The tempers are already starting to flare at the Southpoint 400 race at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Playoff drivers getting tangled would’ve been understandable, but it was Austin Dillon and Daniel Hemric who were involved in the first crash of the race. It eventually brought out the first caution and changed the strategy for the playoff drivers.

Dillon was minding his own business driving down the Turn 3 and 4. But all of a sudden he got banged in the rear by the #31 Chevy, and the contact sent the RCR driver hard into the wall. Despite the safety features of the Next-Gen car, the severity of the impact had the onlooker worried about the driver. But the safety net came down, and Dillon climbed out of the race on his own as the safety crew rolled up towards him.

Austin Dillon didn’t hesitate in pointing the finger at Hemric for his misery

Interestingly, Austin Dillon looked to be pointing at Daniel Hemric before he hopped into the safety vehicle. After a quick trip to the infield care center, Dillon caught up with the reporter to share his take on the incident, and he had no filter in calling out Hemric’s questionable tactics. He even took a dig at the Kaulig Racing driver’s racing career, as he won’t return to drive the #31 car in 2025.

“Yeah, I mean, we were just racing; about four of us were racing right there, and he just wrecked me; flat out wrecked me. I don’t know, just decided to get aggressive at this point time in his career. Yeah, it was a hard hit.” Austin Dillon said this to Bob Pockrass.

Ty Dillon will take command of the #10 car, whereas the team will forfeit the naming rights for the #31 car. Stewart Haas Racing’s Noah Gragson currently runs inside the #10 Cup entry, but after their closure at the end of the year, the number is free. This is why Kaulig and Ty Dillon will be able to run with the number in 2025.

Meanwhile, for Austin Dillon and the #3 team, the misery run of 2024 continues. For most of the year, RCR just hasn’t been able to deliver the goods to their two drivers. And even when they started to click with speed and good setups, luck just hasn’t been by their side.

2024 has just not been RCR’s year

Change management, change in pit crews, and change in strategy—the folks at Richard Childress Racing have done all they can to overturn their misfortunes this year. Last year, their star driver Kyle Busch had three wins, but the 2-time champ hit now lows and wasn’t able to qualify for the playoffs. To add to Rowdy’s misery, his streak of winning every year for 19 years straight is also under threat.

On the other hand, Austin Dillon, with the #3 team, perhaps was on the receiving end of the biggest controversial ruling in NASCAR’s history. Despite winning the fall race at Richmond, he wasn’t granted an entry into the playoffs. NASCAR officials cited he crossed the fine line between hard races and outright wrecking his rivals. He dumped Joey Logano into the wall and rammed Denny Hamlin to take the checkered flag. And now, with three races left in the season, he’s found himself on the receiving end of a similar incident, which only adds to his team’s woes.

All they can do is now see out the rest of the races and start the preparations for the next year on a clean slate and fresh set of ideas.