The finish of the Cook Out 400 overshadowed any of the racing, which is a shame. Richmond finally put on a compelling race after several years of low tire wear and low passing at the track. The big change was an option tire, giving teams a limited set of softer compounds with more wear but higher initial speeds to shake up the strategy.
That mixed-up field meant some unusual contenders were in front before a final restart when the caution came out with two laps to go, especially Austin Dillon. He came in outside the top thirty in points, meaning, with four races to go, he needed a win to get into the Playoffs.
And, on the restart, Dillon drove like a driver who needed a win at all costs. Several car-lengths behind leader Joey Logano coming into the final set of corners, Dillon powered in and drove through Logano, sending Logano’s No. 22 up the track and spinning. When Denny Hamlin looked to the inside to take advantage of both the leaders slowing down and moving up the track, Dillon darted down and right-hooked the No. 11, sending him spinning as well.
It’s a little hard to sympathize with either of the drivers who got moved, since both have done their fair share of moving. Joey Logano was the instigator of a particularly similar incident at Darlington two years ago when he dove into a corner into William Byron late in the race, sending Byron into the wall and collecting the win. Hamlin, too, has a recent reputation for aggression. But just because those drivers have made their share of ill-judged moves – and faced the consequences in the form of payback on the track or boos in driver intros – doesn’t legitimize any driver simply wrecking them.
Contact is always part of short track racing, and sometimes the line is difficult to draw between an acceptable bump-and-run, which moves the leader up the track but still gives them a chance to grip up and race off the corner, and a dump-and-run, which turns the leader around and gives them no chance.
Here, though, the line was not remotely blurred. Logano explained just how egregious the move was.
“I don’t know. Apparently, it’s OK,” a frustrated Logano told reporters after getting out of his car. “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 gonna call that racing.”
Again, Logano did something very similar at Darlington, putting Byron in the wall on the last lap. But that doesn’t excuse the same bad behavior.
More objectionable is the move on Hamlin. After spinning Logano, Dillon dove down to the inside as Hamlin powered by, tagging him in the right rear and sending him into the wall.
“The problem I had, I got hooked in the right rear again. I’m just minding my business. He turned left and hooked me in the right rear. Blew my damn shoulder out,” an unhappy Hamlin said after getting out of his car.
NASCAR has come down hard on the right hook, suspending Bubba Wallace and Chase Elliott for doing it – in Elliott’s case, doing it to Hamlin himself at Charlotte. In each of those cases, NASCAR cited the speed of the mile-and-a-half tracks those were done at and the inherent danger as a reason for the suspension, so there might not be a suspension at this shorter track.
Still, that doesn’t stop the inherent unsportsmanlike nature of a right-hook, something far different than a bump-and-run attempt, no matter how ill-judged. A bump-and-run, or at least an attempt, is part of short-track racing in this sport. A right-hook is not, and that’s just using the car as a weapon to move competitors out of the way. A good bump-and-run is compelling because, at least theoretically, the lead driver can get his car under control and continue battling for the win – we see that in the Whelen Modified Tour or the CARS Tour all the time, even if that seems to be a lost art in the Cup Series with this new, heavier, more planted car. A right hook just puts a driver in the wall. That’s unsportsmanlike conduct, something NASCAR should come down on.
Dillon, for his part, claimed that the right-hook was instinctive, but did not say it was unintentional.
“I mean, it was reaction,” Dillon described it. “That’s the best way I can say it. You know what I mean? Like, meaning to in that moment? What do you think the sport science would be? It was super fast. So the ‘mean to’ was definitely to move the 22. The rest just was whatever my body did.”
As has become typical whenever there’s contact in the sport, many fans and commentators made reference to Dale Earnhardt to excuse it. That includes Jimmie Johnson on Twitter. Earnhardt is certainly romanticized – Bristol advertises off of Earnhardt spinning Labonte. But Fred Smith, motorsports editor at Road & Track, made a good point on Twitter: most of Earnhardt’s races and wins, where he was fully clean and respectful, are forgotten, and we focus on just a handful of wrecks at the end. Famously, Earnhardt didn’t even intend to spin Labonte at Bristol. And in those other races, he was met with a chorus of boos and criticized for his driving style.
Citing Earnhardt cannot justify bad driving that he wouldn’t have accepted – you don’t become a seven-time champion, particularly in the era of ‘boys have at it’ and justice dispensed on the track, by driving through other drivers. There’s a big difference between aggression and willful wrecking, which is becoming too prevalent in the Cup Series.
What’s the solution? Obviously to some extent it’s a product of the car and the system. This new car is heavier and more planted, forcing harder contact to move it out of the way and make a bump-and-run in the first place. More it’s a product of the system, the win-and-you’re-in Playoffs that incentivize winning at all costs. Hamlin acknowledged that.
“I mean, the record book won’t care, right, about what happened. He’s going to be credited with the win,” Hamlin said. “Obviously he’s just not going to go far ’cause you 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 part of it.”
Obviously an easy answer is to change the car or eliminate the Playoffs. But, under the current system and current car, NASCAR has seen a resurgence in fan numbers and attendance at the track. Better is to simply enforce the rules. NASCAR’s rulebook includes sections on unsportsmanlike conduct and race manipulation. Those should be cited more readily. Hamlin agreed with that.
“It’s fair in NASCAR,” he said exasperatedly of the rulebook. “We’re just a different league, right? There are no penalties for rough driving or anything like that. It opens up the opportunity for Austin to be able to just do whatever he wants.”
There don’t need to be any changes. The rules are on the books. They just need to be enforced.
- NASCAR Playoffs open with superspeedway thrills at Atlanta - September 5, 2024
- A new winner at Darlington spoils the Playoff picture for drivers on the points bubble - September 1, 2024
- VIDEO: Martin Truex’s comfortable points buffer quickly gets uncomfortable with Darlington wreck - September 1, 2024