There are instances when NASCAR races are nasty! Rough finishes, infuriated drivers, and fans stunned at what just happened. The Cook Out 400 ended on a similar note. Denny Hamlin was comfortably leading till the last lap on his home turf. This was when Austin Dillon decided to take matters into his own hands. He slammed no.22 Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin in the final lap to finish first.

The win was what Dillon so desperately needed. The top spot at Richmond Raceway books him a direct spot to the playoffs. It also ended the 68-race drought in cup series racing he was going through.

The #3 RCR driver was determined to win as soon as the race started. The 32-year-old had no other option since he was trailing at the 32nd spot in the cup series standings. The finish from Dillon may very well be nasty, but it’s hardly illegal. Contrary to some other drivers getting angry and personal about it, Austin Dillon has decided not to give eye for eye to his fellow drivers.

Austin Dillon shows sportsman spirit

The #3 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 driver has been on the receiving end of furious words from others in the mix. After the incident, Denny Hamlin made some strong points against the winning driver and authorities concerned. The loss on Richmond Raceway is particularly painful for the 23XI Racing co-owner, being his home turf. Expressing his disappointment on the incident to Bob Pockrass, Hamlin said, “Where’s the line Bob? I mean that’s the thing is we have rules against you know to prevent ridiculous acts. But you know it’s been long time since those rules really have been enforced.”

But Austin Dillon seems to have ‘let bygones be bygones’ kind of an approach to the whole thing. Talking to media in a press conference after the race, Dillon seemed to have moved beyond from others had to say about him. He said, “I don’t know why the god puts me in certain situations to have crazy finishes, but I am thankful for it. Sorry for the ones that probably don’t like it.. (don’t)like me. I love you either way. It’s a part of our sport and I am thankful for the sport so that it entertains a lot of people.”

However, other racers didn’t take Austin Dillon’s move very well. The most outspoken on the whole incident was Joey Logano who was the main victim of Dillon’s last-minute theatrics. Going as far as calling Austin Dillon “a piece of crap,” Logano dropped down to 19th spot at Richmond Raceway. But the fall was too personal for the no.22. After the race, the Team Penske driver had this to say, “He sucks. He’s sucked his whole career. Now he’s going to be in the playoffs. Good for him, I guess.”

The move also seems to upset Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace, who have publicly called it ‘over-aggressive’ and ‘unfair.’ However, the record book will not bother to get into the particulars of how Austin Dillon managed to win Cook Out 400. The 32-year-old is guaranteed to feature in the play-offs after the win. Interestingly, though, wrecking is not something new. The history of racers benefitting or losing out to these incidents goes a long time back in NASCAR.

Race cars crashing is not a rare sight by any means

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While drivers and teams have all the right to react to Austin Dillon’s win in a seething manner, it’s not the first time an incident of this sort has happened. This is the reason why many of these comments appear to be inspired by the heat of the moment. Considering the fact that stakes are high as ever, the cup series drama boils down to a final three regular-season races. The bombardment of criticisms from professionals and fans alike doesn’t seem to come down any moment soon.

That aside, NASCAR racing history is full of similar moments of deliberate derailments from racers. In 2020, Joey Logano was neck-to-neck with Chase Elliott at the Bristol Motor Speedways. Just when he had the smell of winning the whole thing, the Hendrick Motorsports driver wrecked him out of nowhere. It was Brad Keselowski, however, who had the most to gain from the collision as he found himself in the victory lane. Logano waited for an apology, only to find that he was over-expecting. The only words he received from Chase Elliot that night at the racetrack were, “You’ve done it before.”

Just this year, the young Carson Hocevar of Spire Motorsports rammed into the right rear end of Harrison Burton while under caution at Nashville Superspeedway. This resulted in car no.21 of the Wood Brothers Racing to spin in rounds. Burton, however, resumed the race after the impact. Taking cognizance of the matter, NASCAR later decided to impose a $50,000 penalty on Carson Hocevar and cut 25 points from his total tally.

This was the second time that NASCAR had fined a racer this season. The only other action NASCAR took was against Austin Hill in the Xfinity division. He was fined $25,000 and 25 regular season points for wrecking Cole Custer.