Getty Austin Dillon will join forces with a new spotter.
The driver of the No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet has come under fire again due to an incident during a NASCAR event. This time, the critical comments came from Austin Dillon after a nine-car wreck at Atlanta Motor Speedway on July 10.
“It looks like we were a casualty of Ross Chastain once again,” Dillon said after exiting the infield care center. “… I told myself we were going to race hard all day. It wasn’t one of those things where I wanted to ride in the back and be there in the end, but when you got guys like him out there wrecking half of the field, you might as well actually take a different strategy sometimes.”
“Looks like we were just a casualty of Ross Chastain again.”
@austindillon3 was okay after hard contact in the #QS400.
Dillon continued to make comments about Chastain after talking to NBC Sports. He met with other members of the media and expressed some frustration about the incident. Dillon said that “it seems like” Chastain is involved in an incident every week and that it looked like the Trackhouse Racing driver had seen Martin Truex Jr. get loose before continuing to push.
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Dillon is far from the only driver to have comments about Chastain. Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin both showed their frustration with him at World Wide Technology Raceway while Truex confronted him after a race at Dover Motor Speedway. Aric Almirola also made some angry comments over the radio at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Safety Advancements Helped Dillon
Martin Truex Jr. spins, collecting Austin Dillon, Joey Logano and many more. #NASCAR
📺 : @USA_Network
The incident occurred on Lap 91 when Truex was running behind Chase Elliott on the outside line. Chastain got into his right rear bumper, which sent the No. 19 spinning to the inside. The wreck collected Truex, Chastain, Michael McDowell, Christopher Bell, Joey Logano, Ross Chastain, and Kyle Larson.
The No. 3 of Dillon was just in the wrong spot at the wrong time. The veteran driver was running on the inside when the wreck began and it appeared that he would avoid the carnage. However, McDowell’s No. 34 clipped the rear of the No. 3 and sent it hard into the wall.
This hard hit created concerns among racing fans, and Dillon addressed this during his post-wreck interview. He explained that the impact was not that bad despite the way that it looked both live and in replay.
Dillon’s Odds of Reaching the Playoffs Decreased After the Wreck
GettyAustin Dillon has steep odds to reach the playoffs.
Dillon avoided injury in the violent crash, but his playoff chances took a major hit. He entered the weekend 94 points below the cutline with drivers such as Erik Jones (-85), Aric Almirola (-47), Kevin Harvick (-20), and Christopher Bell (+20).
Now he will be even further behind them after exiting the race early. These other drivers gained some ground on Dillon after continuing to make laps around AMS while he headed to the infield care center. This early wreck dropped Dillon to 117 points below the cutline.
Dillon told NBC Sports reporter Kim Coon prior to the Quaker State 400 that he would be aggressive throughout the race. He knew that he needed to reach Victory Lane in order to punch his ticket to the playoffs, so he couldn’t waste any time riding around the back of the field.
Dillon started the race on the 13th row next to Erik Jones, and he spent the first stage outside of the top 20. He worked his way up to around the top 10 during the second stage, and he was in a position to make even more moves. However, Dillon’s day came to an end after the hard collision with the wall.