The finish of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway didn’t sit well with a lot of people in the industry, and it will be heavily scrutinized for years to come.
In an interview on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio on Monday, Tyler Reddick, the driver of the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota Camry XSE made it perfectly clear where he stands on the issue. He feels that NASCAR allowing Austin Dillon to be named the race winner despite crashing two cars on the final lap of the race, including hooking Denny Hamlin in the right rear quarter panel, makes absolutely no sense.
? “If what happened last night is okay at Richmond, why would it not be okay at Phoenix to win a championship?” #NASCAR@TylerReddick says the finish at @RichmondRaceway “doesn’t sit well” with him and thinks it sets a dangerous precedent.
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“From what I’ve seen, from what I’ve personally experienced, I’ve always understood that if you right hook somebody, you’re gone for a couple of races, you’re losing points, you’re not getting a finish on track where you did, you get some sort of a penalty,” Reddick explained. “That’s the part that I’m struggling to understand.”
Last season, NASCAR suspended Chase Elliott for a similar situation, where he sent Hamlin hard into the outside wall during the Coca-Cola 600 after hooking Hamlin’s right rear in frustration. The year before, Bubba Wallace was also suspended for right-rear hooking Kyle Larson’s No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Fast forward to Sunday night at Richmond, and the driver who right-rear hooked another driver was handed a trophy and given a berth into the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. If no penalties result from the last-lap incidents, Sunday’s finish at Richmond serves as a drastic shift in philosophy from what has been the precedent in the NASCAR Cup Series for years.
Reddick says he understands why Dillon, who came into the night 32nd in the championship standings made the move — he was desperate. But Reddick doesn’t feel desperation should be a reason to be allowed to make a move that non-desperate drivers wouldn’t. Additionally, Reddick says he’s had to explain to his son Beau that what took place at Richmond was not acceptable.
“But I mean, I guess I get it, it ultimately worked out. The [No.] 3 won the race, and he’s in the Playoffs. I just very surprised by all of it. It was really, really crazy,” Reddick said. “I think when you think about this — not just [in] our sport, but globally, we’re pretty safe in our cars. I worry about what this does for the young kids watching the sport. My kid watching the sport. My kid thinks it’s okay because NASCAR thinks it’s okay. And I had to explain to him that what happened was not okay. That’s the crazy precedent that they’re setting. My four-year-old thinks it’s okay to right-hook somebody potentially driver-side into a wall because NASCAR said it’s okay. That’s what I have a problem with.”
Moving forward, Reddick also has concerns with the integrity of the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway, which is set to be contested on Sunday, November 10. Reddick feels if the move Dillon pulled for a win at Richmond on Sunday was acceptable to NASCAR the same move should be acceptable for a driver battling for the championship at Phoenix.
And if it is, it’s a very dangerous precedent.
“If what happened last night is okay at Richmond, why would it not be okay at Phoenix to win a championship? Do we really want the guy who wins the championship to right-hook a fellow Championship 4 contender? They just basically said that’s okay, that doesn’t sit well with me,” Reddick stated.
All eyes will be on the weekly NASCAR penalty report as the sanctioning body is expected to be reviewing video, and audio and using all of the resources at its disposal to determine if Dillon intentionally made the moves that he made on the final lap at Richmond. Elton Sawyer, NASCAR’s Vice President of Competition, said if there are any penalties stemming from the incidents on the final lap, they will be announced early this week.
3 Responses
This is so trumpian. If we do it it is okay mentality.
I guess since Truex hasn’t won a race, it will be fine for him to take out anyone he pleases to win.
The thing I take away from this ,is Denny Hamlin basically was also being aggressive ,and Dillion held his line and Hamlin lossed it , how he got second place when Reddick was actually crossed the line in front of Hamlin ,and as usual Logano is a big crybaby, Because both Hamlin, and Logano,would have made the same moves if they were fighting for a playoff spot. Hamlin is too political.