Austin Dillon crashed out of last weekend's Folds of Honor QuickTrip 500 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway when he got into a crash at the 1.5-mile-long oval racetrack. Dillon came together with his sparring partner of old, Kyle Busch, with five laps to go in stage 1 of the 500-mile race.
Dillon was running in the third position when the two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion gave him an aggressive push from the rear, sending them both into the outside wall. Neither driver was willing to take responsibility for the incident.
Watch the crash below:
Dillon spoke to track-side media after he retired from the race on what his views were on the incident. The Richard Childress Racing driver did not hesitate to blame Busch and stated:
“It’s the end of Stage 1. We’re going to get a run down the front stretch right there, so I don’t know why he’s pushing like dead-center three-quarter mark. Part of it, I guess. Fun racing there for a while with a really fast Bass Pro Shops Chevy. I don’t want to say anything else. My feelings are hurt because two weeks in a row we’ve been taken out of the race.”
The two drivers have a history of running into each other over the past few years now. The pair ran into each other at Darlington last year and at the Charlotte Road Course the year before that.
The 31-year-old ultimately sympathized with his crew for being taken out two weeks in a row and not being able to finish either race. Austin Dillon will be hoping to drive his #3 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to a good finishing position in Austin, Texas this weekend.
Kyle Busch gives his take on incident with Austin Dillon
The two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion gave his point of view on the incident that took him and Austin Dillon out of the Folds of Honor QuickTrip 500. After making contact with Dillon, Busch tried to continue the race but ultimately retired. Dustin Long, editor and writer for NBC Sports, tweeted an interview where the 36-year-old spoke to track-side media after parking his #18 Toyota Camry, stating:
“I don’t know. He got loose.”
Watch the interview below:
NASCAR heads to the Circuit of the Americas this weekend for the first road course race of the 2022 season. Catch the race on March 27, 2022, at 3:30 pm EST.