Austin Dillon saw a solid run come to an end prematurely and in a severe crash after contact with Tyler Reddick on Lap 106 of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series HighPoint.com 400 at Pocono Raceway.
Dillon, who was running 11th at the time, went hard into the outside wall with the right side of his No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. Here is a video of the massive impact that ended Dillon’s day:
A HARD CRASH FOR DILLON!
Wow. What a hard hit for the No. 3 as he gets turned by his former teammate @TylerReddick entering Turn 1.#NASCAR #Pocono400 pic.twitter.com/dKDuBc408X
— NASCAR on TSN (@NASCARonTSN) July 23, 2023
After climbing from his battered race car, Dillon expressed his anger at his former teammate by tossing his helmet at Reddick, who was driving by the scene of Dillon’s crashed race car.
Here is a video of Dillon’s helmet toss:
Austin Dillon took a massive hit into the wall, and he was none too pleased with Tyler Reddick and tossed his helmet at the 45 car in frustration. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/8wtfVjSyg9
— Toby Christie (@Toby_Christie) July 23, 2023
And here is a slow-motion video replay of the helmet throw:
Another look on @austindillon3's helmet throw.
How would you rate it? #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/aMM2VEBQZG
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) July 23, 2023
Instead of a top-10 to top-15 run, Dillon will be credited with a 34th-place finish.
Reddick was able to continue on without much damage and currently runs 10th on Lap 108.
After being evaluated and released from the infield care center, Dillon had not cooled off much at all. When asked what message he was trying to send to Reddick with the helmet toss, Dillon responded with, “That I was mad.”
Dillon was so frustrated because he felt Reddick did not race him smartly considering the fact that they were in a three-wide battle and what point of the race it was.
“I felt like I was holding my own,” Dillon said. “He was at my left rear going in there. I knew we were three-wide. I think I have a right to at least hold my lane. I have to turn at some point to get down. Brad [Keselowski] is on the outside, maybe a half lane up. Tyler drove it in there, and obviously, I felt he drove it deep enough where he had to come up the track into me.”
Dillon then says that the helmet toss wasn’t enough, and that he’s going to start taking matters into his own hands on the racetrack.
“No, I just need to start wrecking some people,” Dillon lashed out.
Here is Dillon’s full post-infield care center interview from the USA Network broadcast:
Following the crash, @austindillon3 shares his thoughts on what happened with the No. 45 of @TylerReddick. pic.twitter.com/A23fw8VGtg
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) July 23, 2023
