How far is a driver prepared to go with a view to win their means into the NASCAR playoffs, and at what level does the sanctioning physique resolve it is too far? Effectively, one yr in the past this week, Austin Dillon answered each of these questions at Richmond Raceway.
NASCAR returns to the Virginia brief monitor on Saturday evening, however do not anticipate it to match the madness of final yr’s jaw-dropping end. On August eleventh, 2024, Dillon was unexpectedly quick, and seemed to be a reliable contender for the race win.
He labored his means round Denny Hamlin for the lead within the closing laps of the race, and it was shaping as much as be among the finest drives of his profession. However with lower than two laps to go, the warning flew for a wreck, forcing the race into time beyond regulation.
On the restart that adopted, Joey Logano acquired the soar on Dillon and snatched the lead away. It was going to be a heartbreaking loss for Dillon, who wanted the win to make the playoffs. He was additionally dealing with a winless streak that went again virtually two full years.
Chaos and calamity
However because the leaders entered Flip 3 on the ultimate lap, Dillon drove in far deeper than anybody would dare at Richmond. He did not care about making the nook. No, he simply wished to succeed in the rear bumper of the yellow No. 22 immediately in entrance of him. The SMT information from the race end makes his intentions very clear.
Logano spun into the wall, however at that time, Dillon was means up the monitor. He had spun Logano from the lead, however he was nonetheless going to lose the race as Hamlin slipped by on the within. That’s when Dillon determined to show down the monitor, blatantly hooking Hamlin into the surface and claiming the race win.
“We’re by no means ever gonna get taken critically as a sport as a result of now we have no actual officiating,” mentioned Hamlin in a post-race media scrum.
Logano was raging, telling the assembled media: “He’s a bit of crap. He sucks. He’s sucked his complete profession and now he’s going to be within the playoffs. Good for him, I suppose.”
Austin Dillon, Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Picture by: Getty Photos
It was a stunning end, and whereas NASCAR has at all times been identified for its full-contact nature, even many diehards thought of the transfer to be crossing a line.
Including to the darkish cloud over the end, an irate Logano was recklessly driving down the pit lane in his broken automobile, forcing Dillon’s household to leap out of the best way and drawing the fury of NASCAR officers. That resulted in a $50,000 superb for Logano, however what about Dillon?
Effectively, the win remained, however after a number of days of deliberations, NASCAR made the unprecedented resolution to take away Dillon from the NASCAR Cup playoffs. His actions had been egregious sufficient for them to disclaim him a playoff berth, all whereas letting him hold the contaminated checkered flag.
Austin Dillon, Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Picture by: Sean Gardner / Getty Photos
It was a second that examined the bounds of what’s acceptable on the planet of inventory automobile racing, and showcased simply how determined drivers and groups are to make the playoffs. Getting into this weekend’s race, 19 drivers (together with Dillon) face a must-win state of affairs with simply two races left within the common season. There are tens of millions of {dollars} on the road for any group who can win their means into the postseason, in addition to a shot at NASCAR’s greatest prize.
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