NASCAR's Austin Dillon Sends Cars Into Wall On Final Lap In Controversial Finish

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Desperate to win for the first time in nearly two years — and with the race suddenly slipping away — Austin Dillon sent two cars into the wall in rapid succession.

The result was a season-changing victory, an avalanche of controversy and at least two veteran drivers who were absolutely furious.

“I hate to do that, but sometimes you just got to have it,” Dillon said.

Dillon raced and bumped his way to victory Sunday night, sending Joey Logano into a spin on the final lap to win in overtime at Richmond. It was his first win since Aug. 28, 2022, at Daytona. He had just two top-10 finishes this year and entered the race ranked 32nd in the standings. Now he’s on track for the playoffs — but he didn’t get there gently.

Dillon appeared to be cruising to a victory when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Ryan Preece collided, forcing the first caution of the entire 400-lap, 300-mile race aside from the prescheduled ones after the ends of the first two stages.

So the drivers went to overtime, and Logano clearly got the better of Dillon on the restart. Then Dillon came up directly behind Logano and spun him.

“It’s ridiculous that that’s the way we race. Unbelievable,” Logano said. “I get bump and runs. I do that. I would expect it. But from four car lengths back, he was never going to make the corner. And then he wrecks the other car. He wrecks the 11 to go with it. What a piece of crap.”

The 11 was Denny Hamlin, who appeared to be moving past Dillon on the inside after Dillon bumped Logano’s No. 22 car. Then Dillon hit the back right part of Hamlin’s car and put him into the wall, too.

“He’s going to be credited with the win, but obviously he’s just not going to go far,” Hamlin said. “You’ve got to pay your dues back on