NASCAR has put the matter of Richmond’s controversial win to rest! Everyone who was not on their best behavior on race day was penalized, starting with race winner Austin Dillon, who wrecked Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin to bag his 5th Cup series win. Although NASCAR took its sweet time, they stripped the No. 3 Chevrolet driver of the playoff spot he so desperately and unethically fought for. His 25 points were too deduced, taking him from the 25th position to the 31st.

Expectedly, Logano was furious about getting spun and finishing in the 19th position. Displaying his anger, he revved his car and skidded his tire in front of the Dillon faction. Also present on the scene were spouses, kids, and sponsors of drivers. NASCAR, not appreciating this, fined him $50,000. Lastly, the rumored ‘Wreck him’ call by Dillon’s spotter, Brandon Benesch, was proved to be true, leading to his suspension for the rest of the regular season. NASCAR Insider Brett Griffin was recently seen defending Benesch. Now we know why!

Austin Dillon’s new spotter came to the rescue of his old one

Richard Childress recently announced Brett Griffin as the replacement for the suspended Benesch. A seasoned NASCAR spotter, Brett Griffin has excelled in the role throughout his career. While he’s taken on part-time duties in recent seasons, he’s still considered a top talent. This year, he’s worked five Cup Series races for the part-time No. 33 Richard Childress Racing team. The veteran spotter is known for his analytical and unbiased views. However, on the recent podcast episode of Door Bumper Clear, Brett Griffin was seen doing the very opposite as he defended Benesch’s actions from the Richmond Race.

In the race, Austin Dillon lost his lead at the final restart of the race. As Logano sprinted ahead of Dillon, Benesch on the radio asked Dillon to wreck Logano. Which Austin did and earned the win. This erupted in a controversy, leading to Benesch and RCR getting a lot of backlash. Their knight in shining armor was Brett Griffin, who said, “This is not the first time a spotter has ever said, ‘wreck somebody’. This is not the first time that anybody has ever encouraged anybody to wreck somebody.” Griffin also went on to say that the spotter of Dillon wasn’t responsible for the events that unfolded on the track.

He further added, “This is going to probably get blown way out of f**king proportion and in reality how many times when you guys are on the roof when another spotter comes down there and starts fussing at you for what your driver and your scenario is doing, do y’all say I’m not driving the car. The spotter can say whatever the hell he wants in any scenario but he still not driving the car.” 

A quick repercussion? Analysts have shut Griffin’s claim of a spotter being allowed to say anything he wants by issuing a suspension. Also on the panel of the podcast was Freddie Kraft, who is Bubba Wallace’s spotter. Kraft was also shaken when he heard Griffin defend such actions. But now he knows why he said what he said.

Taking a sly gibe at Griffin, he took to X to taunt him as he was announced as the new spotter for RCR’s #3. He wrote, “Now I know why he kept saying Austin did nothing wrong on DBC this week.”

Hopefully, Griffin will make rational decisions for the #3 team in the races to come. Since we are speaking of spotters, also involved in the Austin Dillon controversy was Denny Hamlin, whose spotter, Chris Gabehart, had something to say about the incident and the penalties issued.

Chris Gabehart had a message for NASCAR

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After Austin Dillon wrecked Logano, Denny Hamlin tried to sneak past him in the final moment to secure a back-to-back win at Richmond. But Dillon was not going to let that happen, as he also crashed into Hamlin, throwing him on the outside wall. However, despite this, Hamlin did not suffer much loss as he took P2.

Post NASCAR issued the penalties, Hamlin’s spotter opened up about how the decision could have been made faster by the NASCAR officials. On the Sirius XM NASCAR radio, Chris Gabehart said, “The 11 car finished second either way. So It’s easier for me to say this in that case, is they got it right with the exception of this. I want us to get to a world where the officials feel empowered to make those decisions 60 hours ahead of time, live,” Chris Gabehart commented, requesting faster action from NASCAR officials.”

Gabehart further went on to talk about how officials need to have the power to decide on the spot. The incident happened on a Sunday night. They need to decide on the weekend itself. According to him, the lack of timeliness was what NASCAR lacked in this case. NASCAR’s Elton Sawyer did apologize for the late decision. But he reasoned it with NASCAR not being hasty. The incident looked like a foul to anyone as it crossed the basic ethical line. Taking 3 days for that seems like a lapse on NASCAR’s part. What do you think about this? Let us know in the comments below.