Bob Pockrass

FOX NASCAR Insider

RICHMOND, Virginia – Austin Dillon clinched a spot in the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs in controversial fashion when he destroyed both Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin on the final lap at Richmond Raceway on Sunday.

Dillon had a comfortable lead when a caution came out with two laps to go, allowing a two-lap sprint to the finish. Logano started alongside Dillon and took the lead on the restart.

In the final two turns, Dillon rear-ended Logano, who spun. Dillon then shot down the track as Hamlin passed alongside him, eventually clipping Hamlin’s right rear.

WILD FINISH! Austin Dillon takes the checkered flag in overtime of the Cook Out 400

Before the race, Dillon was 32nd in the points standings in this miserable year. Now he has a spot in the 16-driver playoffs.

“Wins get you to the next round,” Dillon said. “I did what I had to do to cross the start-finish line first. … A lot of people lose their jobs because they don’t cross the start-finish line first.”

Hamlin believed that this reasoning should not be sufficient reason for officers not to issue a ticket for what he considered to be overly aggressive driving.

“We will never be taken seriously as a sport because we don’t have a proper refereeing function,” Hamlin said.

Hamlin spoke to NASCAR officials after the race. He had previously said that NASCAR’s win-and-in playoff system creates moments and decisions by drivers that he believes should not be allowed.

“We came here because we set out to do this,” Hamlin said. “We set up eliminations, playoffs, knockouts and a championship race. We try to create those moments, and if we do that and look as silly as we did tonight, then the sport is in the mud.”

“But I think there are probably people (at NASCAR headquarters in) Daytona who love this shit, and they’re the ones setting this sport back.”

Logano? Not happy either.

“He’s a piece of shit,” Logano said. “He sucks. He’s been shit his whole career. And now he’s going to be in the playoffs. Good for him. I guess.”

Joey Logano is upset about Austin Dillon’s overtime attempt to win the Cook Out 400

Insights after a race in which Hamlin finished second, followed by Tyler Reddick, Bubba Wallace and Ross Chastain.

NASCAR for review

NASCAR will review the final lap, including the radio transmission from Dillon’s spotter, who said, “Run him down, wreck him.” Dillon said he did not hear that instruction.

“The last lap was awfully close to the finish line,” said Elton Sawyer, NASCAR’s senior vice president of competition. “We’re going to look at every resource available from audio to video — we’re going to listen to the spotters, crew chiefs and drivers.”

“If anything rises to a level where we believe punishment is warranted, we will do so on Tuesday.”

NASCAR has traditionally not taken home a win in the days following the race.

“Historically, it hasn’t been our nature to eliminate races, but that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t set a precedent in the future,” Sawyer said. “We’ll have to look at it.”

Elton Sawyer on possible punishments for Austin Dillon

Dillon’s view

Dillon said he wanted to move Logano and then simply reacted when Hamlin got under him.

“I was just trying to get to him,” Dillon said of Logano. “I went into Turn 3 in fifth gear and tried to get him loose and get him on the track. I downshifted and the car actually spun pretty well while I was doing that.”

“When I came back to the left, the 11 (from Hamlin) came over. That was just kind of a reaction. … I didn’t lift at that point because I was more paying attention to where the 22 was. When the 11 came over, that was just a reaction.”

With this victory, Dillon ended a 68-race winless streak. Dillon, the driver of the No. 3 made famous by Dale Earnhardt, is often in the spotlight with this number and his grandfather, team owner Richard Childress.

NASCAR Cup Series: Highlights of the Cook Out 400

“If he had been leading, the 22 (from Loagno) would have taken him out of the way,” Childress said. “The 11 (from Hamlin) would have taken him out of the way.”

“Any of them would have done the same thing. I’ve seen it before.”

Logano, Hamlin frustrated

Logano said he thought he had such a big lead over Dillon that he expected to win the race.

“He just goes in so hard – obviously he didn’t make the turn,” Logano said. “He hit me and then the 11 (of Hamlin) would have won the race. He had no intention of racing. I beat him fair and square on the restart and he just pulled a coward’s trick.”

“Where is the line?” – Denny Hamlin questions NASCAR referees after Cook Out 400

Hamlin said he thought he would finish third, but “I knew the 3 (from Dillon) was going to do something stupid.”

“I don’t blame him because he’s completely desperate,” Hamlin said. “He’s 30th in the points standings. He’s moving up 20 places. … His season is saved.”

“He will have to face the consequences later, but from his point of view it is worth it because there are no guardrails or rules that say, ‘Don’t do that.'”

Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR for FOX Sports. He has covered motorsports for decades, including over 30 Daytona 500s, and has worked for ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene Magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @Subscribe.

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