“Coward” Richard Childress Slammed for Justifying Austin Dillon’s NASCAR Antics at Richmond

NASCAR fans finally got to see the #3 car in victory lane once again, albeit under controversial circumstances. The Cup Series race at Richmond Raceway lived up to all its hype as it delivered some fantastic racing action and a dramatic finish. On the final lap of the event, Austin Dillon spun Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin to take the checkered flag in P1. It received a lot of criticism from the fraternity. However, his boss was a happy man.

Speaking to the media after the race, Richard Childress said that other drivers would have done the same to him had the roles been reversed. It’s not unusual to see drivers bumping each other to win a race. However, Dillon wrecking Logano was an especially egregious attempt, as per the fraternity’s reaction. The victory puts Dillon in the playoffs. It was a special moment for the 34-year-old who picked up the fifth win of his Cup Series career.

“A heck of a win. We had a really good car all night from the time we unloaded he was fast and to be able to pull all that off, give him credit. Pit crew put him out where he needed to be and he knew what he had to do…just like they would have done to him if they would have been there,” Childress explained after the race.

Both Logano and Hamlin looked faster than the #3 car. However, Dillon did seem to be able to keep up with their speed. The Team Penske star had the lead when the white flag fell and was subsequently spun out by Dillon. This allowed the #11 to drive past both drivers before he was bumped into the wall by the #3 just before the start-finish line.

Childress gets on the wrong end of fans’ criticism

The RCR team owner might have defended Dillon’s actions but fans were not happy about how Dillon won the race. They even slammed the boss for defending the 34-year-old driver’s antics. “Coward mother f****r,” one user commented. “Shut up old man,” quipped another. The team owner has been in the sport for several years now and many admire him. However, most fans believed that his defense was not acceptable this time around.

“Embarrassing,” one user commented. “An idiot,” wrote another. Childress also said that he was proud of Dillon after the race and even that comment did not go down well with some. “You’re proud of him? Really? Shame on you Richard,” one fan wrote. Austin Dillon as a driver has never been exceptionally popular with fans and his Richmond win might just make things worse.

Despite the criticism surrounding the win, RCR as a team would be looking to take positives away from the event. This is the team’s first victory of the year. Both entries by the racing outfit have languished towards the bottom of the pack every weekend. Kyle Busch‘s struggles have also been talked about at the team, with the veteran driver having the worst year of his career.

The win, at least from RCR’s point of view gets one of their entries into the postseason, giving them something to work towards going forward. It now remains to be seen if any penalties catchup with the team as NASCAR looks into the events that transpired on Sunday.