Richard Childress erroneously claims no one on Austin Dillon's radio told him to wreck Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin

The media scene following the Cook Out 400 and a controversial finish that saw Austin Dillon take the win was an interesting one, as tensions flared between owner Richard Childress and reporters.

After audio captured from the team’s radio in the final moments of the race showed Dillon’s crew urging him to wreck the drivers in front of him, Childress pushed back.

First, he claimed that nobody on the Austin Dillon team radio had said that.

“I don’t think anyone said that,” Childress said. “Everybody was quiet, we left it up to him to do his job. And hell no, nobody said go out and wreck him or do what you’ve got to do. Nobody. I was on the radio the whole time.”

Reporters pushed back on that in real time, with Jeff Gluck from The Athletic instantly tweeting out audio of the exchange.

Presented with that evidence, Childress changed his tune, but only slightly. First, he claimed that “you can’t believe everything you hear on the Internet,” noting that if you do, that makes him Santa Claus.

After FOX Sports’ Bob Pockrass pushed back and confirmed it was Austin Dillon’s spotter who said that, Childress offered more.

“Well, if he did, he did a good job because it won him the race,” Childress said.

He would repeat that line a little later after going up to Sportsnaut reporter Matt Weaver following the press conference. Weaver played the audio recording for Childress.

The win for Austin Dillon, of course, was a huge one. He vaulted dozens of drivers to leap into the playoffs, something he only would have been able to do with a win down the stretch.

But it won’t come without heavy scrutiny… and the anger of at least two other drivers on the NASCAR circuit.