“I couldn't see him”: Austin Dillon frantic with Tyler Reddick after crash ends his NASCAR race prematurely

The driver of the #3 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 fielded by Richard Childress Racing, Austin Dillon certainly wasn't happy with his outing at Pocono Raceway.

Counting down from the 2023 season's playoffs, the HighPoint.com 400 at 'The Tricky Traingle' marked the sixth event before the end of the regular season. Dillon's hopes of a good finish at the 2.5-mile-long facility were squashed after the 33-year-old made hard contact with the outside of the track.

With 55 laps of the 160-lap-long event remaining, Austin Dillon battled his former teammate at RCR, Tyler Reddick when the duo made contact in turn 1. With Brad Keselowski also on the outside, Dillon was trying to clear Reddick on the outside as well. The #45 and #3 cars made contact, sending Dillon spinning into the outside wall and destroying his car.

After climbing out of the racecar on his own, Austin Dillon went on to make his feelings about Reddick clear. He threw his helmet across the track, aiming at the #45 Toyota Camry TRD. He narrowly missed his target as well as other cars on the track.

The #3 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 driver elaborated frantically in a post-race interview with Bob Pockrass, saying:

"At this point, I really don't know. I thought I was doing the right thing just going into the middle lane of the track, wasn't on the bottom lane. I was going to hold the middle, he (Tyler Reddick) drove up into me from the bottom lane."

He added:

"I'm pissed about it because, from my perspective, I couldn't see him, I know I was three-wide but my left front (tire) is in front of him, that's the bigger thing."

It remains to be seen what comes of the frustrations between Austin Dillon and Tyler Reddick in future races, mainly from the former's side.

---

Tyler Reddick's take on contact with Austin Dillon during Cup Series race at Pocono

Tyler Reddick also shared his side of the story on whether he thought Austin Dillon was right in throwing his helmet at Reddick's car. The 23XI Racing driver did not seem to be too flustered with the contact during the race.

Reddick, however, was sympathetic to the impact Dillon suffered on hitting the outside wall. He elaborated in an interview with Bob Pockrass:

"I knew he didn't have a lot of room but I definitely wasn't trying to squeeze him or run him up the race track or anything like that. By the time I realized he was going to be coming down, I tried to go right to the brake pedal but it was too late. After seeing the replay, that hit into the wall does not feel good."

Meanwhile, NASCAR prepares to go racing next weekend at Richmond Raceway, with five races left until the 2023 playoffs.