Richmond is caught up in Austin Dillon's NASCAR upset
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Austin Dillon after winning the NASCAR Cup Series in Richmond on Sunday. Photo: Sean Gardner/Getty Images
In case you missed it like we did, Richmond is at the center of a major NASCAR controversy.
The big picture: Austin Dillon won Sunday night's NASCAR Cup Series race at the Richmond Raceway in a shocking upset. But not before crashing into Joey Logano on the last lap — sending him spinning — and then hitting local favorite Denny Hamlin and forcing him into the wall.
Why it matters: NASCAR drivers bump each other a good bit during a race, but they aren't supposed to wreck each other like they're in "The Fast & the Furious."
- Richmond's short track (0.75 miles around) has a history of flaring tensions — we like to think it's part of the city's character — but this finish rankled even the rowdiest fans.
What they're saying: Dillon's defense is that Logano and Hamlin would have done the same thing in his situation, which is a 68-race winless streak, telling NASCAR that "I hate it, but I had to do it."
Logano and Hamlin spicily disagreed.
- "He's a piece of crap. He sucks. He's sucked his whole career," Logano, who was in first and then ended in 19th after being hit, said about Dillon after the short track race.
- "He'll have to pay repercussions down the line for this, but it's so worth it from his standpoint because there's no guardrails or rules that say, 'Don't do that,'" Hamlin, who grew up in Chesterfield, told NASCAR.
The latest: Hamlin is calling for NASCAR to penalize Dillon, saying on his podcast Monday, "You can't wreck two guys to then go win a race and then reap the benefits and reward of that."
- "The sanctioning body needs to be big boys and make big boy calls."
- Elton Sawyer, NASCAR's senior vice president of competition, said officials plan to review the incident and make a ruling, but it's not common for NASCAR to remove a driver's victory, reports the Washington Post.
Fun, and totally unrelated, fact: Dillon is from North Carolina, which Lending Tree ranked No. 5 for worst drivers in the U.S.
- Virginia, where Denny Hamlin grew up, is ranked 13th.
What we're watching: Whether NASCAR drops the spring Richmond race to add another in Mexico City next year, as The Athletic previously reported.