The drama following Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series event at Richmond Raceway was well-documented, with Austin Dillon making last-lap moves that saw him take out Joey Logano, and then hook Denny Hamlin into the frontstretch wall.
Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano were no doubt frustrated with how things played out on the final lap, seeing as Logano was credited with a 19th-place finish, and Hamlin, although he finished second, brought a wrecked Toyota Camry back to Joe Gibbs Racing.
In the aftermath of the incidents, both Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin bring their wounded racecars down pit road, as is typically the post-race procedure following the NASCAR Cup Series event.
While driving down pit road, Logano establishes a third lane and is running closer to both the pit stalls and walking pit crew members and NASCAR Officials than any other racecar that is present there.
Barring any unheard objections from NASCAR or his Team Penske crew, that isn’t the issue at hand, in this instance. The real problem comes further down pit road, after the Middletown, Connecticut-native has already passed his pit box.
After the race, Noah Lewis of TSJ Sports captured a video of Logano driving down pit road, where he appears to drive towards the crew members and family of the race-winner Austin Dillon, before taking off with a big burnout.
Logano and Hamlin show frustration to 3 crew.
Logano spins his tires as the team cheers. NASCAR officials unhappy with the move. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/RWwK27z5vS
— Noah Lewis (@Noah_Lewis1) August 12, 2024
While the relevant portion of the video is quite short and doesn’t show the beginning of the showing of frustration, it does catch Logano coming awfully close to a large group of people a couple of NASCAR Officials, before spinning the tires and throwing up smoke in their faces.
Elton Sawyer, Senior Vice President of Competition for NASCAR, said following Sunday’s event at Richmond that the sanctioning body would be looking at the incident before determining whether or not a penalty of any kind needs to be assessed.
The following afternoon, social media came in clutch again, when a video of Logano’s on-board camera surfaced from when the No. 22 was coming down pit road after the race. That video shows clearly that the Team Penske driver accelerates as he approaches a group of people on pit road.
As he gets closer to the group, his racecar begins moving to the left (which giving Logano the benefit of the doubt could be from the damage sustained on the final lap of the race), and he nearly makes contact with the group of people standing, surrounded by officials, on pit road.
The group of people in question included several members of the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing team, including Bass Pro Shops CEO Johnny Morris, plus Austin Dillon’s wife, Whitney, and at least one of their children.
That… looks MUCH WORSE than the footage that circulated yesterday, and should no doubt be a significant penalty. I don’t care how mad you are, that is NOT the way to show frustration, especially with so many people around.
Disgraceful.#NASCAR
— Joseph Srigley (@joe_srigley) August 12, 2024
On Monday’s episode of Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour Podcast, Dillon is quoted saying: “The only thing that did piss me off about Joey [Logano] was when he came through there, my wife and kid were headed across to get to cross and he revved the engine up right in front of my kid and Johnny Morris and those people.”
“So I mean, I get it. You got to be mad and upset, but do it like in an interview or talk to me about it,” Dillon said. “You got to be careful on pit road with that type of stuff.”
What’s The Next Step?
There’s no doubt that a penalty of some kind is warranted, and pretty much needed at this point, especially when considering the act of mashing the gas pedal near series officials and others walking down pit road.
That in itself is dangerous, and a two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and well-respected veteran driver like Joey Logano should know better, and be capable of maintaining his emotions at least until he’s climbed from his racecar.
So, what’s the damage?
Any monetary fine would be much better than NASCAR doing nothing, I suppose, but it seems like a moot point when $50,000 likely doesn’t make as big of a dent in Logano’s pocketbook as it does the average person.
NASCAR could choose to take away points, a classic method of penalizing a driver, but under this current system that means absolutely nothing.
Logano has already locked into the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs with his victory at Nashville, and isn’t anywhere near the fight for the bonus Playoff Points awarded to the top-10 at the end of the regular season.
If neither one of those options is very effective, then a fine AND points penalty to Joey Logano probably won’t move the needle much in the court of public opinion, either.
So, if NASCAR really wants to make a statement and send a clear-cut message to its drivers and teams, the sanctioning body could suspend Logano for Sunday’s event at Michigan International Speedway.
It’s one of the less frequently used options when assessing a penalty, usually reserved for when a driver intentionally wrecks another competitor on the racetrack, but when pulled out, is usually done so in the name of safety.
In this scenario, that feels like the perfect call.
Looking at the on-board camera, you could argue that the group of people was not in an appropriate spot on pit road while cars were moving. But, they were surrounded by NASCAR Officials and attempting to get across the track.
In the interest of safety, it’s completely up to the driver of the three-tonne racecar to pay attention to their surroundings at all times, not just for the safety of the driver, but also for those on the move around the car.
Logano was no doubt angry about the events that had unfolded, but there was no reason whatsoever to accelerate while approaching a group of people, and furthermore, no reason for him to spin his tires and create a giant smoke cloud while driving away.
That’s why, personally, in the name of safety, Logano’s actions following Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series event at Richmond Raceway are worthy of the Connecticut-born driver being suspended for the next race at Michigan.
But, by no means is it my decision.
NASCAR typically releases its weekly penalty report anywhere from Tuesday afternoon to Wednesday evening. There’s no doubt people will be checking it out, to see what is decided for not only Logano but Austin Dillon.
2 Responses
Look at all the times Logano wrecked Matt Kenseth and vice versa …they were at it several times. Logan is another whining baby like Kyle busch, denny Hamlin and a few others…
I think Joey doing something like that with his vehicle should be a suspension. Fines and points do not matter I agree. I do feel Austin crashing two lead cars in the race should be acted on. Take win away from him would do more of action and points would hurt him more. My opinion.