Richmond Raceway’s Cup Series race this year was violent. But it all started with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. trying to be overambitious with his racing. Ambition in racing is of paramount importance. But Stenhouse Jr.’s decision to try being in the lead lane had a domino effect on the entire race.

In the sense that the contact he made with Ryan Preece created a caution and an overtime in the race. This situation created the restart, which in turn became the reason behind the stifle between Austin Dillon, Denny Hamlin, and Joey Logano. So, in a way, it was the DTG Daugherty Racing driver’s touch that led to the last lap situation at the Cook Out 40o.

Now fans can call it whatever they want, but Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s move did have a bit of desperation. The No. 47 of JTG Daughtery Racing was positioned at 25th place in cup series standings at 376 points. He either desperately needed a win or some solid points to remain in contention for the playoffs. In his quest to achieve that, he wrecked Ryan Preece just a few laps before the end of the race. Something that Austin Dillon would imitate later on in the race. But what Ricky Stenhouse Jr. did after the race was contrary to what Austin Dillon did after his wrecking incident.

Concludes his actions were totally uncalled for

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. approached his wrecking incident with Ryan Preece in a different manner. While Austin Dillon kept on defending his actions during the final lap of the race and received all the heat from drivers, fans, and the media, Stenhouse Jr. kept them afar. The wreck involving Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Ryan Preece, therefore, was kept on the back burner.

Austin Dillon, due to his actions and their severity, grabbed the center stage. As a result, racers like Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano, who were on the receiving end of Dillon’s wrecking incident, kept being vocal about it. Ryan Preece’s camp, however, appears to remain calm on the entire thing.

Now, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. has also voiced on the entire matter. Talking to Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports, the 36-year-old former Daytona 500 winner recalled the entire incident as it happened according to him: “Preece hovered on my rightward quarter panel. Just didn’t get clear of them so I had to regroup and start running again and then when I got back to Preece at that moment you know the 3 was kinda picking on the inside. And inner in turn 1 pretty low. So, I look at where he is trying not to impede him too much but stay on lead lap. I just entered the corner. Probably I have car width higher than I needed.” 

Not only that, but Stenhouse Jr. also revealed what he did after the race. He said, “I called lately this week and apologized for that. That was horrible for those guys obviously they had the classics of cars. Went to the care center, I got out and was like damn I hope that the 3 won. I saw he did so I was pumped about that. And then I saw the way he did and was like eh hope NASCAR doesn’t do anything to it. But you know what I mean, it is what it is now, you know just felt really bad for the whole 3 team and Austin for sure.” This is probably the one thing Ricky Stenhouse Jr. did right, which probably saved him from a lot of scrutiny.

However, Austin Dillon was not that lucky. Not only he didn’t apologize, but he kept on defending the obvious glaring errors too. For example, the defense of his spotter’s words was totally uncalled for. As a result of that, NASCAR canceled his eligibility for the playoffs and penalized him with 25 cup series and owner points.

Additionally, his spotter, Brandon Benesch, was also suspended for the remaining three races. Some would argue that had it not been for the caution and restart, Austin Dillon would’ve fared with much more ease. But the history of cautions at Richmond Raceways tells us otherwise.

Cautions and Richmond: The Old Bond

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Richmond, Cautions, and Late Drama are increasingly becoming synonyms. The 2023 caution saga at Richmond Raceway is well-known amongst die-hard fans. But a closer look can help chalk out a comparative analysis between the two incidents.

On lap 303, Noah Gragson, who was otherwise doing well in the race, found out that the brakes of his car were not responding. The 25-year-old was startled. He lost control of the car and tried to steer his way out so that his car would not face any head-on collisions. But he hit the outer hard concrete wall of the racetrack hard. Daniel Suarez was also the victim of the whole incident as he clashed with the spinning car.

The accident was severe. It resulted in a caution and compelled the other racers to think about their respective strategies once again. Gragson faced some concussion-like symptoms as a result of the clash. “Noah’s health is the highest of priorities and we commend him for making the decision to sit out this weekend,” said the team co-owners Maury Gallagher and Jimmie Johnson as they updated media of Gragson’s health as he missed the Sonoma race and was replaced by Grant Enfinger.

Not only this, he had to sit for several subsequent races before the medical team could declare him fit. The accident initiated a caution, which made the final few laps highly competitive and nerve-wracking.

• What are your thoughts on the Noah Gragson accident?
• Do you think Ricky Stenhouse Jr. apologizing was the right thing to do? Do let us know in the comments.