What Happened?
A routine Richmond race quickly went sideways in overtime as Austin Dillon played bumper cars with Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano to win Sunday’s (Aug. 11) Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway.
Dillon snapped his 68-race winless streak in the Cup Series’ return from a two-week hiatus for the Olympics. Because the caution flew before the checkered, Hamlin was still credited with a second-place finish. Tyler Reddick wound up third, while bubble battlers Bubba Wallace and Ross Chastain finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
What Really Happened?
Well, this just opened up a can of worms.
Over the last two seasons, NASCAR has tightened up its officiating surrounding rough driving and intentionally wrecking people. This new precedent began when Wallace right hooked Kyle Larson at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2022.
Carson Hocevar earned a two-lap penalty for attempting a right hook in the 2023 spring Martinsville Speedway Craftsman Truck Series race. A few months later, Chase Elliott served a suspension of his own for right hooking of Hamlin at Charlotte Motor Speeedway.
While Corey Heim sought justice against Hocevar in the Truck Series’ championship race at Phoenix Raceway last fall, NASCAR slapped him with a fine and points penalty.
The Nashville Superspeedway weekend saw a double dish of penalties. The first rough driving penalty came in the truck race for Layne Riggs after he dumped Stefan Parsons. Hocevar was penalized again, this time in the Cup Series, for spinning Harrison Burton under caution. A week later, Wallace incurred another penalty for door slamming Alex Bowman on the Chicago cool down lap.
It might be time to set another precedent.
We can debate the ethics of Dillon’s dumping of Logano all we want. Overdriving a corner to hit someone is nothing new, and the Next Gen car requires pretty strong contact to move someone up the track.
Logano had every right to be upset because Dillon’s move on the No. 22 was definitely dirty. But what he did next was downright egregious.
After overdriving the corner, the No. 11 team saw their prediction come true. Unfortunately, their crystal ball didn’t include Dillon hooking Hamlin into the fence. For a split second, it did look like Hamlin drifted up a bit. But sliding up the track doesn’t hook a car like that — unless the driver on the outside is turning hard to the left. Team audio also confirms the intent.
We’ve seen NASCAR tighten up its officiating in recent years trying to preserve its wild, chaotic playoff format. Teams and drivers who violate its integrity tend to earn harsh penalties more often than not.
If NASCAR follows precedent, this right hook is just like the two that have come before it. The difference is that the other offenders took themselves out, while Dillon won the race.
I hate to say it, but if NASCAR issues a penalty to the No. 3, it should absolutely include stripping Dillon of the win. And if they don’t issue any penalty?
Hold on to your hats.
Who Stood Out?
This harsh line on Dillon hurts, because he absolutely stood out over the field as the evening turned to night. Dillon drove past Logano — twice — and worked ultra hard on passing Hamlin cleanly. He rightfully put himself in position to win, yet another late-race caution ruined a great, natural finish and created another round of controversies.
Hocevar caught a side of shade earlier in the article from his past incidents, but he quietly tied his career high with an eighth-place finish. The No. 77 again showed some legit speed, and Hocevar finished right in the middle of two Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolets to solidify a solid run.
Another standout throughout the evening was Daniel Suarez. That whole No. 99 team deserves credit for playing an alternate strategy that made things interesting and showcased the variety in the two tire compounds. Things looked bleak for Suarez when he dropped like a rock on the primary tires at the start of stage three, but he made a hero drive back through the field before the overtime shook him out in 10th.
Who Fell Flat?
For the third consecutive race, another Joe Gibbs Racing engine fell flat, this time for the No. 19. Martin Truex Jr. showed strength at Richmond late in his career. Unfortunately, his final Richmond race as a full-time driver came to a premature end with a blown engine.
The Hendrick Chevrolets struggled throughout the weekend, especially the No. 48. Bowman simply could not find any speed, and he finished two laps down in 28th.
Better Than Last Time?
Multiple tire compound options are not the one way forward, but they did provide some interesting kinks and hopefully gave Goodyear a path to creating softer tires.
Outside Suarez showing off his option tires early and a few teams taking a set in stage two, the top teams mostly mirrored each other’s strategies throughout the race. The fun with option tires comes when teams differentiate their strategies to create comers and goers. That doesn’t happen when everybody takes the tires at the same time.
Still, when the leaders had the red sets on at the same time, there did seem to be some guys who made the softer tires last longer while other drivers used the speed up a little quicker. Goodyear hopefully has a great read on what these softer tires can do and how long they can last.
Call me starved for racing after two weeks off, but the racing all night was enjoyable, with plenty of natural battles even without the cautions. The race was nearly a perfect way to return from the Olympics.
Paint Scheme of the Race
Maybe it’s not the flashiest paint scheme, but Jockey’s promotion of its Infinite Cool Underwear definitely made the funniest and most creative scheme of the race. The scheme was definitely recognizable, with the outline of Chastain wearing nothing but his Jockey underwear on the inside.
What’s Next?
The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Michigan on Sunday, Aug. 18 for the FireKeepers Casino 400. The race will air on USA Network at 2:30 p.m. ET.
About the author
Caleb began sports writing in 2023 with The Liberty Champion, where he officially covered his first NASCAR race at Richmond in the spring. While there, Caleb met some of the guys from Frontstretch, and he joined the video editing team after graduating from Liberty University with degrees in Strategic Communications and Sports Journalism. Caleb currently work full-time as a Multi-Media Journalist with LEX 18 News in Lexington, Kentucky and contributes to Frontstretch with writing and video editing. He's also behind-the-scenes or on camera for the Happy Hour Podcast, live every Tuesday night at 7:30!
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First off, Joey Logano jumped the restart without penalty. Secondly, Hamlin and Logano have done the same. Denny Hamlin did it to Chase Elliott at Martinsville. Joey Logano did it to Matt Kenseth at Kansas & William Byron at Darlington. Lastly, wasn’t the last driver of the 3 car praised for doing the same thing. “I didn’t mean to wreck him, just meant to ‘rattle his cage.'” 😬🤷🏼♂️🤣
From the replay I’ve seen Dillon waited too long to hit the gas in the restart zone. Once they cross the second line Logano was free to accelerate. As for the possible penalty, nobody seems to have a huge problem with bumping Logano, a move that has not garnered a penalty in the past as you’ve noted. The big problem is right-hooking Hamlin, which if NASCAR is consistent would involve a one-race suspension.
Logano came from a half car back to be even entering the restart zone so he was already accelerating before the control car, Dillon, got to the restart zone to accelerate. A check of the SMT data should show who went first and when.
Take it from someone who was in attendance wearing a 3 cap when Earnhardt “rattled his cage” There was no praise, just 100k people booing. People want to remember Earnhardt as universally loved but coming from an Earnhardt fan who lived through those times, it was 50/50 at best until he passed.
How many wins has Dillon had now that involve dumping the leading car? And no, he is no Dale Earnhardt.
Who did Ironhead drive for?
pop pop
Kyle Busch is 39 and getting 16.9 million from RCR. Resigned for next year at the same money. $444,000 a race to drive a piece of crap car. I think behind closed doors he and Samantha have to be laughing at Richard.
You realize that if NA$CAR takes the win away from Dillon, not likely, the win goes to Humblin?
The win would go to the second place car, which I guess NASCAR ruled was Hamlin because that’s where he was when the caution lights went on? To me it should be Reddick.
I just want to see Austin and pop pop cry. Hamlin said he hurt his shoulder. Maybe it will linger through the playoffs.
I think being consistent with the past penalties for wrecking the leader the win should stand, but being consistent with past right-hook penalties to Elliot and Wallace Dillon should be suspended for one race, which would make him ineligible for the playoffs.
Karma for Two Drivers Who Have Done The Same Things To Win Races. . Either Nascar Holds Everyone Accountable All The Time or As They Say ,, Have At It Boys .
If my memory is still working, Dillon has won 5 total Cup races in about a decade. Four of those wins came by dumping the leader to get the win. Last night, he out did himself, by wrecking the leader and the third place car. Pop Pop said over the radio how proud he was of Dillon. Isn’t that the same guy that asked someone to “hold my watch”, and punched out Kyle Busch, after Dillon got dumped by Busch? I guess pride is a coin that’s easy to flip. Didn’t Hamlin get fined pretty god by NASCAR, after he said on his podcast a day or two latter, that he “did what he had to do” to Larson? Dillon said it on the front stretch to the grandstand, and to the tv audience. Maybe it’s time for a winner to have an “encumbered” win. NASCAR liked that phrasing a few years ago. Let him keep the win, but take away the automatic transfer into the playoffs. If they do nothing, expect a lot of crashing from here on out. And it won’t be just Logano & Hamlin. How about those drivers that were at the cut line, and a guy that’s 32nd in the points, wrecks his way into the playoffs? I think that there are going to be some team owners that are going to have to buy more kit cars to finish the season. Hopefully nobody gets hurt or killed.
First of all, I don’t really care for Logano or Hamlin. But that was ridiculous. Dillon should be disqualified and suspended. Not only was he encouraged to wreck them by his radio but he just blatantly drove through Logano. Then the right hook to Hamlin. Enough is enough. If they do not do something really harsh to Dillon I’m done with NASCAR. Hendrick, Gibbs and Childress can do no wrong. It just isn’t fair. Not in the slightest.
I recuse myself from weighing in on this fiasco. I don’t like any of the three drivers involved, but Hamlin is my most hated driver of the three, so anytime he gets burned it’s hard for me not to be happy.
What I will say is this is what you get with a ridiculous format for making the playoffs combined with GWC finishes. This wouldn’t have been a problem at all in the pre-Brian era. The race would have ended under caution and the guy that deserved to win would have won. Likewise the win wouldn’t have made Dillon an instant contender for the championship so he probably wouldn’t have made such a blatantly dirty move for the win.
It’s laughable that expert dumpers like Logano & Hamlin can stand before a camera and whine to the point of near-tears about being taken out on the final lap. Call it a disconnect, sense of entitlement, whatever. But these guys are guilty of dumping lead cars going into turns on several occasions. Logano, when failing to block, has hooked or pushed many an opponent and sent him to the wall… as he did not so long ago at Martinsville when it impacted his Championship cause (a Championship he eventually won).
That’s not a viewpoint or opinion — it’s a video substantiated fact!
Dillon hit harder than necessary, by error or intention only he knows. After all, he’s had far less experience in doing so than Logano or Hamlin.
Personally, never been a fan of any of these 3 personalities. Maybe that’s why I can see clearly, and think clearly on this incident?
One other fact in these scenarios is ‘dump or get dumped’; and one has seconds to decide.
Spare us the hypocrisy and please stop with the follow-up calls for NASCAR to step up when they have not in each of Logano & Hamlin’s many similar adventures.