Denny Hamlin Calls Out NASCAR’s Blatant ‘Respect’ Denial as He Acquits Austin Dillon With 5-Word Warning

NASCAR finally resumed after a two-week Olympic break at the Richmond Raceway. The comeback of the series was dramatic as it ended in a last-minute thriller. The race in which Austin Dillon took the chequered flag did not come before he wrecked two drivers in the process, Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin.

Hamlin and Logano did not take kindly to the display of aggression by Dillion. While Hamlin thought he crossed a line when he took him out, Logano was furious calling it complete bulls**t.

Austin Dillion steps on Hamlin and Logano to take a win

The Richmond Raceway had an unexpected winner as Austin Dillon took the win. Before the Olympics break Dillon who was in 32nd in points, was far away from the playoff chances. However now with his win, he has suddenly jumped into the 13th position.

The win, however, stirred up some controversy over how it all went down.

In the final laps, Austin Dillon had been leading, followed by Denny Hamlin but a caution with just two laps to go saw Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Ryan Preece spinning out of turn 1 right in Dillon’s path. On the restart, Dillon lost the lead to Joey Logano. Not one to miss a golden opportunity, Dillon didn’t hold back, and rather gave Logano a nudge, sending him spinning.

As Dillon fought for the win, Denny Hamlin came charging up from behind. Dillon didn’t hold up and accidentally turned Hamlin’s No. 11 into the outside wall, as a result taking the checkered. “I don’t know man, it’s been two years and this is the first car I’ve had a shot to win with,” Dillon candidly said when asked if it was a fair move to run Logano and Hamlin for the win.

Evidently, Hamlin wasn’t thrilled about the move and made sure to voice his frustrations in the post-race interview as wrecking and pushing someone intentionally has always been a questionable move in NASCAR. The JGR driver almost called out NASCAR and its rules reflecting how Austin Dillon got his win.

He said, “I got hooked in the right rear again. I was just minding my business in turn 1. I don’t know I mean, the record book won’t care right about what happened, He’s got the win but obviously, he’s not gonna go far cause you gotta pay your dues back on stuff like that.” On the other hand, Logano echoed Hamlin’s words but in a more harsher tone. Which is understood as what could have been his second win, ended in a P19.

Adding to the anger and frustration was the Team Penske driver, who almost took the flag. In the post-race pitlane interview, he was upset and said, “That’s chickens**t, there’s no doubt about it. He was four car-length back, not even close. Then he wrecks the 11 to go along with it.” Logano also warned him for the next races. When asked about how he’d race him going forward, he said, “Wait and watch.” 

However, there could be good news for Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano as NASCAR VP of Competition Elton Sawyer stated, “We’ll take a look at all the available resources … If anything rises to a level that we feel like we need to penalize, then we’ll do that on Tuesday.”

After all this controversy, Hamlin in the post-race interview also dwelled on the side of NASCAR which is usually let go as it is a part of the game. But should it be? Should a driver be allowed to wreck another if he’s managed the skill to overtake him?

Should all this be part of the game?

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At the controversial finish, the one who suffered was Logana, who after a great run to P1, ended in 19th by no fault of his own. Hamlin talked about how there are no penalties for such driving in NASCAR. He said, “There are no penalizes for rough driving or anything like that so that puts up the opportunity for Austin to just do whatever he wants.”

Hamlin in the interview goes on to talk about how despite having provisions no actions are taken. He said, “Absolutely a line was crossed, but it’s an invisible line and it’s not defined, they have rules and provisions for stuff like this but they never take action for it.” According to Hamlin this also affects the lower series (Xfinity and Trcuk). Reiterating this he said, “That’s why we see in lower series, things turn out the way they do. They are seeing some of the best on Sunday doing stuff like that.”

Despite his disappointment, all in all, it was a good day for RCR and the team. As for them, at least they have one driver competing for the championship now.