Last weekend’s finish at the Richmond Raceway is not going to die down any time soon. Austin Dillon caught a lot of heat for wrecking Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin in quick succession, and rightfully so. While he was allowed to keep the win, it did not count towards the Playoffs, so he would have to try and win again, legally. In light of this, Michael McDowell was one of the latest to give his take on the late-race drama.

He actually defended Dillon’s actions, branding them as non-malicious. According to him, the incident was just a racing incident, brought about by adrenaline and desperation. Not that it mattered to NASCAR, because they showed him no mercy when meting out the punishment. McDowell sympathized with the Richard Childress Racing driver because he knew what it was like. In all honesty, this was the last lap and the last corner, so Dillon threw a Hail Mary to try and win the race.

At a time when Richard Childress Racing has been struggling for pace, this was the best chance he could get. Who knows when else Austin Dillon would get another chance to win a race? Especially if it means that he could sneak into the Playoffs, so who could blame him for going for broke? Dillon had everything to lose, and he cashed in his chips on that desperate lunge down the inside of race leader Joey Logano.

Michael McDowell sympathized with Austin Dillon’s plight

Now, McDowell is another driver who isn’t part of a team that regularly challenges for wins. So if he was ever in a position to fight for a win, Michael McDowell would make damn sure he fought for it, come hell or high water. Austin Dillon had also adopted that stance because, on the day, he was setting a blistering pace. He figured that he had a chance to win, and the only obstacles were Logano and Hamlin.

McDowell said before the Michigan race, “Happens very easily and it’ll not be a whole planned out lot of intent. It’s a heat of the moment, trying to get to the line and beat the guy. Sometimes its okay to have a little space to figure out what’s what. Look at data, video, all of the things, and then, it’s a big decision in our sport. I don’t want to say there’s drawing a line in the sand. It’s a big moment that people are going to talk about and remember in the future. It will set some precedents on what’s going to be allowed. So you don’t want somebody to rush to that, either way. I think it went good, I didn’t think they would take the win away there because its not something they typically do. Reviewing it and going, ‘Hey, that was too far,’ and adjusting accordingly, I think was fine.”

That being said, McDowell admitted that taking the win away would have been a step too far. Even if you eliminate the last corner incidents from the equation, it does not take away the fact that the #3 driver worked hard for the win. Now, what’s done is done, and Dillon will have to try again for a Cup win and enter the Playoffs cleanly.

The FRM driver was the culprit in a different but similar wreck

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Back at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Michael McDowell endured his own incident. While diving down the inside, he lost grip and careened into an unsuspecting Ryan Blaney, spinning both of them. In the #34 Front Row Motorsports driver’s defense, all cars were on wet-weather tires in damp conditions. As a result, McDowell’s Mustang lost grip, and Blaney’s #12 Team Penske found itself as the impromptu brake.

To make matters worse, the duo was battling for second, behind Christopher Bell. On one hand, they still managed to finish on the lead lap, but on the other end of the scale, neither driver finished in the top 10. Afterward, Blaney admitted that he appreciated the apology, but that meant little, thanks to the consequences. The defending Cup Series champion even went as far as to call McDowell’s overtake attempt ‘a low-percentage move.

For his part, Michael McDowell confessed that he had been eyeing Playoff qualification. That was what motivated him to go for that last-gasp move. When the two drivers discussed the incident privately, McDowell insisted that he was in a do-or-die situation. He observed that the bottom lane was slower, so he ran down the middle lane. As such, he was gutted to ruin not only his own chances but Blaney’s as well.