"It's either going to be a sport or wrestling" - Denny Hamlin's crew chief slams Austin Dillon’s risky actions at Richmond

Denny Hamlin’s crew chief is unhappy with Austin Dillon’s aggressive moves that led to his victory at Richmond Raceway this Sunday. Dillon won the race in a dramatic finish that has caused a lot of debate.

The No. 3 driver made a risky move in the final laps of the Cup series race by bumping Joey Logano out of the way to take the lead. This contact also caused Hamlin to crash into the wall. Dillon ended up winning his first race in almost two years and qualified for the playoffs.

Talking to the content director at Frontstretch, Denny Hamlin's crew chief, Chris Gabehart, criticized the win. He believes there’s enough evidence to show Dillon's move was intentional.

"At some point, it's either got to be a sport, or it's got to be, you know, wrestling. And those kinds of dangerous moves are just deemed acceptable, and that's what you teach young racers coming up, that that's okay to do. And I just, that takes our sport in a really bad place," Gabehart said (1:43).

"I think will be pretty convincing that this was also an intentional right rear hook. And, you know, yeah, for the integrity of the sport, if that's what it's deemed that it was, I don't see how you can let the win stand," he added (1:31).

When asked if the win should be taken away, Gabehart discussed the possibility of penalties. He recalled past incidents where drivers such as Chase Elliott (Charlotte Motor Speedway) and Bubba Wallace (Vegas) were penalized. He also called Dillon's actions dangerous.

"He drove into Turn 3 way harder than any car could safely make the corner. (0:10) His intent wasn't to make the corner, and he got in the back of 22, and they got into a mess."

Penske's No. 22 team crew chief, Paul Wolfe, also shared Gabehart's views in calling the act by Dillon reckless.

""It's as far from racing as you can get and it's really disappointing that NASCAR allows stuff like that to go on," Wolfe said. (via SiriusXM NASCAR Radio posted on X) (0.12).

---

Denny Hamlin criticizes officiating after Richmond

After Dillon’s win at Richmond, Denny Hamlin was disappointed to have been involved in the incident and wished he hadn’t been one of the drivers affected.

Hamlin finished the race at the fifth spot but was scored second due to the caution. His Cup Series standing remains at number 4 with 758 points and 9 top-5 and 10 top-10 finishes.

Hamlin also criticized the poor officiating and said the championship format encourages reckless driving. He was frustrated by uneven penalties and believes this behavior sets a bad example for young drivers.

"We're never ever gonna get taken seriously as a sport because we have no real officiating," Denny Hamlin said (via motorsport.com).