“Just had to send it”: Austin Dillon looks back on controversial Richmond win

Austin Dillon has reflected on his controversial victory at the Richmond Raceway, which came at the cost of wrecking Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano. The Richard Childress Racing driver snapped his two-year winless streak to register his fifth Cup Series career win.

Dillon kicked off his 408-lap dash from sixth place on the grid and kept his #3 Chevy among the frontrunners throughout. He finished seventh in the first stage and improved to fifth in Stage 2. But in the final stage, the RCR driver chased for the lead, charging behind Hamlin, and overtook the latter on Lap 333.

Despite leading the pack on the first overtime restart, Logano snatched the contention from Dillon, took the white flag as leader, and gunned toward the checkered flag for his second win this season after his first at the Nashville Superspeedway.

However, the #3 Chevrolet driver didn't let that come to fruition and wrecked out Team Penske driver's #22 Ford at the final corner of the 0.750-mile oval. This made Denny Hamlin the leader. But the RCR driver then turned into the Joe Gibbs Racing driver to clear the path for his maiden Cup win of the season.

"Had to bring it home for all the guys back in Welcome, North Carolina [RCR HQ] working their guts out. They gave me an opportunity and just had to send it, Dillon said via SiriusXM NASCAR Radio on X (0:33).

So far, no penalty has been announced for Austin Dillon, but, if due, it will be awarded on Tuesday.

NASCAR VP gives his take on Austin Dillon's controversial final lap move

Had Austin Dillon not gone for the #22 Ford, Joey Logano would've claimed his second Cup Series win this season. Moreover, if the #3 Chevy driver had refrained from bumping Denny Hamlin, the JGR driver could've claimed his fourth win on the 2024 calendar and sixth at Richmond.

When Dillon and Logano steered through the final corner, the RCR driver got “wreck him” input from his spotter, Brandon Benesch, and so he did (via Ryan Pistana on X).

However, radio communication has gained immense traction, and, as a result, the senior VP of competition at NASCAR, Elton Sawyer, gave his take on the incident.

"Our sport has been a contact sport for a long time. We always hear, 'Where's the line?' and 'Did someone cross the line?' I would say that the last lap, it was awful close to the line. We'll take a look at all the available resources from audio to video, we'll listen to the spotter, we'll listen to crew chiefs and drivers, and if anything rises to a level that we feel like we need to penalize, then we'll do that on. Tuesday," the VP of competition said via Bob Pockrass on X.

Austin Dillon has punched his ticket to the playoffs for now, while his teammate Kyle Busch is still struggling from the poor season's misery.