Richard Childress supported his grandson Austin Dillon after Dillon crashed into both Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin to win Sunday night’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond.
Dillon was running second to Logano on the final lap and spun him entering the final two turns. As Logano spun and Dillon slowed, Hamlin moved to the inside to pass Dillon. Dillon then spun to the left to hook Hamlin into the wall and cross the finish line first.
After the race, Dillon said he was willing to do whatever it took to win, since he hadn’t won in two years. And Childress, the owner of Dillon’s car, said he told his grandson to do whatever it took to win.
“They would have done it to him, you know?” Childress said. “It’s one of those deals that when it comes to winning a race and you’re in that position, you’re hungry, you do whatever it takes. That’s what I’ve told him his whole life.”
Dillon said in his post-race press conference that he had planned to crash Logano, but his decision to dump Hamlin was a “reaction” at the time.
“[Logano] tried to get him loose, but [Hamlin] was more of a reaction,” Dillon said. “I wasn’t lifting at that point because I was more looking at where [Logano] was. When [Hamlin] came, it was just a reaction.”
Dillon’s actions did not immediately result in a penalty from NASCAR officials. Although NASCAR left the possibility of a penalty open Sunday night, it would not be until Tuesday that a penalty would be imposed. And if NASCAR did decide to penalize Dillon for what he did, it would be very surprising and almost unprecedented if it took away his victory.
Dillon did what he had to do because he knew NASCAR probably wouldn’t do anything. The sanctioning body has shown that it’s willing to tolerate absurd levels of rough driving in recent years, especially at the Cup Series level. He entered the race 32nd in the points standings and needed a win in one of the final four races of the regular season to make the playoffs.
“I don’t know, man, it’s just the rules of the sport, right?” Dillon said when asked if it was good for NASCAR when a driver crashes another driver for a win. “It is what it is. Wins get you to the next round. I did what I had to do to cross the start/finish line first.
“As for the sport, I heard we’re trending No. 1 on Twitter right now. People need to check it out now, so that’s good.”
We believe the latter part of Dillon’s remarks succinctly sums up why NASCAR has been willing to tolerate so much willful destruction. As NASCAR’s relevance in the sports landscape slowly fades, the series has embraced viral highlights whenever possible. What Dillon did Sunday night was certainly worthy of a viral highlight.
But we don’t need to tell you that every viral highlight is “good” for reputations. How is what Dillon did going to attract casual fans who’ve stopped watching races? Fans are more likely to see that highlight and think NASCAR has become a clown show.
“Well, it’s clearly a violation,” Hamlin said after the race. “It’s fair in NASCAR. We’re just a different class, right? There’s no penalties for rough driving or anything like that. It gives Austin the ability to just do what he wants.
“The problem I had was I got stuck on the right rear again. I was just doing my own thing and he turned left and hooked me on the right rear. He blew my bloody shoulder out.
“I don’t know. I mean, the record book isn’t going to care what happened anyway. He’s going to get credit for the win.”
