Austin Dillon on a Joey Logano response to Richmond finish: ‘If he retaliates, he retaliates’

Austin Dillon has no regrets about how he won Sunday’s pivotal race at Richmond. Dillon wrecked both Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin to take first place, allowing him to secure a NASCAR Cup Series playoff spot in controversial fashion and enraging both star drivers.

Dillon has struggled this season along with the rest of the team at his grandfather’s Richard Childress Racing, and he told FOX Sports’ Kevin Harvick in an exclusive interview on “Harvick’s Happy Hour” that the win was “emotional” for Dillon, his team and his family.

“You want it for these people so bad,” Dillon said. “That fires me up more than anything, the people there. I see them each and every week and it’s been tough, and they’ve stuck with me, stuck behind us. … You don’t want to [win like that] every week, but when given the opportunity, you gotta do it for those people that give you those chances to get there and get to victory lane.”

As the cars headed into the final turn, the second-place Dillon rear-ended the leading Logano, causing the two-time Cup Series champion to spin out. When Hamlin tried to make a last-second sprint past Dillon to the start line, Dillon clipped Hamlin’s right rear corner to slow him down just enough and secure the crucial victory.

“It was like, whatever it takes to get [Logano] up the track, loose, whatever it was,” Dillon said. “I went into turn three, I was up a gear, and when I rolled to him, I think I caught him right in the edge of the right rear. He went up the track, I downshifted to fourth. At that point, I’m looking at the start finish line with less momentum. Denny’s coming up the track. I didn’t see — when I’m looking at the start finish line, I’m going at the closest angle — when he comes up. That was just a reaction getting to the line. But the Joey deal, [I was] definitely trying to get him loose.”

The result was emotional in a much different way for Logano and Hamlin as well.

While Hamlin directed his ire at Dillon, the NASCAR officiating and the playoff system that he said incentivizes actions like Dillon’s, Logano went right at the RCR team member — not only in his own post-race media session but also in the immediate aftermath, driving his car over to Dillon’s and RCR’s celebration and spinning his tires near a group that included Dillon’s wife and young child.

“I get it you’ve got to be mad and upset,” Dillon said. “But do it in, like, an interview or talk to me about it. You’ve got to be careful on pit road with that type of stuff.”

Dillon told Harvick he did not have an issue with Hamlin’s post-race comments either, but again, his feelings on Logano were a different story after Logano described Dillon to reporters as a “piece of crap” who has “sucked his whole career” Sunday night.

“He threw some low blows in there,” Dillon said. “Obviously [he was] frustrated in the moment, but the two guys that I got into it with have done that a lot that I’ve learned from on the last lap of the races themselves. I’ve heard Joey’s interviews [where he says] ‘How bad do you want it? You got to do whatever it takes.’ I’ve seen him do it at Martinsville and different places on the last corner. So this time, he was a victim of it. Sometimes, it happens.”

If Logano decides to strike back on the racetrack, Dillon said he’s ready for that.

“He’s got a lot more wins than I do,” Dillon said. “If he retaliates, he retaliates. My grandfather [Richard Childress] said, ‘You might kick a dog, but he’ll bite back.'”

Dillon’s punishment is expected to be handed down sometime midweek, perhaps as early as Tuesday. While NASCAR left open the possibility of nullifying Dillon’s win, there is not much precedent for taking a win away after multiple days of deliberation. Still, Dillon will likely face penalties, such as a fine, for his actions.

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