Austin Dillon speaks out about wild finish at Richmond, incidents with Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin

Austin Dillon was candid after his long awaited return to Victory Lane following the Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway.

In a shocking turn of events, Dillon, who has been stuck in the mud for seemingly the entire season, was leading as the laps remaining continued to tick towards the end. Then, a yellow flag was brought out when two lapped cars, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Ryan Preece, collided.

After the ensuing pit stop and restart, Joey Logano took the lead from Dillon, but the No. 3 decided it was checkers or wreckers, spinning the No. 22 in the final turn of the race. Then, when it looked like Denny Hamlin would go from third to the lead, Dillon made contact with him as well, propelling himself to the win.

Logano and Hamlin weren’t happy, to say the least, and it’s sparked a ton of conversation in the hours since the incident. Speaking with SiriusXM NASCAR Radio in Victory Lane, Dillon gave his thoughts on the matter as a whole, from the caution flag to the chaotic finish that led to his first win of 2024.

“I saw the caution. I couldn’t believe it,” Dillon said. “I don’t know why that had to happen, but I told myself, ‘Hey look, you’re in a position to win, stay focused.’ Pit crew did a good job, put me where I needed to be. The restart, I thought the No. 22 fired pretty early, and he was able to be even with me, getting into Turn 1, and his car was a little better on the reds. When we went into Turn 3, at the end, I just had to go for it.

“I went in, sent it in there, got him loose up the track, and then I was able to down-shift and get left, and I saw the No. 11 come across, and at that time it was a reaction, but yeah, it’s part of this deal. You win and you’re in, and that was my opportunity.”

Alas, Dillon had a mentality of doing whatever it took to get the win, as NASCAR’s win and you’re in playoff system forced his hand on Sunday.

“I don’t know, it seems like that’s the way it is, currently. You know, I was doing everything I could. That’s all I can say,” Dillon added, regarding the checkers or wreckers thought-process. “I wish it hadn’t had come down to that, because it wouldn’t have if the caution hadn’t of come out with two lapped cars, but in the end, I had a shot, and was able to keep all four tires rolling and get across the start-finish-line first.”

At the least, Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin are already locked into the playoffs, but either veteran wheelman would’ve loved to get back to Victory Lane in Richmond. Austin Dillon was the victorious one in the end, but he’ll certainly have a target on his back moving forward.