Last weekend’s Richmond (Va.) Raceway race winner Austin Dillon spoke to NBC Sports after qualifying was cancelled Saturday afternoon and addressed the situation he finds himself in going forward. NASCAR issued penalties to Dillon, his No. 3 Richard Childress Racing team, his spotter and Team Penske’s Joey Logano in the wake of the controversial finish.
Dillon’s Chevy made contact with then race leader Logano’s Ford with a lap to go in the Richmond overtime finish – knocking Logano’s car into the wall. Then seconds later, Dillon’s Chevy made contact with Denny Hamlin’s Toyota wrecking it as they pushed toward the checkered flag. On Wednesday, NASCAR ruled that while Dillon may keep the win, he does not become Playoff-eligible with the win because of the aggressive driving.
He and his team were fined points. His spotter – who can be heard on the team radio urging Dillon to wreck the other drivers – was suspended three races and Logano, who drove aggressively down pit road after the race was fined $50,000 for putting others in a dangerous situation on pit road.
Richard Childress Racing announced immediately afterward that it would appeal the decision and the matter is scheduled to go before the appeals panel this Wednesday. Dillon said he listened to Hamlin share his side of the story on Hamlin’s podcast this week and expected to share his own feelings after the appeals process.
“It’s been tough with everything going on,” Dillon said, adding, “We’ll give our side of the story and see where it goes from there.”
Hamlin noted that Dillon did not participate in a weekly basketball game he normally plays in. Dillon confirmed he had not spoken with either Hamlin or Logano since last week’s race.
“For Joey, I’m sorry for the situation he was in and it didn’t matter if it was Joey or anybody I was going to do my best to get my team to victory lane,’’ Dillon said. “The situation on pit road after the race, a lot of things were said in the heat of the moment from him about my family and my belief in Christ, even. For me, I forgive him.
“For him getting frustrated and the pit road part with the race car was a lot. That was kinda out of line and I think NASCAR took care of it and I forgive him. I’m sure he’s still mad at me for what went on on the race track, but this is a game in the end and you don’t hate the player, you hate the game. That was the situation I was up against.
“I learned a lot from Joey and Denny over the years and they don’t have regrets over what they do on the race track and I don’t either. I’m not going to say I regret anything. I went to sleep and felt really good about everything I did for me and my team.’’
For his part Hamlin, who sits fourth in the NASCAR Cup Series regular season championship – 21 points behind leader Larson, remained adamant that Dillon’s actions were wrong and the penalties he received were justified.
He was hopeful that the whole situation further helped the sport define a competitive line of what is acceptable and what is not in the emotional, high-stakes final laps of a race. Dillon entered the Richmond race ranked 32nd in the standings without a single top-five this year.
“I don’t have anything negative to say about this with Austin (Dillon),’’ Hamlin said. “I really don’t have anything negative to say about his character. I really stuck up for him quite about earlier in this year, when he was going through some pretty tough finishes and things like that, and talking about how I really respected his character, and I still do.
“He just was put in a really tough spot, where you have to make a split-second decision, and he made one that was not in the, in my opinion, best interest of the sport. People make mistakes, and I believe everyone deserves second chances.”
However, he added, “You just can’t clean someone else out for the win.”
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