When you think of the moments that defined the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season, Austin Dillon’s upset win at Richmond in August comes to mind.
At the time of the Cook Out 400, Dillon was 32nd in the points standings. His win vaulted him into the 16-driver postseason field — for a few days, that is. As you may recall, Dillon intentionally wrecked Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin on the final lap to take the checkered flag. NASCAR determined Dillon crossed the line, revoking his playoff eligibility and docking him 25 points.
Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic, revisiting Dillon’s controversial win on Monday’s “The Teardown” podcast, said that if Dillon had simply not right rear hooked Hamlin after dumping Logano, he likely would have held onto his playoff spot.
NASCAR insider explains domino effect if Austin Dillon Richmond win had granted him playoff eligibility
“I am fine with him turning Logano on the last lap, whether you agree with it or not, that’s short track racing. Guys get aggressive, they move guys,” Bianchi said. “If I had a magic genie, I would say Austin, do not turn Denny Hamlin. Do not right hook Denny Hamlin, do not put NASCAR in that box. Do not make them go back to the old, encumbered finish where you get the win and everything else, but you don’t get the benefits of actually winning in the playoffs. It just opened up a can of worms, it put NASCAR in a bad spot, it gave the sport a black eye and it caused all sorts of conversation about ethics and the racing. It’s unfortunate, again, drivers I think you get one, I don’t know if you get two.
“If I’m Austin Dillon I would have said, ‘Hey, figure out a way to get to Logano’s bumper and not spin yourself out.’ But that’s what I would have done because it would have been interesting. The domino effect to that is Austin Dillon is in the playoffs, and it would have knocked out Ty Gibbs.”
Austin Dillon’s Richmond win tainted by controversy
NASCAR felt it needed to take a stand against this type of racing, thus coming forward with the unprecedented penalty.
But had Dillon found a way to win clean, that would have meant three first-time winners in a four-week span heading into the playoffs, which Bianchi believes would have been a great story for the sport.
“It would have also underscored the fact of how important winning is during the regular season,” Bianchi said. “… Three weeks out of four — Richmond, Daytona, Darlington — you would have had guys basically out of nowhere winners — Harrison Burton, Chase Briscoe, Austin Dillon, who came out of nowhere, nobody expected them to win, won a race and put themselves in the playoffs.
“That’s great story, and I think that would have been much better for the sport and would have eliminated an unnecessary controversy that was kind of this cloud that hovered over at least a week if not longer.”