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Austin Dillon’s run at Richmond showed the unpredictability of NASCAR with less than a month until the 2024 playoffs. 3 after his controversial actions against Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin, others accused him. this in NASCAR’s high-risk, high-reward playoff format.
While everyone seems to have an opinion on the matter, the last man left out of the race for the playoff spot Austin Dillon had some interesting thoughts on the August 12 episode of Detrimental Actions. And from the legitimacy of NASCAR’s failure at Richmond to the future consequences of Dillon’s actions, Denny told it all in a no-holds-barred post-race speech on his podcast.
Denny Hamlin fires back at NASCAR’s flaws in the Playoff system
In fourth place for the 2024 regular season championship, Denny Hamlin would have passed Tyler Reddick, Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson for the lead if he had won on Sunday. He would have deserved it if he had. After all, Richmond is the driver’s home track number 11, located just half an hour from his hometown of Chesterfield on a good day. Plus, with a sweep after his tournament triumph earlier in March, he doesn’t feel out of place in Victory Lane or in the playoff race.
But it doesn’t feel the same way as the fortune made in Richmond by Austin Dillon. “Obviously, the No. 3 team is not a top 16 team… In racing these days, fuel consumption, this, that and the other, a win is very easy to say, ‘OK , then you have to fight for the championship.” “I think they put in a 30-ball rule for a reason. To prevent people from being absolutely terrible all year and getting lucky and winning. »
But it’s not as if Dillon completely missed an undeserved victory at the hands of Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin. His car does not. 3 set the fastest time in practice and started his race in sixth position when the light turned green. Then Denny said, “Now I didn’t get lucky and win until he did. He would legitimately win, right? “However, Denny doesn’t agree with the current system that allows ‘the 25th and 32nd cars overall to be in the playoffs because they have a win.’ of course.
But that’s another conversation… I want say that it makes my job easier, by the way, because the road to the championship becomes easier. At the Richmond race, Dillon was 32nd in the regular season point standings. After his double overtime, he passed all the potential playoff contenders in the discussion for an immediate playoff spot in the Cook Out 400. One of them was his Richard Childress Racing teammate, Kyle Busch, who is often considered much more deserving of a playoff spot. than Dillon. .
The man was to win two Bill France Cups and more races than anyone actively competing (63) for these honors. Regardless, teammate No. Rowdy’s 3 won his fifth Stanley Cup in controversy at the time. And NASCAR’s criteria for an immediate playoff berth helped him shake things up, winning one of the four remaining races with a little luck and a lot of motivation. After Richmond, drivers like Martin Truex Jr., Ty Gibbs, Bubba Wallace and Ross Chastain (guys who have raced better than Dillon all year) are fighting for slim chances to close for a shot at the championship.
All of these developments should have prompted Detrimental Actions co-host Jared Allen to ask Denny Hamlin, “What’s the difference between finishing 16th in points and 30th in points?” » The unfortunate victim of Austin Dillon cleared up some points of contention with his response. “Probably about $2 million of what the card will pay. “That’s the key, saying, ‘I’m a playoff driver.’ “It’s a very different driver in the playoffs than the rest when you think about the context. But you know, if it stays like this, I believe that in the months and months and years to come, no one will care. We have to say just “What does the scoreboard say?” “Oh, you made the playoffs!” “No matter how you got there,” Hamlin said. This playoff format, which was tweaked to perfection after 2017, has its roots in the old “Chase for the Cup” championship format that existed until the mid-2000s.
The big goal was to make NASCAR – more exciting and will attract more viewers in the middle of the season. Before that, NASCAR mathematically determined the season champion after the championship race at the end of the season. And yes, while the motivations of the sanctioning body with this new playoff-based format were successfully carried out based on their original intentions, it raised their legitimate skeptics who found fault with this imperfect system. Some might even consider Austin Dillon’s immediate playoff berth as an example of this broken system. As such, Dillon has two top-10s, crashed three times and has generally struggled to find speed this season.
Their performances against Richmond looked too unlikely to allow them to qualify for the play-offs. So when he had the opportunity to do better than all those who had left him out of the sad record of 2024, he crossed the “invisible line” to shake some cages at his heels and have a fighting chance for the championship.
Denny Hamlin looked back on his loss in the Cook Out 400 due to contact with Austin Dillon’s car on the last lap and understood his attacker’s motives. “Yes, it’s worth it for him. Absolutely. Because the system pays: “All you have to do is win a race and at least you’ll go from 32nd to 16th in the standings,” he said. “And you don’t have to be like that The system has everything planned for that… That’s what I mean, is that they have to implement it. Because it can’t be more open than that, it can’t be. »
Denny was understandably upset, but not nearly as angry as Joey Logano, after being attacked from behind. The Team Penske driver wasn’t as attentive to Dillon’s motivations and crashed left and right after his post-race crash and breakaway. Maybe Denny had a reason to answer to the NASCAR judges. But judging by the events after Richmond, driver no. 22 may be trying to avenge Austin Dillon after what happened on Sunday. And knowing Logano, he’s not one to be disrespectful, to say the least.
This raises the question of the future intentions of Joey Logano, already motivated against Austin Dillon. Both drivers are heading to the playoffs with a single victory in 2024. It is important to note that the others have been with a single victory after 23 races boast names like Chase Elliott, Austin Cindric, Alex Bowman, Ryan Blaney , Daniel Suárez, Brad. Keselowski and Tyler Reddick. This is no ordinary undertaking for a driver hoping to qualify for the playoffs. Despite increased parity in the sport, which has allowed top drivers to compete for wins over the past three seasons, Denny highlighted another critical issue facing the current state of business in NASCAR.
Veteran driver demands tougher penalties in similar instances
As their conversation progressed, Jared Allen pressed Hamlin on what he thought would be an appropriate penalty for Dillon if NASCAR decided to impose one. The man didn’t hesitate to leave that decision in NASCAR’s hands. However, he admitted that “there is no monetary penalty, there is no reason, it does not make sense… You have to do something to tell us that you cannot intentionally run someone over for a win. Crash on purpose. . Drive around and say, “Sorry, buddy.” it’s you not me It’s you.” Referring to his battles with Hendrick Motorsports rival Kyle Larson at Pocono, the JGR star gave his decisive verdict: “When you drive and say, I’m going to destroy you, that’s not a racing move . This is blatant, deliberate destruction, which is against the rules, twice.”
Allen repeated his question, hoping for a better answer. He even went so far as to offer his co-host some options like, “Do you have the win? “Does it take away your eligibility for the playoffs? You introduced a new rule where you have to be in the top 20 in points to make the playoffs?” Denny noted, “No, you can’t do those things … You have to look at the bigger picture, yes. You have to make it a little more difficult for a driver to qualify for the playoffs than just winning a race…”
Of course, awarding a playoff spot for what we’ve seen is not in the best interest of our sport long term. And I hope they can see beyond the headlights that are right in front of them,” said Denny, as he painted a poignant picture for all his listeners. “If we allow this, it’s going to be a very bad road ahead. Because in Phoenix, you have to eliminate all your competitors. If I was in the bottom four, what’s to stop me from crushing the three guys who are competing? »
Such unfiltered opinion is bound to be taken out of context. So, Danny gave some reasonable explanations. “What happens now is when we get to a Cup race, somebody’s going to be next to another guy, you just have to break. You say, ‘Well, I did what I had to do, they’re not going to continue.’ I do. “You cannot allow this. You are ruining the integrity of the sport. So stop immediately before this happens,” warned the sport.
Denny concluded: “If you say it’s acceptable and allow it. And allow someone to pass not only for the first time, but in the playoffs. If you allow such an egregious act, you have opened the door for someone who is outside the cut line to destroy who is on the cut line … So you have to put the bumpers on us, because clearly, we do not think not straight as pilots. And that’s why we have rules in place to keep us on track here. »
When Elton Sawyer defended NASCAR as a contact sport in his post-race speech to justify the aggressive maneuvers of Austin Dillon, a glimmer of doubt appeared in the eyes of the executive. Sawyer seemed to understand that Dillon had strayed dangerously close to an “invisible line” that generally regulates on-track behavior between drivers. Will Sawyer’s prospect result in a penalty for Dillon on Tuesday? This is not clear. However, the advantage of pilot no. 3 at the end of a 68 game winless streak is certainly understandable. But destroying two veterans of the sport and expecting nothing in return would be madness. Now that his playoff spot is secured, the Richard Childress Racing driver must watch out for his two victims if he hopes to escape this dangerous round of 16.