Jun
Tuesday marked the end of NASCAR’s review into the weekend-old collision between Austin Cindric and Austin Dillon.
Late in the competition on Sunday at Gateway, Dillon was pushing for position when he got twisted off Cindric’s nose, spinning up the track and colliding with Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Dillon’s team owner and grandpa Richard Childress repeated his accusation that Cindric deliberately hooked him.
This happened just a week ago, at the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte, when Chase Elliott rear-ended Denny Hamlin, sending him into the outside wall. Because it was determined to be purposeful, NASCAR penalized the most well-known racer in the sport with a one-race suspension, similar to the penalty given to Bubba Wallace after a comparable incident the previous year.
Following the announcement that there will be no punishment for the contact at Gateway on Tuesday, Elton Sawyer, Senior VP of Competition for NASCAR, spoke with SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
“We didn’t see anything, and haven’t seen anything, that really would rise to a level that would be a suspension or a penalty. It looked like hard racing. One car coming up a little bit, another car going down and as we said last week, we take these incidents very seriously.”
He then added: “We spent a lot of time yesterday looking at that, looking at all the data, looking at TV footage, and just deemed this one as really hard racing. And we’re going to have a conversation with the two Austins to make sure we’re all in a good place as we move forward to Sonoma.”
Cindric stands up for himself
Cindric decided to publish the SMT data on his own initiative after NASCAR exonerated him of all charges. He also issued a statement that said the following:
“I am not a fan of the idea of taking to social media to deal with on-track issues, but it has become clear to me that my voice and input is needed for this discussion to come to an end.
“Did AD (Austin Dillon) and I make contact? Yes. Was that contact intentional? Absolutely NOT. The data is pretty cut and dry, but I’ve provided it since it has yet to surface from the start of these accusations.
“I follow the draft from the 24 car (William Byron) the length of the frontstraight to make it three wide, trapping the 3 car (Dillon) on the bottom, which I viewed as an advantage for me by the time we would get the exit of Turn 2.
“The 3 comes up to get his arch for the corner, tries to fill the gap, and is not clear. All happening right at the braking point for the corner.
“I actually start to roll out of the throttle as I recognize the 3 car trying to fill the gap. My steering angle does not shift to the left until we make contact. Not exactly the type of behavior you’d expect from someone trying to catch and hook another car.
“Safety is a very important topic and one that is taken very seriously in our industry. Reviewing the data, at no point do I see any neglect towards the safety of others on the racetrack from any drivers involved in this incident, myself included.
“Objectively, I cannot see how intent or, if I’m being honest, full responsibility can be placed on me here, especially racing hard for position at the end of the race.
“As a professional, I do not enjoy having my character in question when it is not justified. We are expected to race hard and I will not apologize for doing so, but I will be the first person to raise my hand and listen when I’ve done something wrong.
“I’ve reached out to Austin so the two of can discuss our differences as professionals. Once I hear back from him, that can happen.”
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Nascar, NASCAR Cup Series, Xfinity, Austin Cindric, Austin Dillon, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Richard Childress Racing
