NASCAR decided to penalize Austin Dillon, and harshly:
- Dillon’s out of the playoffs unless he manages to win again.
- Dillon and Richard Childress Racing each lost 25 points in the standings.
- Dillon’s spotter, Brandon Benesch, is suspended three races for yelling, “WRECK HIM” into the radio as Dillon came out of wrecking Joey Logano and set his sights on Denny Hamlin.
- Dillon has to give up the number 3 until he acknowledges that he’s not a good enough driver to deserve it.
(I made the last one up.)
RCR is appealing the decision. Additionally, Logano has been fined $50,000 for almost running a bunch of people over on pit road as he smoked his tires in front of Dillon’s box.
Dillon’s is a harsh penalty. It’s a big one. Was it justified? I think so, under the grounds that once he right-hooked Hamlin he’d crossed an established line. But the prescribed penalty for that crime—a one-race suspension—wasn’t enforced in this case, which makes it harder to support the penalty overall. In that sense, you could say NASCAR went too far and not far enough, all at the same time.
We don’t know whether NASCAR would have removed the playoff spot from a competitively respected driver. In that sense, this is unfair. At the same time, though, I don’t know how to rein things in when they’ve gone too far without a dash of unfairness. Unfortunately for Dillon, he was a good target. We wrote as much on Monday.
In that Monday post, we advocated a harsher penalty for Benesch and a one-race suspension for Dillon in the playoffs or in the Daytona 500, among other suggestions. That still seems wiser? Under the rules as they were established, Dillon earned his playoff spot, and it’s NASCAR’s fault for letting that situation develop. They could, however, have still effectively removed him from the playoff field, and the Daytona 500 threat could have still been a good enough deterrent for someone considering trying to win the season championship this way. Say that right hooks receive a suspension. Say that the suspension doesn’t have to be immediate. Keep the hammer you have, but make it hurt more.
Still…we understand why NASCAR wanted this deterrent. Someone wrecking someone else like that for the Cup championship would have been great for attention but bad for legitimacy. Nobody wants a situation where it’s better to be in second than first with one lap to go. Reward good performance. Don’t make it about who gets the chance to wreck whom.
Ultimately, I think Dillon would have been fine had he only wrecked Logano. In a fitting encapsulation of Dillon’s career, it would have been a clumsy imitation of the thing the professionals do, and it wouldn’t have worked out. Hamlin would have beaten him. When Dillon decided to wreck Hamlin too, he crossed the Rubicon, and he brought the rest of stock car racing with him. I’m glad it happened, because it was entertaining, but it sucked for Dillon, Hamlin, Logano, and NASCAR, all at the same time.
On to Michigan:
Big track, big stakes. On Ford and Chevrolet’s turf, Toyota’s make up the majority of the favorites, with Kyle Larson (Chevy) and Ryan Blaney (Ford) currently joined by Denny Hamlin, Tyler Reddick, and Christopher Bell around the top of the odds board. It’s a fairly open field, though, and Michigan’s been an exciting track in the Next Gen era: Two long miles, but not a superspeedway.
Four playoff spots remain open with three races to go before final cuts. At the moment, Martin Truex Jr. is close to clinching on points, but Ty Gibbs, Bubba Wallace, and Chris Buescher each have a more tenuous hold, with Buescher actually tied with Ross Chastain for what’s effectively 16th place. With Daytona and its potential landmine status awaiting next week, stage points are big for these guys too.
The weekend schedule:
- Friday, 1:30 PM EDT: ARCA Practice
- Friday, 2:30 PM EDT: ARCA Qualifying
- Friday, 3:30 PM EDT: Xfinity Practice (NBC Sports Streaming)
- Friday, 4:10 PM EDT: Xfinity Qualifying (NBC Sports Streaming)
- Friday, 6:00 PM EDT: ARCA Race: Henry Ford Health 200 (FS1)
- Saturday, 12:35 PM EDT: Cup Series Practice (USA)
- Saturday, 1:20 PM EDT: Cup Series Qualifying (USA)
- Saturday, 3:30 PM EDT: Xfinity Race: Cabo Wabo 250 (USA)
- Sunday, 2:30 PM EDT: FireKeepers Casino 400 (USA)
Other NASCAR news:
- Kurt Busch was charged with DWI after getting clocked going 63 in a 45 mph zone. His BAC was 0.17. Thank goodness everybody’s ok. I don’t know the details of Busch’s private life, but under the theory that anyone who drives drunk is exhibiting a drinking problem, hopefully he can get some help. I do have to mention: Remember when he accused his ex-girlfriend of being a practicing assassin? In court? You always have to mention that when you mention Kurt Busch.
- This isn’t news, but fun quote from this Alan Gustafson interview: “None of them are remotely the same, but every one of them are genuinely good people,” he said. “And you might say, ‘Kyle Busch? Really?’” (He confirmed that his stance is that Kyle Busch is a good guy. We believe him.)
You Can’t Keep Conor Daly Down
Who’s filling Agustín Canapino’s seat at Juncos Hollinger? Conor Daly, obviously.
Conor Daly is the best. Indiana man. Always available to fill a racecar unless he’s filling another racecar already. They should make Conor Daly the mayor of IndyCar. Mayor Daly. See? It works, and if he’s anything like Mayor Daley, he’ll rig the sport in a way that equally infuriates and satisfies.
IndyCar’s back on the oval this weekend, racing at Gateway Motorsports Park, down by St. Louis. It’s the fourth of seven oval races this year, and if you’re worried that this is going to fuel a Josef Newgarden comeback culminating in a championship in Nashville, you’re not alone. This might happen. If it does, I will say, “Gah!”
At the moment, though, Newgarden’s down in 8th place, with Álex Palou leading a tight pack by 49 points for the series lead. I’m seeing Palou listed as the favorite tomorrow night, and that seems wrong. That seems like something that’s going to correct itself when more markets open. Unless I’m missing an oval, the last time a non-Penske driver won on one was at the second Iowa race in 2022, when Newgarden crashed and Pato O’Ward took the checkered. It should be a big upset if a non-Penske driver wins this race. God willing, either that happens, it’s Scott McLaughlin, or it’s Will Power.
The weekend schedule:
- Friday, 12:45 PM EDT: IndyCar Practice (Peacock)
- Friday, 3:15 PM EDT: Indy NXT Practice (Peacock)
- Friday, 4:20 PM EDT: IndyCar Qualifying (Peacock)
- Friday, 6:45 PM EDT: Indy NXT Qualifying (Peacock)
- Friday, 7:45 PM EDT: IndyCar Practice (Peacock)
- Saturday, 3:55 PM EDT: Indy NXT Race (Peacock)
- Saturday, 6:00 PM EDT: Bommarito Automotive Group 500 (USA)
Other IndyCar news:
- David Malukas found a ride for next year with A.J. Foyt Racing, and we don’t know yet which ride it will be. We think, though, that he’ll replace Sting Ray Robb, keeping Santino Ferrucci on board. If you don’t usually read the IndyCar section, yes: Those are great, great names. Ferrucci lives up to his. Robb doesn’t, but I don’t know who could live up to the name “Sting Ray.”
Are Max Verstappen and Lando Norris Gaming With Each Other Right Now?
I was going to take this opportunity during the F1 summer break (how quaint) to make fun of Lando Norris and Max Verstappen. Then, I realized I might be right. This led me to Lando Norris’s Instagram page to check. No Verstappen sighting, but there was this video from a week and a half ago where Norris and McLaren promoted animal adoption. All of this is a long way to say: Max Verstappen probably doesn’t get the concept of adopting animals, does he. He probably sees stuff like this and is terribly confused. Why would anybody want dis? Why would anybody want de weak dogs? Do dey not know you can buy more handsome ones? Let me text my friend Lando. Lando, you do not need de weak dogs. Let me buy you a good dog, Lando. De shepherd is a good dog.
