Excitement and controversy clouded the finish at the NASCAR Cook Out 400 held at Richmond Raceway, spotlighting Austin Dillon and Joey Logano in a dramatic clash that could lead to penalties. Dillon, who was mere laps from a clean victory, found his race derailed by a late caution, eventually leading to an aggressive move in which he crashed into Logano and Denny Hamlin in the final moments.
With only two laps remaining and Dillon leading comfortably, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Ryan Preece collided leading to a caution and an overtime restart. It was during this restart that the contentious action unfolded. Dillon’s failure to maintain his lead saw Logano overtake him, only to be spun out after a risky move by Dillon.
The incident has not only stirred drama but has prompted discussions regarding the potential penalties against Dillon, whose crew was reportedly heard instructing him to wreck competitors, and Logano, who aggressively performed donuts on pit road. NASCAR, known for its Tuesday or Wednesday penalty announcements, is expected to make a statement soon, according to Jeff Gluck for The Athletic.
Dillon, who appeared on the “Dale Jr. Download” podcast, didn’t shy away from acknowledging the looming penalties. He commented, as quoted by On3.com:
“Yeah, you know, I mean I’m expecting something obviously. As far as my spotter, I talked to him and I truly think for all of us, the emotions were really high in our situation for the 3 car. We’ve been beat up, banged up for a while now and with two laps to go we had a three-second lead at Richmond and a caution comes out that probably shouldn’t have ever happened. But it did.
“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.”
Speaking to the media directly after the race, Logano fumed, as quoted by Autosport:
“When you get that far ahead, that’s three to four car lengths ahead into [Turn] 3 – I even backed up the entry. I was like, ‘I’ll just wrap the bottom here. I’m good,’ and he just drives in so hard.
“Obviously, he didn’t make the turn because he hit me and [Hamlin] was going to win the race, so he had no intention to race. I beat him fair and square on the restart and he just pulls a chicken shit move.
“He’s a piece of crap. He sucks. He’s sucked his whole career and now he’s going to be in the playoffs. Good for him, I guess.
“Apparently, it’s OK. What do you want me to say? Apparently, he can come from five car lengths back and completely wreck someone and then wreck another one to the line and we’re going to call that racing.”
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