Austin Dillon’s win last night made many headlines for NASCAR, but one side of the story has raised eyes on one aspect of the finish. Coming to the line, team audio was captured of Dillon’s spotter telling Dillon to wreck Joey Logano. This has been the subject of conversation online and in yesterday’s post-race coverage.
Sunday night’s Cup Series race saw a finish that took the internet by storm. This time, it was a battle for the win instead of a three-wide finish or one of centimeters.
The underdog, Austin Dillon, is racing better than he had all season, and he had one restart to win the race. After a booming start from Joey Logano, Dillon, who had been one of the best cars all night, was all but out of contention headed into turns three and four on the final lap.
That was until Dillon drove into the corner, then a little further, into the back of a Logano’s Ford Mustang Dark Horse, bouncing back into Denny Hamlin’s Camry and a win.
Those keeping up on the NASCAR app and headsets noticed someone saying to Dillon, “Wreck Him.” Of course, this has sparked controversy on top of the already controversial finish.
These comments would become a major point of the post-race press conference, with many reporters giving live updates via X.
Childress was asked about the matter early on. However, when Bob Pockrass of Fox Sports asked Childress to compare this event to other incidents, Childress reminded everyone that if Austin hadn’t wrecked someone, one of the other drivers would have. He also reversed into the questions about the radio communications on the last lap, stating to the media:
“I promise you on our radios. Somebody may have put it on there or come up with something, but nobody told him to wreck him. I never said a word, I promise you, and I know he (Justin Alexander) didn’t cause I was listening to our radio. No one said that. So. You know how the internet goes?”– Richard Childress
While Childress denied that it happened, media members told Childress it was instead Dillon’s spotter. To which the longtime owner said, “Well, if he did, he did a damn good job at it; he won the race.”
Childress, who has fielded a Cup Series entry every season since 1976, is no stranger to controversy. As the owner of Dale Earnhardt’s entry for the majority of Earnhardt’s career, Childress has been a part of quite a few controversial press conferences, especially at short tracks.
However, the tone is different this time, as Dillon, Childress’s grandson, is at a different competition level than Hamlin or Logano. The No. 3 car entered Richmond 32nd in points, in front of only two other full-time chartered drivers in the standings.
After the press conference, Childress was shown the footage and audio of the alleged incident, which Trey Lyle of Frontstretch captured and posted on X.
Childress, who is familiar with the circumstance, has played it off by saying that his spotter did a “pretty good job.” While some may excuse this laid-back nature, fans have challenged Childress’s willingness to shrug off the radio communication.
Whether it happened or not, Childress and his team won their first race this season, one they and fans will never forget.
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