Hamlin fears the precedent set by Dillon win

Veteran Denny Hamlin fears NASCAR has “mud on its face” and how young drivers will race after Austin Dillon’s controversial path to victory in Richmond.

In pursuit of a first NASCAR Cup Series win in two years and the chance to take an unlikely leap from 32nd in the points to a coveted Playoff berth, Dillon knocked out both Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin when they were in the lead in the short run from Turn 3 to the chequered flag.

The Richard Childress Racing driver has come under fire for his aggressive tactics, but perhaps it has exposed a wider issue in NASCAR.

In many other categories such moves would be slam-dunk penalties and the win stripped, but at the time of writing Dillon remains the victor of the Cook Out 400.

Due to the lack of penalties and ‘let them race’ attitude, it means drivers have usually taken matters into their own hands and delivered pay back, which Logano himself suggested could happen.

However, Hamlin is more concerned about what message it sends young racers rising through the ranks.

“Where is the line? That is the thing,” Hamlin cried.

“We have rules to prevent ridiculous acts but it has been a long time since those rules have really been enforced.

“It is tough because this is what the young short track racers see and they think ‘this is okay’ because they have watched the professionals on Sunday that are supposed to act like adults just do dumb shit and it is amazing that it is allowed.

“I don’t fault him because he jumps 20 spots in points and his season is now safe, but he will have to pay repercussions down the line, but it is so worth it because there are no rules that say don’t do that.

“We are never, ever going to be taken seriously as a sport with no real officiating.

“We have gotten here because this is what we have set-up and are trying to manufacture these types of moments.

“Then when we do it and look silly, in my mind the sport has mud on its face but there are probably people who love this shit, but they are the ones who are sending this sport backwards.

“We are not a professional sport if we do not officiate. You have to call some things out of bounds that are out of bounds because that was just over the top.”

Senior Vice President of competition of NASCAR Elton Sawyer said they will assess the incident in the aftermath.

“You talk about crossing the line and I would say looking at we were right against the line,” he said.

“We are going to go back and watch the video and listen to all the audio, gather all the information to make the right decision.

“Our DNA has been to be aggressive, but we have to make sure we are doing that in the right way.

“We need to make sure going forward everyone has an understanding of how we are going to race and if we see something that rises to a level, then for sure we will penalise.”

If NASCAR does make a call to penalise Dillon, it will arrive Tuesday (tonight AEST) but would be a unprecedented call.

Dillon admitted he intended to spin Logano, but the Hamlin clash was pure “reaction”.

“(Logano) I was trying to get him loose, but (Hamlin) was more of just a reaction,” Dillon recalled.

“I wasn’t lifting at that point because I was more looking at where Logano was. When (Hamlin) came across, it was just reaction.”

When asked about if his actions were good for NASCAR, Dillon pointed towards how his win had become viral on social media.

“I don’t know man, it’s just the rules of the sport right?” the RCR driver replied.

“It is what it is. Wins get you into the next round and I did what I had to do to cross the line first.

“As far as good for the sport, I heard we were trending #1 on Twitter right now (and) people must be viewing it right now, so that’s good.”

Photo by Matthew T. Thacker / NKP / LAT Images

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