What message does the Austin Dillon penalty send to NASCAR drivers?
BROOKLYN, Mich. — Bubba Wallace sat down at the counter in the media center at Michigan International Speedway and grinned.
“I can only imagine what will be asked,” Wallace said.
It was obvious, of course. The topic in the garage on Saturday was the same as it had been all week after Austin Dillon crushed two drivers on the last lap to win at Richmond Raceway: What did people think of NASCAR’s decision to penalize Dillon, and what message does it send?
On Wednesday, after several days of deliberation, NASCAR said it would let Dillon keep his win, but stripped him of the playoff qualification that typically comes with a victory. Dillon entered Turn 4 on the final lap at Richmond and deliberately took out Joey Logano, then swerved and hooked Denny Hamlin into the wall.
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Drivers largely said they were pleased with NASCAR’s decision to address what they saw as over-the-line racing for the first time in the playoff era that began in 2004. Kyle Larson estimated that “99 percent of the field” was happy with NASCAR’s decision to enforce minimum driving standards.
“We’ve got to determine what we’re going to be and how we’re going to be as a sport,” veteran Michael McDowell said. “Are we going to be, ‘Guys, go for it,’ and do everything you can to win a race and get your team into the playoffs? Or are we going to have a sportsmanlike pattern and a code that says, ‘We want you to race hard and we want you to go for it, but there’s a limit’?
“The line was crossed and NASCAR responded appropriately.”
Veteran driver Michael McDowell was pleased with NASCAR’s decision to penalize Austin Dillon. (David Yeazell / USA Today)
Most drivers said the decision wouldn’t change the way they raced. Wallace said the frequent brags about how most of them would “wreck your mother to win” were actually hot air, and that in reality, “you do everything in your power below the respectable line to win a race.”
Erik Jones stated emphatically: “I don’t race that way. I wouldn’t have done it. … It’s just not in my playbook.”
Chris Buescher added: “I know what I’m here to do, what I’m willing to do and what I’m comfortable with. Whatever the ruling is, it may not be the most clear when you try to put it on paper, but we understand what’s acceptable.”
On the other hand, some drivers understood why Dillon made his move. McDowell called it a “3 million dollar lap” in terms of the difference between qualifying for the playoffs and not, and so Dillon launched his desperate bid for a win.
“If he can keep that up and everything goes well, it’s a huge turnaround for his team and his partners,” McDowell said. “I’m not sitting here thinking, ‘Oh, that was stupid. That wasn’t necessary.’ I’m saying, ‘I get it.’ Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t, and it just didn’t work.”
But the question remained: Do drivers know where the line is? NASCAR has not made it clear, other than to say that Dillon was penalized for the “totality” of his actions.
According to Hamlin, the line was clear: Cars fighting each other and making contact because of a neck-and-neck race is acceptable, but deliberately destroying the leader to win the race is not.
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However, he added: “Sometimes balls and strikes are not quite clear. There is one that is right on the edge and you have to call it, but it is up to us to make the decision … to put ourselves in that position where it can be called one way or the other.”
The lack of a specific reason for Dillon’s penalty prompted Kyle Busch, Dillon’s teammate at Richard Childress Racing, to say the rule is not clear at all.
“They all want to say we know where the line is; we don’t know where the line is,” Busch said. “Logano knocked me out of the way in Vegas for third place, the same way (Dillon) knocked him out of the way for a win. That’s why he got punched in the face (in a viral battle in 2017).”
Team Penske’s Austin Cindric said he understood why officials hadn’t yet spelled out the details — and what actions just wouldn’t cross the line — with an appeal from Dillon’s team on Wednesday. Cindric said he hoped NASCAR would clarify its decision in the coming weeks.
But there’s a chance that clarity may never come. Brad Keselowski said that while it would be nice if NASCAR could spell out the rules for every possible situation in a perfect world, the reality is that something new always comes up, and that makes it difficult for NASCAR to predict the future.
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In that regard, Keselowski said officials “did their best to draw a line.”
“We want them to be proactive and not reactive, but they’re vastly outnumbered by people who are always trying to find new ways to work around systems,” Keselowski said. “And in some cases, they have to be reactive. This is one of those cases, in my view.”
Ross Chastain is the poster boy for recently exploited loopholes that have been closed. He found a shortcut at the Indianapolis track that earned him a penalty for being too conspicuous, and his “Hail Melon” move at Martinsville was allowed but later banned for future use.
Chastain also said the line after Richmond “isn’t clear, but I’m constantly aware of what I think everyone else is thinking.”
“You can’t go against the grain too much, in my opinion,” he said of the causes of NASCAR reactions.
Chastain and Dillon seemed to suggest that Hamlin’s outspokenness may have played a role in the punishment. Dillon said Hamlin showed “game playing” with his comments on the “Actions Detrimental” podcast and showed that the veteran knew how to work the system well.
“He’s playing the game well, and at the end of the day this is a game,” Dillon said, politely declining to elaborate on his feelings about the penalty decision. “I’ve got to do the same thing now with my approach to everything that’s going on. We’re in the thick of the process of that.”
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Chastain was more subtle about NASCAR’s potential influence on public debate.
“We listen to people, hear who’s loud and who’s the squeaky wheel,” he said. “It looks like they’ve got some grease.”
Dillon wasn’t the only one penalized after Richmond. Logano was fined $50,000 for dangerous actions on pit road when he performed a burnout near Dillon’s family and friends who were walking to the track as the cars were returning to the pits.
Logano acknowledged what he did was wrong, but said he was in full control of his car and was never in danger of running anyone over. He showed restraint under the circumstances, he added.
“It’s like someone breaking into your house and taking all your stuff, and a minute and a half later you see them all partying with your stuff in your front yard,” he said. “What would you do?”
(Top photo: Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
