Bob Pockrass
FOX NASCAR Insider
RICHMOND, Va. — Austin Dillon snagged a spot in the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs in controversial fashion as he wrecked both Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin on the final lap Sunday at Richmond Raceway.
Dillon had a comfortable lead when a caution came out with two laps remaining, setting up a two-lap dash to the finish. Logano started beside Dillon and took the lead on the restart.
In the final two turns, Dillon got into the back of Logano, who spun. Dillon then darted down the track as Hamlin ducked inside him and ended up clipping Hamlin in the right rear.
WILD FINISH! Austin Dillon secures checkered flag in overtime of Cook Out 400
Entering the race, Dillon was 32nd in the point standings in what has been a miserable year. He now has a spot in the 16-driver playoffs.
“Wins get you into the next round,” Dillon said. “I did what I had to do to cross the start-finish line first. … A lot of people lose their jobs because they don’t get to the start-finish line first.”
Hamlin didn’t feel that reasoning should be enough of a reason to have officials make a no-call for what he felt was over-aggressive driving.
“We’ll never, ever get taken seriously as a sport because we have no real officiating,” Hamlin said.
Hamlin talked to NASCAR officials after the race. Prior to that, he said the nature of the NASCAR win-and-in playoff system creates such moments and decisions for drivers to do things that he views shouldn’t be allowed.
“We’ve gotten here because this is what we’ve set up,” Hamlin said. “We’ve set up eliminations and playoffs and knockouts and one race for a championship. We’re trying to manufacture these type of moments, and when we do it and we look silly like tonight, the sport has mud on its face.
“But I think that there’s probably people in [NASCAR headquarters in] Daytona that love this s—, and they’re the ones that are sending this sport backwards.”
Logano? Not happy as well.
“He’s a piece of crap,” Logano said. “He sucks. He sucked his whole career. And now he’s going to be in the playoffs. Good for him. I guess.”
Joey Logano is upset with Austin Dillon’s overtime move to win the Cook Out 400
Takeaways after a race where Hamlin ended up second, followed by Tyler Reddick, Bubba Wallace and Ross Chastain.
NASCAR To Review
NASCAR will review the final lap, including radio transmission of Dillon’s spotter saying “run him down, wreck him.” Dillon said he did not hear that directive.
“The last lap was awful close to the line,’ NASCAR Senior Vice President of Competition Elton Sawyer said. “We’ll take a look at all the available resources from audio to video — we’ll listen to spotters, crew chiefs and drivers.
“If anything rises to a level that we think we need to penalize, we’ll do that on Tuesday.”
NASCAR traditionally has not taken a win away in the days after the event.
“Historically, that hasn’t been our DNA to take races away, but that’s not to say that going forward that this wouldn’t start a precedent,” Sawyer said. “We’ll have to look at it.”
Elton Sawyer on possible penalties for Austin Dillon
Dillon’s View
Dillon said he meant to move Logano and then just reacted when Hamlin got underneath him.
“I was just trying to get to him,” Dillon said about Logano. “I went into Turn 3 in fifth gear and drove in, tried to get him loose, got him up the track. I got the car downshifted, and the car actually turned pretty good when I did that.
“When I was coming back left, the 11 [of Hamlin] was coming. That was just kind of a reaction. … I wasn’t lifting at that point because I was more looking at where the 22 was. When the 11 came across, it was just reaction.”
Dillon snapped a 68-race winless streak with the victory. The driver of the No. 3 made famous by Dale Earnhardt, Dillon’s performance is always under a spotlight in driving with that number and with his grandfather being team owner Richard Childress.
NASCAR Cup Series: Cook Out 400 highlights
“If he would have been leading it, that 22 [of Loagno] would have moved him out of the way,” Childress said. “The 11 [of Hamlin] would have moved him out of the way.
“Either one of them would have done the same thing. I’ve seen it before.”
Logano, Hamlin frustrated
Logano said he thought he had such an advantage on Dillon that he thought he would win the race.
“He just drives in so hard — obviously he didn’t make the turn,” Logano said. “He hit me, and then the 11 [of Hamlin] was going to win the race. He had no intentions to race. I beat him fair and square on the restart, and he just pulls a chicken s— move.”
‘Where’s the Line?’ – Denny Hamlin questions NASCAR officiating after Cook Out 400
Hamlin said he thought he was going to finish third, but “I knew the 3 [of Dillon] was going to do something silly.”
“I don’t fault him because he’s completely desperate,” Hamlin said. “He’s 30th in points. He jumps 20 spots in points. … His season is saved.
“Now he’ll have to pay repercussions down the line for this and you know, but it’s so worth it from his standpoint because there are no guardrails or rules that say, ‘Don’t do that.'”
Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.
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