Austin Dillon wins at Richmond and draws the ire of Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin

Austin Dillon raced to his first NASCAR Cup Series victory in more than two years, sending Joey Logano into a spin during the final lap, allowing him to win the overtime race on the track at Richmond Raceway on Sunday night.

Aug 12, 2024 01:54 AM

 

Aug 11, 2024, 09:54 PM ET

RICHMOND, Va. -The race was a must once more in almost two years -and the race losing momentum — Austin Dillon sent two cars into the wall in quick sequence.

This resulted in a season-changing win and a flurry of controversy, and two experienced drivers who were in complete fury.

“I hate to do that, but sometimes you just got to have it,” Dillon declared.

Dillon raced and blasted his way to victory on Sunday night which sent Joey Logano into a spin during the final lap, allowing him and winning in the overtime race at Richmond. This was his first victory since August. 28th, 2022 at Daytona. He only had two top 10 finishes in the season and started the race at 32nd place in standings. Now, he’s in the running to qualify for the playoffshowever, he wasn’t getting there in a smooth manner.

Dillon appeared to be speeding towards victory until Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Ryan Preece collided, forcing the first caution of the 400-lap, 300-mile race of the planned ones following the end of the two first stages.

The drivers then went to overtime to finish the race, and Logano clearly had the upper hand of Dillon when the restart came around. Then Dillon was right in front of Logano and turned him around.

“It’s absurd that this is the race we do. It’s unbelievable,” Logano said. “I am constantly bumped and run. I get it all the time. I’d expect that. From four car lengths the driver was not going to get around the turn. He then wrecks the other vehicle. He also wrecks the 11 with it. What a pity.”

“The 11” was Denny Hamlin, who appeared to be accelerating ahead of Dillon from the inside after Dillon knocked Logano’s. 22 car. Then Dillon struck the rear right side of the car and then pushed him in the wall too.

“He’s going to be credited with the win, but obviously he’s just not going to go far,” Hamlin declared. “You’ve 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 a part of it. It would have been fun if I was not one of the two guys that got taken out on the last corner.”

Dillon came out of the chaos and won with his no. 3 Chevrolet. The number was famously driven frequently aggressively by Dale Earnhardt. However, times have changed since Earnhardt’s peak as well. Elton Sawyer, NASCAR’s senior vice head of competition, stated that the conclusion of this race would be viewed with suspicion.

“In my view, that’s getting really close to crossing the line,” Sawyer stated.

Announcing the loss, but that would be a remarkable step.

“Historically, that hasn’t been our DNA to take races away, but that’s not to say that going forward this wouldn’t start to set a precedent,” Sawyer declared. “We’d have to look at it.”

Dillon seemed to be on the way to a less controversial win, after he had passed Hamlin to lead the race after 29 laps. Then the crash of Stenhouse-Preece and the subsequent restart put Dillon in danger of suffering an painful defeat.

Dillon stated that it was his attempt to move Logano’s vehicle, however, he said striking Hamlin in addition was more of a quick reaction.

“It’s ridiculous that that’s the way we race. Unbelievable. I get bump and runs. I do that. I would expect it. But from four car lengths back, he was never going to make the corner. And then he wrecks the other car. He wrecks the 11 to go with it. What a piece of crap.” Joey Logano

“I’ve seen Denny and Joey make moves that have been running people up the track to win,” Dillon declared. “This was the first opportunity in two years for me to be able to get a win. … I’ve seen a lot of stuff over the years in NASCAR where people move people, and it’s just part of our sport.”

The owner Richard Childress, Dillon’s grandfather also expressed the same sentiment. Childress was also questioned about the possibility of hearing of Dillon being told to destroy another driver in the rush to final.

“I did not hear him, and I was listening to his radio. We’ll see what happens,” Childress said. “If the race went on, he’s done very well at it. He was the winner of the race.”

Hamlin was second, being followed by Tyler Reddick, Bubba Wallace and Ross Chastain. Dillon’s win was not the best news for Wallace as well as the other players who are on the playoff bubble.

“Nice to walk out of here with a top-five finish,” Wallace declared. “We have a long way to go. We just have to keep fighting. I guess you can dump somebody and right rear somebody and be OK. It’s funny how that works.”

Christopher Bell won the first stage, but was later slapped with a fine for speeding in the pit road, and ended up finishing in the sixth position. Daniel Suarez won the second stage.

Martin Truex Jr. was removed from the race because of engine problems in the last stage. He is the most racer in the standings with no wins.