Austin Dillon arguably had the best race car during the Federated Auto Parts 400 race at Richmond Raceway. It was indeed a mercurial rise for the team that had struggled for good results this season, and all the pressure that came with Kyle Busch’s poor run. Even the short-track specialist, Denny Hamlin, couldn’t outsmart the No. 3 RCR Chevy; that’s how well Dillon and his team prepared for the race.

On the last two laps, Austin Dillon was probably imagining the celebrations in the victory lane after crawling his way out of misery. A late twist in the tale? RCR and the #3 team had to put their celebrations on hold. The man responsible for staging up the late race carnage that was about to ensue was none other than Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Had he kept his nose clean and avoided the muck up, Dillon would’ve deservedly won the race and applause. Even Dale Earnhardt Jr. couldn’t help himself and held Stenhouse Jr. accountable for the ruckus that followed.

Another parallel to the Richmond “S***show win”

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. driving the No. 47 Chevy, was on the verge of getting lapped down by race leader Austin Dillon. But, without any pressure from the likes of Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano, the RCR driver decided to steer clear of any potential wrecks. It was all okay with two laps to go in the race until Stenhouse Jr. lost control of his car and rammed into No. 41, bringing out the caution. This was right in front of the race leader, who was lucky to not find himself caught in the wreck.

And, as the community continues to weigh into the matter, Dale Earnhardt Jr. started off his podcast on the same discussion, hilariously throttling the JTG Daugherty Racing star. He said, “I like Ricky a lot; he’s one cool-a** dude, but Ricky, you messed up. So, Austin’s gonna go win the race so we gotta put tons of responsibility for all the s**tshow we got after this one, Ricky Stenhouse. I’m sorry, Ricky; it’s just the way it’s gonna be today.” He said this while speaking on Dale Jr. Download.

It has to be noted that Richard Childress Racing and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. had their run-ins this year. Especially his encounter with Kyle Busch during the All-Star race, where he punched Rowdy in the face after he was wrecked out early in the race. In this instance, he didn’t deliberately look to pile on the misery with the late caution, but he certainly put Dillon in a sticky situation.

Next thing you know, in a thrilling overtime finish, Austin Dillon takes Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin out of commission to take the checkered flag. In doing so, even NASCAR is put under the spotlight to decide whether the driver will be reprimanded or let off the hook.

It’s about time NASCAR draws a hard line between hard racing and wrecking

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We have seen drivers putting their bumpers on their rivals to gain an advantage on the racetrack. Constant bumps and bangs are part and parcel of short-track racing; that isn’t going to go away. However, with Dillon’s antics last weekend, NASCAR is left scratching its head on what they consider as hard racing or deliberate contact.

The first instance of him shoving Logano out of the way could’ve been excused. But he went on to do it twice, hooking the No. 11 car into the fence while he was trying to clear the No. 3 Chevy on Turn 4. NASCAR’s senior president of competition, Elton Sawyer, was bombarded with questions by the press following the controversial end to the race.

“I thought that last lap, that’s something that, you know, our sport has been a contact sport for a long time. You know we always hear, ‘Where’s the line?’ and did someone cross the line? I would say that the last lap, it was awful close to the line.” Sawyer said after the race. NASCAR has reprimanded drivers for intentionally wrecking opponents, but that ruling has come on incidents at superspeedways or intermediate tracks.

But Sawyer didn’t rule out a new precedent that could be set with Dillon’s ruling. “Historically, that hasn’t been our DNA to take race (wins) away, but that’s not to say that going forward this wouldn’t start to set a precedent, or do we have to look at it,” he added. So far, there has been no official announcement made by NASCAR regarding penalties or fines for Dillon or the other drivers for the Richmond race.