“Shades of the past”: NASCAR veteran uses Dale Earnhardt Sr. reference in addressing Austin Dillon’s win at Richmond

Austin Dillon's actions at Richmond Raceway reminded NASCAR vet Kenny Wallace of the late Dale Earnhardt Sr. According to Wallace, Dale Earnhardt Sr., who was nicknamed the 'intimidator,' would have done exactly what Austin Dillon did to win Sunday's Cook Out 400.

The 34-year-old Dillon currently drives the No. 3 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Richard Childress Racing. As of today, he has five Cup Series wins under his belt. Dillon also won the 2013 Xfinity Series championship and the 2011 Truck Series championship.

The North Carolina native entered today's race ranked 32nd on points. That means he had to win to be able to advance to this year's playoff rumble. However, his victory came at the expense of Team Penske driver Joey Logano and Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin, whom he wrecked just seconds before crossing the finishing line.

Here is how it happened:

Reflecting on the incident in a recent video on his YouTube channel, Kenny Wallace said (0:33):

"The driving by Austin Dillon matches that team. Let's go back. Anytime the late great Dale Senior did something like that... we watched Senior do it. You saw Chocolate Myers (the fueler on Dale Earnhardt Sr.'s car), and the Flying Aces (Dale Earnhardt Sr.'s pit crew)... they were there to back up Dale Senior.

"So what I see right there...I'm old enough that I see shades of the past. Austin Dillon was wrong."

Wallace also mentioned that every time Dale Earnhardt Sr. spun someone out, his crew chief (The Flying Aces) would back him up.

"I'm going to admit it was wrong," Wallace continued. "But we watched Dale Senior do that to Terry Labonte at Bristol. The Flying Aces were there to back him up, and that's what you saw. You saw that team; they didn't care."

Kenny Wallace on what might have catalyzed Austin Dillon's win

Before bagging the win at the Virginian racetrack, Austin Dillon had just two top-10 finishes this year. His team was, in fact, winless before Sunday's showdown. Furthermore, Richard Childress Racing had not been to the victory lane at Richmond since 2013.

There was a lot of pressure on Dillon as he buckled himself to his Chevy. Wallace said that John L. Morris, owner of Bass Pro Shops, was there to watch Dillon compete. Bass Pro Shops is a longtime partner of Richard Childress Racing and also Dillon's sponsor for the 400-lap event.

"If you bump somebody in Formula 1, you're out of the race. If you do that in IndyCar you're out of the race," Wallace explained (1:53). "However, there's a lot of things I saw in this race. The owner of Bass Pro Shops...he was there. So Austin Dillon had to win the race or else he was not going to be in the playoffs."

The field will now prepare for next week's race (August 18) at Michigan International Speedway. The 200-lap race will start at 2:30 PM ET. Fans can watch the race live on the USA Network and NBC Sports. MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will provide radio coverage of the action.