![The RCR team had a challenging day during the third race of the Cup season. Although Kyle Busch crossed the finish line in 5th place and had been a frontrunner, having led for 43 laps, the disappointing 35th-place finish of Austin Dillon only compounded the team's frustrating results. While Busch maintained his composure, Dillon was visibly upset with the on-track incident involving Denny Hamlin. During the race at Circuit of the Americas, on lap 78, Austin Dillon and Denny Hamlin were vying for the P20 position when Hamlin, after locking his #11 Toyota's tires, unexpectedly collided with the driver's side of Dillon's #3 car, hurtling it into the gravel and triggering a caution. Television replays captured a trail of dust from the Joe Gibbs Racing car just moments before it seemingly lost braking power and instigated the crash. However, the situation escalated when NASCAR shared the video of the incident with the caption, "The Nos. 3 and 11 make contact and the yellow flag flies." Unable to contain his frustration, Dillon responded sharply, "Correction. The No. 11 made contact with the No. 3." The sentiment among fans largely favored Dillon's perspective. One spectator commented, "And then his teammate wins. They knew what they were doing!" while another lamented, "Sadly if this didn't happen there a good chance @KyleBusch could have won today." Yet another chimed in, "Yep! Always cover Gibbs/Toyota/Hamlin. It’s all headline semantics. He drove into your side, video supports no attempt to steer away." Due to the caution, Bell was able to have fresher tires, which helped him pass Busch with five laps remaining. Otherwise, the old tires would have most likely slowed down the #20 car. That's why the fans blamed Hamlin for instigating a deliberate wreck that helped Bell to outpace the #8 RCR driver. However, one fan referenced a past incident to needle Dillon, recalling when he maneuvered the #11 driver into the wall at Richmond last year to secure his playoff position [which ultimately did not pan out due to NASCAR's decision], remarking, "Remember when you right rear hooked the 11 into the wall to win?" Nevertheless, the replay footage seemed to clearly show it was Hamlin who initiated the collision with the #3 driver. Dillon's frustration was quite visible during his post-race interview as well, where he expressed, "Our car handled well, and we were just trying to be patient until the end. With 18 laps to go, we were running inside the top 20, and the #11 locked up his front tires and wiped us out." "My team did a great job trying to make the repairs, but the damage in the rear was too much to fix, and we had to go to the garage." He voiced disappointment on behalf of his RCR team, lamenting that they had a car capable of finishing in the top 15, and it was unfortunate they couldn't demonstrate the same at COTA. Nevertheless, Dillon appeared optimistic about the upcoming race in Phoenix, hinting at a rebound from the setback.](https://cdn-wp.thesportsrush.com/2025/03/d8fc8a02-austin-dillon.png?format=auto&w=3840&q=75)
The RCR team had a challenging outing at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA), in the third race of the Cup season. Kyle Busch crossed the finish line in 5th place. But considering he was a frontrunner, and even led the race for 43 laps, the team was expecting him to finish higher. And, the disappointing 35th-place finish of Austin Dillon due to a crash compounded the team’s frustrations.
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While Busch maintained his composure after the race, Dillon was visibly upset. It was not just the result that was playing in his head, but also the on-track incident involving Denny Hamlin. It indirectly impacted his teammate’s position too.
On lap 78, Dillon and Hamlin were vying for the P20 position when the Joe Gibbs Racing driver locked his #11 Toyota’s tires, and unexpectedly collided with the driver’s side of Dillon’s #3 car. The impact hurtled the RCR driver into the gravel, triggering a caution.
Television replays captured a trail of dust from the Joe Gibbs Racing car just moments before it seemingly lost braking power, leading to the crash. Dillon’s ire poured over when NASCAR shared the video of the incident with the caption, “The Nos. 3 and 11 make contact and the yellow flag flies.”
Unable to contain his frustration, Dillon responded sharply, “Correction. The No. 11 made contact with the No. 3.”
Correction . The No. 11 made contact with the No. 3
— Austin Dillon (@austindillon3) March 3, 2025
Fans, who largely favored Dillon, pointed out how the incident affected the race results. One spectator connected it with Christopher Bell’s victory: “And then his teammate wins. They knew what they were doing!” Another fan lamented, “Sadly if this didn’t happen there [was] a good chance @KyleBusch could have won today.”
Yet another chimed in, “Yep! Always cover Gibbs/Toyota/Hamlin. It’s all headline semantics. He drove into your side, video supports no attempt to steer away.”
Due to the caution, Bell was able to change to fresher tires, which helped him pass Busch with five laps remaining. If the race had continued without incident, the old tires would have most likely slowed down the #20 car. That’s why the fans blatantly blamed Hamlin for instigating a deliberate wreck.
However, there were comments from the opposite side of the fence too. One fan referenced a past incident to needle Dillon, recalling when he maneuvered the #11 driver into the wall at Richmond last year to secure his playoff position (which ultimately did not pan out due to NASCAR’s decision). “Remember when you right rear hooked the 11 into the wall to win?” wrote the fan.
The replay seemed to clearly show it was Hamlin who initiated the collision with the #3 driver. And Dillon’s frustration was quite evident during his post-race interview as well.
“Our car handled well, and we were just trying to be patient until the end. With 18 laps to go, we were running inside the top 20, and the #11 locked up his front tires and wiped us out,” said Dillon.
“My team did a great job trying to make the repairs, but the damage in the rear was too much to fix, and we had to go to the garage,” he added.
Dillon voiced disappointment on behalf of his RCR team, lamenting that they had a car capable of finishing in the top 15, and it was unfortunate they couldn’t showcase that at COTA. However, he appeared optimistic about the upcoming race in Phoenix, confident of bouncing back from the setback.
