NASCAR playoff desperation reached a controversial peak at Richmond Raceway last year.
At the mercy of securing a victory to make the 16-driver field that competes for the Cup championship, Austin Dillon wrecked Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin in the final two corners of the last lap to claim his first win in nearly two years .
The celebration was short-lived as NASCAR revoked Dillons playoff eligibility three days later in determining the Richard Childress Racing driver crossed a line with rough driving .
NASCAR drew a line in the sand, Hamlin said Friday. Theyre not afraid to make hard decisions, and I think thats very, very important to the governing of the sport, so its not a circus. And so I do feel a little bit better about it now than 12 months ago.
Certainly, that was the first time wed seen something like that, and NASCAR had a precedent to set. If you let that go, you open up a floodgate of crazy things that would be bad for the relevance and legitimacy of the sport. Everyone probably has a little better understanding now because of the ruling.
As NASCARs premier series returns Saturday night to Richmond, Virginia, with two races remaining in the regular season and three open slots in the playoffs, did Dillons win establish the new boundary of whats permissible in pushing for a victory that guarantees a berth in the 10-race run to the title?
For the Cup driver who has gone to greater lengths than anyone in aggressively moving rivals this season, the question is moot.
I think that was sort of a freak deal, Spire Motorsports driver Carson Hocevar said. If you had them rerun the same play, I dont think he gets both of them.
I dont think well ever see someone get one guy and then turn down and get the second guy. That was one of those once in a blue moon or lifetime things that was a perfect storm of chaos. They were all in the most perfect spots for him to win by all means necessary. It would be really hard to ever replicate.
If Richmond were to deliver another combustible finish, few are as willing to tangle with the competition as Hocevar.
The Spire Motorsports driver has gotten sideways with a seemingly endless list of drivers Ross Chastain, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Zane Smith are among the most aggrieved . Sunday at Watkins Glen International, Hocevar angered Brad Keselowski in qualifying and then collided multiple times with teammate Michael McDowell during the race.
Though he planned to iron out differences with McDowell, the 23-year-old Hocevar seems unconcerned about crossing a veteran with his No. 77 Chevrolet for a win.
I dont take a head count of whos frustrated with or mad at us, he said. Its constantly changing by the week.
Despite a solid second season in Cup with career-high second-place finishes at Atlanta and Nashville, Hocevar is 22nd in the points standings because of multiple mechanical failures. His only path to the playoffs is automatically qualifying with a win, which also holds for Kyle Busch, Ty Gibbs and Keselowski.
At least one winless driver (and possibly as many as three) will make the playoffs on points. Tyler Reddick could clinch a playoff spot Saturday without a victory. In the battle for the final provisional spot, Chris Buescher leads Roush Fenway Keselowski Ford teammate Ryan Preece by 34 points.
If youre in position and have the opportunity to win, I dont want to think about what I should have done differently, Preece said. You need to be a racer and not leave anything on the table. Youve got to do it with respect, but at the same time, a half-lap can change your entire season.
Ranked 28th in the standings, Dillon is in the same win-or-else position at Richmond as a year ago and is no less confident about the No. 3 Chevys chances on the 0.75-mile oval.
Im pumped, he said. I just want to see if we can be as successful as last year. It was still a big day, and Ill always remember it as one of my favorite wins. We got the trophy, just not the NASCAR playoffs spot.
Celebration caution
Xfinity Series points leader Connor Zilisch underwent surgery Tuesday morning on the broken collarbone he suffered in a hard fall while celebrating his Aug. 9 victory at Watkins Glen International. Though its unclear if Zilisch will return for the Aug. 22 race at Daytona International Speedway, his injury has made an impact with drivers now mindful of their exuberance upon exiting their cars in victory lane.
That was so frightening, so I think well all think about it more, Wood Brothers Racing driver Josh Berry said. Weve been strapped in the car for three or four hours. You get out, and its no different than being on a plane and standing up for the first time. Your legs are a little shaky.
Team Penskes Austin Cindric said it might be a rookie mistake for a winner to leave the window net dangling outside the car (Zilisch got his left foot caught in the net trying to climb atop his roof).
I think about what happened to Connor often because the saying goes big trees fall hard, said Cindric, who stands 6-foot-3. Thats a long way for a big, tall guy to fall. Its kind of an upsetting thing to watch and feel helpless about it.
Odds and ends
Denny Hamlin (+400) is the BetMGM Sportsbook favorite for Richmond, followed by Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Christopher Bell (+450), Kyle Larson (+700), Joey Logano (+800) and William Byron (+850). Richmond Raceway is playing host to its only NASCAR race weekend this season. The 0.75-mile oval had two annual races on the Cup schedule from 1959-2024 (a 2020 race was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic). Chase Briscoe of Joe Gibbs Racings No. 19 Toyota is the only driver with top 10s in the seasons first three short-track races at Martinsville Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway and Iowa Speedway.
___
AP auto racing:
去年，NASCAR季后赛的激烈争夺在里士满赛道引发争议，达到白热化程度。
为锁定晋级杯赛冠军16强席位，奥斯汀·狄龙在最后一圈的最后两个弯道撞翻了乔伊·洛加诺和丹尼·哈姆林，赢得了近两年来的首场胜利。
庆祝活动转瞬即逝，因为三天后NASCAR取消了狄龙（Dillon）的季后赛资格，认定这位理查德·柴尔德里斯车队的车手因鲁莽驾驶"越界"。
“纳斯卡划清了底线，”哈姆林周五表示，“他们不惧做出艰难决定，我认为这对赛事管理至关重要，能避免沦为闹剧。因此与12个月前相比，我现在对此事的看法确实略有好转。”
这无疑是我们首次目睹此类事件，NASCAR必须树立先例。若对此放任不管，将引发一系列危及赛事公信力与合法性的荒唐行径。得益于这项裁决，如今所有人对此都有了更清晰的认识。
随着NASCAR顶级系列赛周六晚重返弗吉尼亚州里士满，常规赛仅剩两场且季后赛尚有三个席位空缺之际，狄龙（Dillon）的胜利是否重新定义了为争夺十场冠军赛入场券时，追求胜利所允许的边界？
对于这位在本赛季比任何人都更激进地超越对手的杯赛车手来说，这个问题已无关紧要。
Spire Motorsports车队车手卡森·霍切瓦尔表示："我认为那只是个偶然事件。如果让他们重演同样的场景，我不认为他能两次都得手。"
我认为我们很难再看到有人先搞定一个目标，然后转身又拿下第二个。这种千载难逢的奇迹堪称一场天时地利人和的完美风暴——所有因素都恰好处于最理想的位置，让他能够不惜一切代价取胜。这种情景几乎不可能重现。
若里士满赛道再度上演火药味十足的收官之战，恐怕没有几人能像霍切瓦尔这般敢于直面激烈缠斗。
Spire Motorsports车队的车手与众多同行频频发生摩擦——罗斯·查斯坦、里基·斯滕豪斯和赞恩·史密斯是其中最为愤懑的几位。上周日在沃特金斯格伦国际赛道，霍切瓦尔先在排位赛中激怒了布拉德·凯瑟洛夫斯基，随后又在正赛中与队友迈克尔·麦克道尔多次发生碰撞。
尽管23岁的霍切瓦尔（Hocevar）计划与麦克道尔（McDowell）消除分歧，但这位驾驶77号雪佛兰赛车的年轻车手似乎并不担心为了胜利而与这位资深车手一较高下。
“我不会去统计谁对我们感到沮丧或愤怒，”他说，“这种情况每周都在不断变化。”
尽管霍切瓦尔（Hocevar）在杯赛第二赛季表现稳健，并在亚特兰大和纳什维尔站创下职业生涯最佳亚军成绩，但由于多次机械故障，他在积分榜上仅排名第22位。他晋级季后赛的唯一途径是通过夺冠自动获得资格，这一情况同样适用于凯尔·布施（Kyle Busch）、泰·吉布斯（Ty Gibbs）和凯瑟洛夫斯基（Keselowski）。
至少有一位（甚至可能多达三位）未获分站冠军的车手将凭借积分晋级季后赛。泰勒·雷迪克本周六即使无冠也可能锁定季后赛席位。在最后一个临时席位的争夺中，克里斯·布舍尔目前以34分优势领先于罗斯-芬威-凯瑟洛夫斯基福特车队的队友瑞安·普里斯。
普里斯表示："当你处于有利位置并有获胜机会时，我不愿事后纠结于本该采取的不同策略。作为车手必须全力以赴，不可有所保留。既要保持竞技风度，也要明白——半圈之差就可能改写整个赛季的结局。"
目前在积分榜上排名第28位的狄龙（Dillon），与一年前一样，在里士满站面临背水一战的局面，但他对3号雪佛兰赛车在这条0.75英里椭圆形赛道上的竞争力依然充满信心。
“我充满干劲，”他说道，“我只想看看我们能否像去年一样成功。那依然是个重要的日子，我会永远记得那是我最钟爱的胜利之一。我们赢得了奖杯，只是没能获得NASCAR季后赛的席位。”
庆祝活动需谨慎
Xfinity系列赛积分榜领跑者康纳·齐利施（Connor Zilisch）因8月9日在沃特金斯格伦国际赛道庆祝胜利时摔倒导致锁骨骨折，于周二上午接受了手术。尽管尚不确定齐利施能否参加8月22日在代托纳国际赛道举行的比赛，但他的受伤已对其他车手产生影响，促使他们在胜利车道下车时注意控制庆祝动作的幅度。
伍德兄弟车队的车手乔希·贝里表示：“这太可怕了，我想我们都会对此更加重视。我们在车里被固定了三四个小时，出来后感觉就像在飞机上第一次站起来一样，双腿有点发软。”
潘世奇车队的奥斯汀·辛德里克表示，获胜者让车窗防护网悬在车外可能是菜鸟错误（齐利希试图爬上车顶时左脚被防护网缠住）。
身高6英尺3英寸（约1.9米）的辛德里克说："我经常想起康纳的遭遇，因为俗话说大树倒下的动静更大。对于这样一个高大的人来说，坠落的过程尤为漫长。目睹这一切却无能为力，实在令人心碎。"
零碎杂物
在BetMGM博彩公司开出的里士满站赔率中，小丹尼·哈姆林（+400）最被看好，紧随其后的是乔·吉布斯车队的队友克里斯托弗·贝尔（+450）、凯尔·拉尔森（+700）、乔伊·洛加诺（+800）和威廉·拜伦（+850）。里士满赛道本赛季仅承办这一场NASCAR赛事周末。这条0.75英里（约1.2公里）的椭圆形赛道自1959至2024年间每年在杯赛日程中安排两场比赛（2020年赛事因新冠疫情取消）。驾驶乔·吉布斯车队19号丰田赛车的蔡斯·布里斯科，是本季前三次短道赛——马丁斯维尔赛道、布里斯托尔赛道和爱荷华赛道比赛中，唯一全部跻身前十的车手。
美联社赛车新闻：
全部评论 （0）