Austin Dillon on Richmond finish: ‘Don’t hate the player … hate the game’

BROOKLYN, Mich. — Austin Dillon, vilified by some for wrecking two drivers to win last weekend’s Cup race at Richmond, pointed to a conversation he had with friend Kid Rock on Friday that helped put his week into perspective.

Dillon said they were both at a Professional Bull Riders event when their paths crossed.

“How’s it going, Bob?” Dillon said to Kid Rock, whose name is Robert Ritchie.

“Good,” Kid Rock said. “I got half the country that hates me and half the country that loves me. It’s going great.”

Dillon told NBC Sports on Saturday that “I can kind of relate to that.”

Dillon and the rest of the NASCAR Cup Series are back at a track for the first time since Richmond’s raucous finish that had Joey Logano furious and Denny Hamlin frustrated.

Dillon was careful with his words at Michigan International Speedway since Richard Childress Racing’s appeal of his Richmond penalty is set for Wednesday morning, but Dillon did address comments Logano made about him after last weekend’s race.

“For Joey, I’m sorry for the situation that he was in,” Dillon told NBC Sports’ Dave Burns after Cup qualifying was canceled by rain. “It didn’t matter if it was Joey or anybody, I was going to do my best to get my team to victory lane.

“The situation on pit road after the race, a lot of things were said in the heat of the moment from him about my family and my belief in Christ even. For me, I forgive him for getting frustrated.

“The pit road part with the race car (by Logano) was a lot. … That was kind of out of line, and I think NASCAR took care of it. But I forgive him, and I’m sure he’s still mad at me for what’s going on at the racetrack. But this is a game. In the end, you don’t hate the player, you hate the game.

“That was the situation that I was up against. I’ve learned a lot from Joey and Denny over the years. They don’t have any regrets in what they do on the racetrack. I can’t either and I don’t feel that way.”

Logano fumed after Dillon wrecked him from the lead on the final lap at Richmond. Logano spun and hit the wall after Dillon ran into him in Turn 3.

Hamlin took the lead but Dillon hit him, sending Hamlin into the wall and Dillon to the win. The victory put Dillon in the playoffs until NASCAR stripped that aspect of the win three days later.

Logano responded by stopping in Dillon’s pit area and doing a brief burnout to express his displeasure. NASCAR fined Logano $50,000 because people were nearby.

After the race, Logano said of Dillon on the USA Network broadcast: “He’s going to go up there and thank God and praise everything with his baby. It’s a bunch of B.S. Not even freakin’ close.”

Logano later told reporters after the race: “He’s a piece of crap. He sucks. He sucked his whole career.”

Dillon said Saturday that he had not talked to Logano or Hamlin since the incident.

As part of his preparations for the upcoming appeal, Dillon said he listened to a podcast episode by Hamlin last year that detailed Hamlin’s experience in the appeal process. This will be Dillon’s first time to be a part of an appeal.

Much is at stake for Richard Childress Racing. JTG Daugherty Racing co-owner Brad Daugherty estimated the penalty could cost RCR more than $2.5 million based on lost charter payments should Dillon not make the playoffs. Three races remain in the regular season, including Sunday’s race at Michigan (2:30 p.m. ET on USA Network).

Daugherty, who also serves as an analyst for NBC Sports, called NASCAR’s actions against Richard Childress Racing a “very, very, very hard penalty. … This is going to hit RCR pretty substantially in their pocketbook because we’re always trying to figure out a way to create a positive balance of our checkbooks. This could be multiple millions of dollars in losses based upon this penalty.”

Friday 5: Millions of dollars at stake in RCR appeal of Austin Dillon penalty

The loss of playoff eligibility with Austin Dillon’s Richmond win impacts how much money RCR receives in the charter system.

Dillon said he will have more to say after the appeal process is complete.

Hamlin said Saturday that he and Dillon were to play against each other in a basketball league they’re both in but Dillon did not show. Dillon said he skipped the game because of a rib injury.

As for anything he has to say to Dillon, Hamlin said: “I don’t have anything negative to say really even after this with Austin. I really don’t have anything negative to say about his character.

“I really stuck up for him quite a bit earlier in this year when he was going through some pretty tough finishes and things like that, talking about how I really respected his character — and I still do.

“He just was put in a very tough spot where you have to make a split-second decision and he made one that was not in the best interest, in my opinion, of the sport. People make mistakes and I think that everyone deserves second chances.”

Denny Hamlin to start on pole at Michigan after Cup qualifying canceled by rain

Tyler Reddick will join Denny Hamlin on the front row for Sunday’s Cup race on USA Network.

Hamlin said NASCAR’s decision this week won’t end the bump-and-run move when it is win and get in the playoffs in NASCAR.

“We’re still going to push the edge to try to get the guy out of the groove to win the race, we’re still going to make contact,” he said. “But it certainly would give us pause in those situations that you saw last weekend. It’s not going to be worth just cleaning someone out that was deservedly going to win the race, which is the fair part of sports of this.

“I think there’s a balance of entertainment and sport that can be had here. It’s just a matter that’s one where you really need to put your foot down and say we’ve got to police the sporting aspect of this at that point.”

After last weekend’s race, Hamlin talked about his right shoulder hurting due to the accident. Hamlin had arthroscopic surgery on that shoulder last November.

How to watch Sunday’s NASCAR Cup race at Michigan, start time, forecast

After the drama at the end of last weekend’s race at Richmond, the NASCAR Cup Series heads for the high speeds of Michigan International Speedway.

Crew chief Chris Gabehart said this week on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio this week that Hamlin’s crash registered a spike of 32 G forces — the highest G-force spike that a Joe Gibbs Racing car has recorded in the Next Gen era.

Hamlin likened the impact to his crash at Daytona in August 2022 when he was at the front and crashed due to a sudden shower that caused a multi-car incident. Dillon avoided the carnage to take the lead and go on to win that race and reach the playoffs.

“My whole right side really just took the hit,” Hamlin said of his Richmond crash. “When you look at kind of how these Next Gen cars take crashes, really that fast side impact is kind of the worst thing that you can have because there is no crush there. Actually would have been better to nose it head on or back it in because we have the softer bumpers and whatnot now.”