Austin Dillon winning at Richmond on Sunday was nothing short of surprising and controversial. His act in the final laps wrecking both Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin has certainly left plenty fuming. While Hamlin could have added a fourth win to his 2024 campaign, his crew chief Chris Gabehart was left unhappy with Dillon’s approach.

Safe to say, Richard Childress Racing has immensely struggled this season. With Kyle Busch not clicking on the track and the team’s off-the-track issues looking to never end, Dillon’s win certainly brought a lot of delight. However, in Gabehart’s words, the fashion in which their victory came will still deprive RCR of the respect they deserve.

Denny Hamlin’s crew chief slams Austin Dillon and his team

It all happened in the final lap of the 400-lap race at Richmond on Sunday. The race’s first caution came in the 399th lap when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Ryan Preece were involved in an incident. Following the restart, Joey Logano took the lead as he passed Austin Dillon. To the surprise of many, Dillon ran into the back of Logano between Turns 3 and 4, sending him into the wall.

While this questionable move helped Denny Hamlin take the lead and run for victory, the #3 driver created another controversy. It looked like Dillon hit Hamlin’s right rear, sending the Joe Gibbs Racing driver into the wall as well. Doing so, the Richard Childress Racing driver cruised to a controversial win, ending his 68-race winless run.

Interestingly, this is not the first time that Dillon questionably raced to victory. His win in the 2018 Daytona 500 saw him crash Aric Almirola on the final lap. On similar lines, even his 2022 Coke Zero Sugar 400 victory involved Dillon moving Austin Cindric out of the way. While the 34-year-old registered his fifth win on Sunday, safe to say, that most of his wins have come with controversies.

Naturally, this has made many on the pit road unhappy, including Denny Hamlin’s crew chief Chris Gabehart. Like Hamlin, even Gabehart did not mince his words after the race. Speaking to Alex Weaver in the post-race interview, the veteran crew chief criticized Dillon’s history of wins. He said, “Yeah, I mean the #3 like they do about every third or fourth year here. They wake up and they’re okay rest of the time they suck. We just ran into that today.”

Gabehart didn’t stop there as he called out Dillon for wrecking both Logano and Hamlin. He said, “It’s a real shame he did what he did there, wrecking the #22 and the #11 for the win. The SMT is as clear as day. I mean, he destroyed us, he turned us right in the fence, right rear hooked us in the fence. We’ve suspended people in the past for that, so I really hate that for what he did.”

Not only that, Gabehart looked displeased with how Dillon’s comments after the race lacked any remorse. It is then that he expressed how his win wouldn’t attract any respect because of the fashion of his victory. He said, “It’s a shame because they had a hell of a race and a great car and he had a hell of a drive. Now all everybody’s going to talk about is how he wrecks everybody to win.”

Like Chris Gabehart, even Joey Logano’s crew chief, Paul Wolfe didn’t hold back with his criticism.

Logano’s crew chief demands NASCAR to step up with their verdict on the Austin Dillon-Richmond controversy

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Austin Dillon led 35 laps on Sunday at Richmond, leading a lap for the first time this season. It all looked fine before his antics on the overtime restart. Safe to say, Joey Logano took a comfortable lead on the restart and could have won had Dillon not wrecked him. Naturally, this angered the #22 team including crew chief, Paul Wolfe.

Dillon registering his place in the playoffs by punting Logano and Denny Hamlin certainly didn’t feel right. As reported by NBCSports.com, Wolfe looked furious while speaking to Motor Racing Network’s Chris Wilner. He said, “It’s just a joke to call that racing anymore. And at some point, it’s up to NASCAR to step up and set the precedent. What’s acceptable? And to call that acceptable, I don’t know how anyone that has watched racing for any amount of time can.”

While NASCAR confirmed to look deep into the matter, Wolfe demands to make a statement this time around. He said, “To put in all the hard work and all the effort and money and what goes into this. It was a tough race, and something like that, that’s not racing. And at some point, NASCAR is going to have to make the right call on these things. And they missed it tonight with allowing that and giving that car the win.”

Logano could not only have registered a win at Richmond but also improved his points tally before heading into the playoffs. In Wolfe’s words, he feared that Dillon’s act could instigate revengeful actions on the track which is not right for the sport. He said, “It’s up to NASCAR to get this under control. If NASCAR controls this, then this is never a problem. But now you get into this, ‘Oh, I owe him one,’ and that whole game. That’s not racing. At some point, we’re still a racing series, I thought. Are we just going to fill things with gimmicks and wreck people to win? That’s not right. That’s not racing.”

Naturally, with the unhappiness around Austin Dillon’s win, NASCAR is bound to take some action. It will be interesting to see what the governing body comes up with. Will they take away the win from Dillon or is he going to escape with just a point deduction and a fine? Well, we should find that out soon.