featured a dramatic collision between Austin Dillon and Joey Logano that might result in penalties. A late yellow caused Dillon, who was only a few laps away from a clear victory, to lose his composure and make an aggressive drive that resulted in a late-race collision with Denny Hamlin and Logano.
A yellow and an overtime restart were triggered by a collision involving Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Ryan Preece with just two laps to go, and Dillon was leading comfortably. This restart was when the controversial incident happened. Dillon made a daring move that caused Logano to pass him, but Dillon was unable to hold onto his lead.
In addition to creating drama, the incident has sparked debate about possible penalties for Logano, who aggressively performed donuts on pit road, and Dillon, whose staff was allegedly overheard telling him to damage rivals. According to Jeff Gluck of The Athletic, NASCAR—which is well-known for its Tuesday or Wednesday penalty announcements—is anticipated to release a statement shortly.
When Dillon was a guest on the “Dale Jr. Download” podcast, he was candid about the impending fines. According to On3.com, he said in a comment:
Indeed, as you can see, I am clearly expecting something. Regarding my spotter, I spoke with him and I genuinely believe that we were all feeling quite strongly about the three cars in our scenario. We’ve been hurting for a while now, and with two laps remaining, we were leading Richmond by three seconds when a flag is issued—which is certainly something that should never have happened. However, it did.
Dillon Austin
On July 20, 2024, in Indianapolis, Indiana, Austin Dillon, driver of the #3 SENIX Chevrolet, watches during qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Austin Dillon is going to get in trouble. GETTY IMAGES / James Gilbert
“And then now we’re here talking about things that take away from the car that we really had and the opportunity that we took.”
Following the race, Logano angrily addressed the journalists, as reported by Autosport:
“I even backed up the entry when you get that far ahead, which is three to four vehicle lengths ahead into [Turn] 3. I said to myself, “Let me just wrap the bottom here.” I’m OK,’ he says, and he just drives right in.
Evidently, he had no intention of racing because he hit me and knew he would win. For that reason, he obviously didn’t make the bend. On the rematch, I defeated him handily, and he simply made a dumb play.
“He is a complete moron. He is awful. Despite having a terrible career, he will now be participating in the playoffs. Well done, I suppose.
It appears to be alright. What words do you like me to use? It appears that he can utterly wreck someone from five car lengths behind and then wreck another one to the line; we’ll call that racing.”
Be the first to comment