Following Sunday night’s Richmond Raceway NASCAR Cup Series race…
1. Taking Stock
Following Ross Chastain’s 2022 Hail Melon, NASCAR authorities determined that the move ought to be prohibited. Nobody could ever again win a race by purposefully riding on the inside of other cars’ bumpers.
One could apply the same reasoning to a significant aspect of Austin Dillon’s contentious victory on Sunday at Richmond Raceway.
Let us be clear before we continue: NASCAR is a contact sport, a racing format where getting beat up and getting hammered is acceptable and encouraged. One of the best things about NASCAR racing, according to officials, is the physicality that stock cars offer. That need to be constant.
However, there is a significant distinction between outright wrecking and bumping. Alternatively, there ought to be.
The issue is that Sunday’s Richmond race result demonstrated that NASCAR has formally moved into the realm of “anything goes” when it comes to awarding victories. The fact that Dillon was able to clearly destroy two cars ahead of him on the final lap, in addition to making contact, indicates that there is no limit to what drivers will do to win.
Austin Dillon clinched a spot in the NASCAR playoffs with his win on Sunday at Richmond Raceway. (Sean Gardner / Getty Images)
Lawless racing is too far for a professional racing series regarded as one of the best in international motorsport, even though it would garner attention on “SportsCenter.”
We do not hold Dillon accountable; he followed the guidelines and did what was required of him. In order to crash Denny Hamlin, who was going to win the race, he deliberately drove into the bend deep enough to hit Joey Logano.
Like a sportsman? No. Legitimate? Indeed. As long as Dillon wins in a manner that NASCAR has encouraged, he does not need to worry about the ire of other drivers for dirty racing. Such desperate moments are tacitly encouraged and applauded because the playoff system is structured around a win-and-in format (along with win-to-advance playoff rounds and a winner-take-all championship race).
However, Sunday ought to have crossed some sort of line; one must assume there is one. The same reasoning ought to have been used if NASCAR is prepared to penalize Truck Series driver Layne Riggs with two laps of “rough driving” for a considerably less serious infraction than Dillon committed.
What does that mean moving ahead for NASCAR now that it wasn’t? It now appears that a midweek penalty is not a realistic possibility, having squandered the opportunity to make a statement at the time. The only way to solve this is to amend the policy going forward.
How would officials determine if an offense for harsh driving is appropriate? That is a decision that needs to be made, but they get compensated to make it.
The definition of pornography was once labeled by a Supreme Court justice as “I know it when I see it.” The same should apply to blatant contact that determines a victory.
Run after a bump? Totally fine. Tough competition for the victory that leads to collision? Not an issue. Not a single person who enjoys NASCAR would argue otherwise.
However, it is disgraceful and inexperienced to deliberately crash the leader without intending to compete for the win. That is not the drivers in NASCAR; those drivers are deserving of greater respect. Therefore, before the kind of action we witnessed on Sunday becomes the norm, NASCAR must intervene and impose some minimal norms.
2. Fastest Car Tracker
Adam Stevens, the crew chief for Christopher Bell, had a ruptured patellar tendon in both of his knees when jumping off a diving board during the Olympic break, making it impossible for him to fly to Richmond. However, Bell was once again blazing fast, suggesting that operating from a distance rather than being there at the racetrack has no effect on the No. 20 car’s pace.
Stevens was in the Joe Gibbs Racing war room in North Carolina for the race. Had Bell won, which appeared extremely likely until a speeding fine on the pit road, car chief Chris Sherwood would have been recognized as the winning crew chief.
As in the spring Richmond race (following another speeding ticket), Bell nevertheless finished sixth. However, Bell’s acceleration on the kinds of courses that count during the postseason is starting to distinguish him as a contender for a championship run. He triumphed in Phoenix and New Hampshire, had he not encountered engine problems at Gateway, and had the opportunity to win in Richmond. Additionally, more often than any other driver this season, Stevens has given Bell access to fast vehicles.
With three races remaining in the regular season, Bell has a strong case to be the championship frontrunner despite only being sixth in the points standings.
Fastest Car Score: Other Cars 14, Fastest Cars 11.
Fastest Cars by Driver: Bell 6, Hamlin 4, Kyle Larson 4, Tyler Reddick 2, William Byron 2, Logano 2, Michael McDowell 1, Martin Truex Jr. 1, Todd Gilliland 1, Ty Gibbs 1, Shane van Gisbergen 1.
3. Q&A
We will ask one question and try to provide an answer from the past every week in this place.
Q: What did Sunday mean for the future of tires in NASCAR?
Regretfully, I have been around long enough to know that the prospect of technological advancements that could alter race is usually met with skepticism, if not open contempt. It is difficult to maintain faith when, despite constant assurances over the years, some new development or modification (rules packages, engines, tires, etc.) will significantly impact racing, only to have it hardly seem to have any effect.
However, what we observed with Goodyear’s option tire at Richmond really impressed, and there should be a surge of hope about what this signifies for the industry going forward.
Using their alternate set of tires, Daniel Suarez and McDowell tore through the field at the beginning of Stage 2, it was almost too amazing to see. A genuine disparity in speed, succeeded by a subsequent decrease in lap time, introduced an additional facet of tactics into the competition.
It would have been much more convincing if Richmond had seen more warnings. However, Suarez still had a chance to use his backup plan at the end of the race, so it was entertaining to watch and see if he could find Dillon before the flag that would have signaled overtime.
Now, any short track, along with one-mile ovals like Phoenix and New Hampshire, and road courses, could adopt a similar idea with these tires. Imagine there is a late caution in the Phoenix championship race the following year, and a competitor quickly switches to a saved set of alternate tires and surges to the lead to win the race. Or imagine someone making a similar run from the Martinsville elimination race to the Championship 4.
The use of different tire compounds in NASCAR seems to have a very bright future because this feels like only the beginning.
A: What should be done with Richmond?
Following the dull Richmond race last summer, which was typical of many events held there, such was the issue posed here. The race on Sunday most likely would have been in that category as well if it were not for the option tire.
The topic of “what should be done” is essentially moot at this point. According to Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic, Richmond is anticipated to forfeit one of its dates for the upcoming season, with Mexico City being the primary candidate for NASCAR’s international race to take its place.
Nobody ought to be surprised by that. Richmond used to be known as the “Action Track” because of the large amount of yellow flags that accompanied the track.
Take note of this: Richmond had at least six cautions in 25 consecutive races from 1998 to 2010 (and frequently many more, as seen by the 14 races with double-digit yellows).
However, in the past 12 races, Richmond has failed to achieve the six-caution barrier 11 times. This is despite the fact that there are currently two gratis cautions for stage breaks per race.
Thus, there has been a noticeable decrease in activity; if anything, Richmond is now the “Strategy Track.” That is all well and good, but strategy does not seem to sell tickets the way action did.
4. NASquirks
We are all aware of how the win-and-in playoff structure operates in Year 11: If you win any of the first 26 races, you will be included in the field of 16 drivers. One significant requirement—that drivers’ wins must also rank in the top 30 in the regular-season point standings in order for them to qualify for the playoffs—has been eliminated, with the exception of the start of the previous year.
This is significant because, prior to Sunday, Dillon was ranked 32nd out of 34 full-time drivers in the point standings. He was only 21 points ahead of 31st place after his win, which put him in 26th place.
The odd situation of a driver so far behind in the standings suddenly making the playoffs will always be strange, even with or without the top 30 rule. Prior to Richmond, Dillon had not led a lap throughout the entire season and had only placed in the top 10 twice. However, he won the race, which shot him past the driver in 13th position in the standings (the cut line is now up to 12th place). Crazy!
Now that there are three races left in the regular season (including Daytona, where there is a chance for another unexpected winner), even points leader and 11th-place finisher, Joey Gallagher, is starting to worry about making the playoffs.
Even more egregious instances have already been witnessed, such as the time that 2022 saw Martin Truex Jr. miss the playoffs despite finishing fourth in the standings. That being said, everyone is aware of those as the game’s rules, bizarre though they may be. And it demonstrates exactly why Dillon was prepared to take such extreme measures in order to prevail on Sunday.
5. Five at No. 5
Our mini power rankings after Race No. 25/38 (including exhibitions):
1. Tyler Reddick (last time: 1): Reddick already matched his career highs in the top-five and top-10 finishes for a season at Richmond, where he finished in third place. Oh, and there are thirteen races remaining.
2. Denny Hamlin (last time: 4): This car is also in the top three and could have won if he had not been eliminated at the end.
3. Ryan Blaney (last time: 3): The team still had good speed even though they finished in 11th place after a poor pit stop ruined their chances of finishing in the top ten.
4. Kyle Larson (last time: 2): Larson led Hendrick Motorsports quietly with a seventh-place finish on a weekend when the team did not appear to be running at its usual speed, following his third Knoxville Nationals victory on Saturday night.
5. Christopher Bell (last time: not ranked): Despite his patchy performances, Bell is a title danger due to the pace he noted in Item No. 2 above.
Chase Elliott has dropped out.
(Top photo: Sean Gardner / Getty Images)
