Austin Dillon has no regrets over his aggressive actions that triggered last-lap wrecks for Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin before Dillon went on to win at Richmond Raceway and had NASCAR later revoke his automatic spot in the playoffs.
“You don't hate the player,” Dillon said Saturday, a day before the FireKeepers Casino 400 was scheduled to run at Michigan International Speedway. “You hate the game.”
The game — or the system as many Cup Series drivers call it — creates high-stakes, risk-reward racing for competitors needing to win to secure a spot in the 16-car playoffs.
Dillon was, and still is, one of those desperate drivers, and NASCAR determined he “crossed a line” and went too far.
The checkered flag seemed out of reach last weekend for Dillon, who started Richmond 32nd in the standings, until the final seconds when he spun Logano out of the way and sent Hamlin into the wall.
Three days later, NASCAR announced Dillon committed “actions detrimental to stock car auto racing” in its decision to take him out of a spot in the 16-driver field.
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Dillon and the Richard Childress Racing No. 3 team were docked points in both the drivers’ and owners’ standings, dropping him from 26th to 31st in the driver standings.
Brandon Benesch, Dillon's spotter, was suspended for three races for yelling “wreck him!” over the radio as the driver raced with Hamlin down the stretch.
RCR is appealing NASCAR’s decision.
NASCAR, meanwhile, was wired $50,000 from Logano to settle a fine for smoking his tires on pit road as he drove by Dillon and his team.
Logano suggested what Dillon did to him at Richmond was akin to someone breaking in his house, stealing his stuff and dancing with the ill-gotten possessions on the front lawn.
“What would you do?” Logano said. “I was not going to do anything to hurt anybody, but I'm not a robot. I was emotional about it, rightfully so.”
Hamlin wished the ruling was made in real time Sunday night, but added that he was satisfied with NASCAR's decision.
“I saw something that I’ve never seen before last week, and we saw an unprecedented penalty for it,” Hamlin said.
Hamlin will start on the pole Sunday after rain washed out qualifying. Coverage begins at 2 p.m. ET on USA Network with NASCAR Countdown to Green, followed by the race on USA Network at 2:30 p.m. ET.
Playoffs?!
There are 12 drivers with a spot secured in the playoffs, leaving four spots open with three races remaining.
NASCAR's decision to revoke Dillon's spot in the postseason gave a dose of hope for drivers such as Bubba Wallace, who currently holds a position in the playoff picture that would give him a spot based on points even if he doesn't win.
“There are still four spots left instead of the three,” Wallace said. "Definitely a relief there, but it is still going to be a dogfight.
"We are still not safe but there is an extra spot open now.”
Home sweet home
Erik Jones, who drives the No. 43 Toyota, signed a multi-year contract extension this week with Legacy Motor Club to make his homecoming even sweeter.
“Looking at the landscape and where everything was at, what was possibly available and what other opportunities were out there, none of them were enticing enough for me that made me want to make a move,” said Jones, who is from Byron, Michigan, a town with about 500 residents. “Unless it was going to be a huge leap to a currently a race-winning, championship-contending team, I just wasn’t interested.”
Ford's tough
Defending race winner Chris Buescher, who currently holds the final spot in the playoff picture on points, extended Ford's winning streak to nine at Michigan last year.
The manufacturer has the longest streak of success, dating to Clint Bowyer's victory in 2018, at a track that has hosted 106 Cup races since 1969.
Odds and ends
Top-ranked driver Kyle Larson is the BetMGM Sportsbook favorite to win Sunday, or Monday if rain pushes the race past the weekend for a second straight year.
