Austin Dillon’s spotter is in quite the pickle after instructing his driver to wreck Denny Hamlin during the final lap of the NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond last Sunday. His yells of “Wreck him! Wreck him!” came to light when the #3 Chevrolet Camaro’s in-car footage was revealed. Should he be penalized for his thoughtless words? Dale Earnhardt Jr. says certainly thinks so.
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The racing icon discussed the ordeal on his popular podcast and delivered his opinion on the spotter’s call. He said, “Crew chiefs and spotters should always get in trouble when they’re telling their driver to do something nefarious on the racetrack such as wrecking another opponent. So, I expect I’ll be disappointed if something doesn’t happen.”
I guess the precedent has been set that intentionally wrecking multiple drivers, including the forbidden right hook while your spotter yells “WRECK HIM” is now legal pic.twitter.com/fibMSAy2Rs
— Ryan Pistana (@ryanpistana) August 12, 2024
He continued to note that NASCAR has penalized spotters before for such messages on the radio and that he expects a reaction on similar lines. “You can’t have spotters out of control,” he added. “There was a line crossed on the racetrack with the #3 car throughout all that sort of shenanigans and certainly a line crossed in the spotter stand.”
It was following the spotter’s instruction that Dillon riveted off the back of Logano’s #22 Ford Mustang and right-hooked the rear of Hamlin’s #11 Toyota Camry. He cruised to victory lane with both drivers out of the way and secured himself a spot in the playoffs. Interestingly, he initially denied that there were any instructions from his team asking him to wreck other cars.
Dillon blames race pressure for spotter’s outburst on the radio
Speaking to Junior, Dillon acknowledged that the words were indeed spoken but defended his spotter by saying that they were just an emotional outburst. He quipped, “From our spotter, I believe he became a fan in the stands on the last lap of Austin Dillon and RCR. He was just saying what came to his mind in the moment and it was wrong. I’m sure there’s going to be something from that.”
He also added that the spotter has been involved in several tough situations previously and that he can’t be blamed for being a fan of the sport at that particular moment. Dillon also maintained that the words did not impact his driving and that what transpired would have happened regardless of them.
However, he does expect NASCAR to penalize him and his spotter and has no choice but to accept the consequences. The punishment could possibly go as extreme as his win being taken away. The officiating body is expected to deliver its verdict soon.
