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Dale Jr. and Harvick outsmart NASCAR's officials—are they the real visionaries of the sport?

Interesting inputs are coming from the world of NASCAR- left, right, and center. The late drama at Richmond Raceway has sparked up debates, discussions, and emotions within the racing community. Racers, veterans, fans, and analysts are discussing one name- Austin Dillon. The victory of the 34-year-old at Cook Out 400 opened up interesting perspectives about NASCAR rules around wrecking. The agenda of discussions is simple- to what extent can a race be ignored for wrecking other racers?

Old faces are now refreshing and substantiating their points with new verbatim. One such name is Denny Hamlin. The Joe Gibbs racer has now emerged as a steady critic of Austin Dillon’s actions. And, to be fair, the 43-year-old veteran has good reasons to do so. Firstly, it happened on his home turf. Secondly, he would have won the race if not for the impact he faced because of Dillon’s relentless charge to the checkered line. But now, after the initial heat around the incident has settled down, he’s back with some interesting points and cornered NASCAR authorities.

Denny Hamlin’s fumes around NASCAR’s officiating

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The points that Hamlin has raised after the Richmond Raceway do have a history. After the race that ended on an unfortunate note for Hamlin, he did express his disappointment. The owner of 23XI Racing might have hoped for some action or statement from NASCAR on the issue. But nothing apart from a call for review from NASCAR happened on the matter. On the contrary, the prime victim of the whole incident, Joey Logano, could face a penalty after his flared-up statement calling Dillon’s action a “piece of crap.”

It’s under these difficult circumstances that the new episode of Actions Detrimental by Denny Hamlin has been released. The podcast by Denny Hamlin for Dale Earnhardt Jr’s Dirty Mo Media came up with a scathing attack on NASCAR right from the beginning. The new episode of the podcast is titled, “Richmond: Integrity of the sport is on the line.” The very title of the whole thing is proof enough that Hamlin is ready to take this matter all out on NASCAR. In a section of the episode, Hamlin has praised the CARS Tour format for their officiating standards and called NASCAR’s officiating standards to be worse despite the technological prowess it possesses.

Launching an assault on NASCAR, Hamlin had this to say, “You have to make a line the sand and say no that was unacceptable that’s not a racing incident, that was intentional.” The statement from Hamlin called on to have strict action on Dillon for his offense at the Richmond Raceways who spun two drivers, put them out of place, and, potentially, even risked their safety. But Hamlin did not just end there. He also compared the officiating standards of the CARS Tour and NASCAR. Praising the racing format founded by Dale Earnhardt Jr and Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin gave a stringent analysis of the two racing divisions.

“If they can officiate it in the cars tour what… they don’t have the technology, we have. You don’t even need technology to use your brain. That’s my problem with it. It’s that tell me a person with legitimate sense that says, yeah that was just a racing incident, he accidentally spun the 22, there. No, he didn’t. He went, he drove in until he spun him out. As instructed by his team.” Denny Hamlin has received support from several racers in his quest for justice. Drivers like Bubba Wallace, Joey Logano, and Chase Elliott have raised similar concerns.

What’s your perspective on:

Dale Jr. and Harvick outsmart NASCAR's officials—are they the real visionaries of the sport?

Have an interesting take?

While Austin Dillon may be the one who initiated the wrecking in this case. The problem of wrecking in NASCAR goes beyond an individual. But certainly, accidents are worse. Dillon has been the victim of one of the worst accidents the sport has ever witnessed.

When everyone thought Dillon was finished!

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The year was 2015 and the race was the Coke Zero 400. The Daytona International Speedway was packed with people. Everyone was waiting for intense Cup Series racing action. But the horrors struck fans when they saw Austin Dillon’s car spinning on its head and struck the side fence. The car blasted mid-air and then fell on the sidetrack only to get hit by Brad Keselowski.

Despite a thumping impact and the car turning into pieces because of the accident, Austin came out of his car on his own. He waved to the fans after the incident signaling the fans that he was indeed fine after the clash.

USA Today via Reuters

It was the look of the accident, however, that sent shockwaves in the entire motorsport world. Everyone was feeling the same thing after seeing the accident.

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What are your thoughts on Austin Dillon’s wrecking incident? Do you remember any other wrecks in NASCAR racing where it looked fatal, but turned out to be a routine tussle? Do tell us in the comments.