“He got beat”: Ryan Blaney's reaction to Austin Dillon’s controversial finish at Richmond before NASCAR announced penalties 

Ryan Blaney shared his take on Austin Dillon's controversial Richmond win on a recent episode of Kevin Harvick's Happy Hour podcast. According to the reigning Cup Series champion, Dillon's actions were "excessive" and something he would have never done to win a race.

Dillon was going for a clear-cut win until a caution came out and sent the race into a two-lap overtime. Following the restart, the Richard Childress Racing driver got jumped by Team Penske's Joey Logano. Dillon tailed Logano's No. 22 Mustang, nudging him out of the way. Seconds later, Denny Hamlin drove up next to him, but he too got moved into the outside wall by the #3 driver.

Ryan Blaney understands why Dillon went to such lengths for a win. The Chevy star had been winless for nearly two years. He was way outside the playoff bubble and needed the victory to make it to the playoffs. Furthermore, his team was yet to win their first race of the season.

Speaking on the Happy Hour podcast, Blaney said:

"You got beat on the restart fair and square. Yeah, you were gonna win the race before the last caution but this is motorsports and unpredicted things happen and you have to go with what's given to you and he got beat. Joey (Logano) drove him around the top and got away from him." (1:23)

Ryan Blaney further noted that Dillon was about five car lengths away from Logano when he steered forth to wreck the two-time Cup Series champion. Although Blaney could have overlooked the fiasco with Logano, how Dillon moved Denny Hamlin seemed out of line to him.

On Wednesday, August 14, NASCAR decided to deny Austin Dillon the playoff spot which he earned by winning at Richmond.

"That was kinda overkill" - Ryan Blaney on why Dillon's actions were "excessive"

NASCAR has always been a contact sport. Therefore, for Austin Dillon to spin Logano off the track in an attempt to bag the victory was probably not as egregious. According to Ryan Blaney, what Dillon did to Denny Hamlin afterward was a "step further in the controversy."

"He hooks the 11 (Denny Hamlin). I feel like that was another step further in the controversy of. Okay, you spun the leader out from pretty far back and then you kind of doubled down and then hook a guy to win... I mean, you're in a desperate situation, but to me, that was kinda overkill," Ryan Blaney explained.

"We're all for hard racing, it's been a contact sport for a long time but I feel like that was just kind of a step over; that was just too excessive, too much to be psyched up about," he added.

Austin Dillon got to keep his win. However, NASCAR penalized him by taking away his playoff spot and docked him 25 points. Dillon now sits 31st in the Cup Series standings with 319 points to his name. Besides that, NASCAR banned his spotter Brandon Benesch from three races for radioing the words 'wreck him' as Dillon battled Denny Hamlin for the lead.

Richard Childress Racing was not happy with the decision and has decided to appeal against the penalty. The appeal will be heard at a later date, which is yet to be announced.