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Only Yesterday: Austin Dillon’s Moves Can’t Be Compared With Dale Earnhardt’s — or Anyone’s

You’re right — it wasn’t the first time.

Austin Dillon’s bowling-for-racecars move to win Sunday night’s (Aug. 11) Cook Out 400 was hardly the first or only time in NASCAR’s 76-year history that a driver moved another driver for a race win. It’s not the first or only time a driver wrecked another driver for a race win.

It is, however, a signal of changing times.

As of press time, NASCAR had not penalized Dillon for hooking both Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin in the right rear on the final lap. It also hasn’t ruled it out.

See also
5 Points to Ponder: By Any Means Necessary

There have a been a lot of comparisons between Dillon’s move and similar moves in the past, many of them performed by his predecessor in the Richard Childress Racing No. 3, Dale Earnhardt. One of the most cited races is the 1986 Miller High Life 400, also at Richmond.

In many ways, it’s a valid comparison. The moves look similar: a hook to the right-rear quarter of the lead car.

They aren’t exactly the same though. That’s not just due to the on-track circumstances either.

More on that in a bit. Here’s a side-by-side look at the two incidents, what they have in common … and why they aren’t the same.

What went down

Dillon had the best car in the field on Sunday. He made a clean pass for the lead with 28 laps to go and had the race in hand until an incident between two other drivers brought out the caution and forced an overtime restart. Had that not happened, Dillon would likely have won without incident.

Dillon got beat by Logano on the restart. Logano is more experienced at leading races, and it showed. Dillon didn’t have time to work on Logano, so he drove to Logano’s bumper and then into it, spinning the No. 22.

When that happened, Hamlin got by both. Dillon then hooked Hamlin into the outside wall.

Earnhardt also had the best car in the 1986 event, just the second race of the season. He led 299 of the 400 laps on the day, but circumstances had him battling Darrell Waltrip (coincidentally in the No. 11 car like Hamlin) for the win in the closing laps.

Waltrip put a bump and run on Earnhardt and moved him up the track to make a pass; Earnhardt tried a crossover move but couldn’t make it stick.

Earnhardt then hooked Waltrip, collecting several cars. Kyle Petty avoided the melee and won the race.

What’s the same

It boils down to two drivers battling for the win and one of them crossed the line with a right-rear hook. 

Afterward, both said it wasn’t intentional.

“I misjudged the distance between the cars,” Earnhardt said in an LA Times article on Feb. 25, 1986, two days after the race. “I turned him sideways. It’s my fault. I’m not denying that.

“I made a mistake and hit him. But I don’t think I’m guilty of reckless driving or wrecking somebody purposely. It was an accident.”

Dillon, speaking on Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s Dale Jr. Download podcast this week, said Hamlin took his line away. 

He did admit to intent on Logano, citing the two-year gap since his last win.

Neither driver was particularly liked by either the fans or the competition at the time. Earnhardt wasn’t yet the legend he’d later become, and many eyed him as a menace on track. He had 16 wins under his belt before hooking Waltrip, and not all of them came that way (most didn’t), but the reputation was there.

Same deal for Dillon, who has wrecked the leader for three of his five career NASCAR Cup Series wins. That hasn’t won him a lot of fans on either side of the fence.

What’s really the same is that the win was on the line. Winning is what it’s about.

In 1986, Earnhardt’s move came in the second race of the year; he wasn’t thinking of a title. Dillon was. But they were both doing what they set out to do: take their car owner (same guy, Richard Childress, by the way) to victory lane. That doesn’t change. Drivers are paid to win, and they hate to finish second.

What’s different

Earnhardt’s team didn’t tell him to do it. Dillon’s in-car audio features someone on his team telling him to wreck Logano and/or Hamlin for the spot.

Childress probably did tell Earnhardt he was proud of him afterward like he did his grandson. But Dillon’s move comes across as orchestrated, while Earnhardt’s was heat of the moment. That may not be accurate, but some have been quick to point out that the intentional moves were encouraged for Dillon before they happened.

Also, Dillon came from four or five car-lengths behind Logano to dump him, and he didn’t try to make a clean pass. Earnhardt did attempt a crossover and perhaps a bump-and-run if he could have gotten close enough, which is fair game.  

On the restart Sunday, Dillon was leader but was outraced on the restart. It wasn’t a back-and-forth battle, as Logano got by easily. Dillon doesn’t have Logano’s experience leading races that late in the game and didn’t play it as well as Logano.

Earnhardt and DW exchanged slams while racing for that win. The driver code has long been you race others like they race you. Earnhardt and Waltrip were both known for being rough, and they drove like it that day, trading paint before the incident. Earnhardt also didn’t intentionally wreck two cars for the win. Others were collected in the crash though.

Dillon was never moved by Logano or Hamlin. When he passed Hamlin for the lead with 28 to go, Hamlin didn’t give up, but he also didn’t spend time contesting a faster car. The roughing-up was one-sided. No other cars were collected however.

That doesn’t excuse Earnhardt wrecking Waltrip … and NASCAR didn’t. Earnhardt was penalized with a fine and probation immediately after the race (the fine was later rescinded). Contrary to what some believe, NASCAR didn’t condone rough driving back in the day, though it has cracked down harder in recent years. But the sanctioning body came down swiftly on egregious stuff.

See also
Stat Sheet: Late-Race Cautions Have Spiked Since Introduction of Overtime

Like it or not, the current championship rules also change the severity of an incident like Sunday’s. Under a full-season format with the Latford point system, the repercussions in the championship weren’t as large. Earnhardt did win the 1986 title over Waltrip, but by nearly 300 points. That race, in which Earnhardt finished third and Waltrip fifth, didn’t decide the title.

Sunday’s race didn’t either — but someone will miss the chance to contend for the title because Dillon now qualifies for the playoffs despite having been 32nd in points entering the race.

That’s not Dillon’s doing, and it’s wrong to blame him for playing the game he was given. It’s on NASCAR because of the format which rewards winning at any cost. It’s also on NASCAR to decide if and when that cost gets too high.

An advantage that NASCAR has now that it couldn’t hold over Earnhardt was the SMT data. In Dillon’s case, the steering input is damning.

On the first overtime lap, Dillon maintains a fairly steady wheel. On the final lap, he turns hard left into Logano’s bumper, then back to the right, then left again to make contact with Hamlin. It’s right there in black and white (or blue and yellow).

NASCAR didn’t have that for the Earnhardt-Waltrip incident. The video is pretty solid evidence, no question. But in this case, the data leaves the need for a judgment call off the table.

Both incidents illustrate how the sport has changed. They look similar, but they aren’t the same. Part of the difference is the age-old driver code and the way they raced. Earnhardt didn’t send Waltrip without attempting a pass, and Waltrip had made his own mark on Earnhardt’s bumper.

But the sport has changed. The stakes of a single win are higher under the current title format, and that contributes to whether a line was crossed and how far.

Not only does it change the playoff field, but it potentially opens the door for a similar move in the final race. That includes the possibility of a non-contender taking out a championship driver for the win, helping a teammate win the title in the process. That could have happened before the current system, but the odds were stacked against it. Now, it’s a very real possibility.

As tempting as it is to compare a situation with one in the past as the same thing, they probably aren’t the same at all. Comparing drivers and titles through multiple eras is an exercise in futility, but so is comparing races.

About the author

Amy is an 20-year veteran NASCAR writer and a six-time National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) writing award winner, including first place awards for both columns and race coverage. As well as serving as Photo Editor, Amy writes The Big 6 (Mondays) after every NASCAR Cup Series race. She can also be found working on her bi-weekly columns Holding A Pretty Wheel (Tuesdays) and Only Yesterday (Wednesdays). A New Hampshire native whose heart is in North Carolina, Amy’s work credits have extended everywhere from driver Kenny Wallace’s website to Athlon Sports. She can also be heard weekly as a panelist on the Hard Left Turn podcast that can be found on AccessWDUN.com's Around the Track page.

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6 Comments
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Ted

After watching the video with the SMT data,… Austin kept a straight path to the finish line,…. Denny just kept coming up? 🤔🤷🏼‍♂️

KyCupFan

And some people just see what they want to see. Like Democrats!

Last edited 2 months ago by KyCupFan
janice

dillon is no dale earnhardt sr.

dillon’s action is a product of the playoff program they race under. someone so far out of the play off points managed to ruff race his way into contention. we all know if he keeps that position, he will be out in the first round.

CCColorado

We certainly CAN blame Austin !! He was the one driving , he crashed both Denny and Joey, for crying out loud.
I saw a crappy driver, deliberately wrecking 2 competitors, so his equally crappy owner/ team can be in the STUPID playoffs.
NASCAR doesn’t have the guts to do what we all know they should, and then wonder why they aren’t taken seriously.
I have made Sunday’s my race day, watch every Motorsport on TV, with the recent smash and bash driving style of the young crop of , so called, drivers, I am finding more time to watch NHRA, Indy Car and old episodes of Roadkill.
The balls in NASCARs court, my bet is they totally whiff, give out a meaningless fine and whistle on down the road.
And the 800 lb. gorilla is just starting it’s season… NFL…
so, to watch a REAL sports league, or a wanna be one… that’s the real question.

MICHAEL H CARTER

The 11 and 22 have both done the very same thing and Dale senior won a lot of races by knocking anybody that was in his way!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MICHAEL H CARTER

Dale Earnhardt won a ton of races doing just what Dillion dld!!!DID HE EVER GET PUNISHED FOR IT NO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!