Vroom Vroom: NASCAR’s Got an Austin Dillon Problem

I will say this for Austin Dillon.

That post-race interview was hilarious.

We wondered how Dillon, who’d just won a race through two of the most outrageous intentional wrecks in years, would respond. Would he express regret around the circumstances? Would he double down and tell Joey Logano to come find him? Would he credit the late Dale Earnhardt for continuing to keep Dillon’s grandpa’s failing racing team alive through the power of #3 nostalgia?

None of the above.

In a performance which would have made Hamas proud, Austin Dillon held his child as a human shield and thanked God for the victory. He then blamed two years of losses on his racecar not giving him a chance to win.

Here’s the finish, if you haven’t seen it. Some important context is that Dillon had the win locked up before Ryan Preece and Ricky Stenhouse wrecked on lap 398. Neither of those guys is close to the playoff cut line, so there’s no reason to think it was intentional, but Dillon did almost get screwed out of the win before he went nuclear on Logano and Denny Hamlin. Dillon had earned the win and gotten spectacularly unlucky. Then, he lost it, because he’s terrible at restarts, and he responded by doing this:

Here’s the view from Dillon’s car, complete with someone on the #3 team’s radio yelling “wreck him” as Hamlin passes Dillon on the inside:

Wrecking people for wins has long been part of NASCAR, and the talk about there being an art to the “bump and run” is probably overblown. Should NASCAR allow it? Yes, but only to an extent. In a one-race sample, this makes for an entertaining finish. The key is to not let it become so common that every white flag brings out a mosh pit. Dillon’s win should stand, but the penalty should be harsh. Take away playoff points, not just regular season points, or suspend Dillon for the first race of the playoffs (or for next year’s Daytona 500). Suspend whoever yelled “wreck him” for the rest of the season plus next year. Make it hurt for Richard Childress Racing’s sponsors, and make spotters know NASCAR’s not above taking away people’s jobs.

Sports need rules, but NASCAR can’t legislate the last-lap wreck out of its races. Fans don’t want that. Drivers don’t actually want that. People see a lot of gray when it comes to last-lap wrecking, and their subjectivity on it requires corresponding subjectivity from the sport’s governing body. NASCAR’s right to allow this in the moment. What it needs to do, though, is instill the appropriate level of fear in drivers to prevent them from going too far. Dillon—a mediocre driver and the epitome of NASCAR nepotism—is the perfect target for bringing down the hammer. I don’t know that people would be this mad if Josh Berry had done what Dillon did. Especially if Berry then had the presence of mind to not make an ass of himself in the aftermath.

Normally, we’d say NASCAR should let the drivers self-police gray areas like these. The problem in this case is that it’s very unlikely Logano or Hamlin will ever have the chance to wreck Dillon for a win. Dillon runs up front too rarely to afford an opportunity for his targets to even the score. NASCAR has to handle this themselves. Make an example out of him.

More from the Cook Out 400:

• The soft tires worked! And Daniel Suárez’s crew chief (Matt Swiderski) almost pulled off a ballsy win.
• The “HUNTING SALE” advertisement on Dillon’s car cracked me up all night. Such a NASCAR paint scheme. Beautiful.
• I also really liked the Coca-Cola car for Chase Elliott. Was that going to happen even before Hooters ran out of money?
• Unless there’s another winner from deep in the standings, the four drivers on the playoff bubble are Ty Gibbs, Bubba Wallace, Ross Chastain, and Chris Buescher, with Gibbs 18 points clear of Chastain/Buescher and Wallace three points clear.  Two spots are available with three races to go, with 13 spots taken by winners and Martin Truex Jr. probably far enough up in points to be safe.
• On Saturday night, Kyle Larson won Knoxville Nationals for the third time in four years. The man loves to race.
• NASCAR is expected to hand down Dillon’s punishment tomorrow.

If F1 and IndyCar Had National Teams

One of the many gimmicks we’ve offered IndyCar over the years is adding a national championship. Meaning: Like the driver championship and F1’s constructor championship, have a championship for whichever country’s top two drivers combine for the most points.

If we limit the IndyCar field to drivers who’ve run the majority of races, I believe this is what the national standings look like right now:

Here’s the F1 counterpart:

I’m surprised there isn’t a second Australian in IndyCar.

**

Vroom Vroom is our motorsports newsletter, focusing on NASCAR, IndyCar, and Formula 1.