Spotter was “wrong” to shout “wreck him!” before Hamlin clash

Under-fire NASCAR Cup race winner Austin Dillon insists that his spotter’s “wreck him!” call before he collided with Denny Hamlin at Richmond on Sunday night “didn’t change” what then happened.

Dillon qualified for the playoffs with his victory but is awaiting NASCAR’s penalty report from the weekend to see if it chooses to penalize him for wrecking both Hamlin and Joey Logano at the final corners of the last lap.

NASCAR has delayed its report, which is traditionally communicated on Tuesdays, as it is understood to be considering several cases – which will include Logano’s wild burnout in front of Dillon’s pitstall, where Austin’s family had congregated.

Dillon argued that he “had the car under control with the hard entry” at Turn 3, when he rammed Logano into a spin and into the wall.

And it was at that point that his spotter told him to move down the track as Hamlin was set to sweep past on his inside, shouting “Down, down, down, run him down – wreck him!” just before the collision that sent hooked Hamlin hard into the Turn 4 wall.

Speaking on today’s episode of Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s podcast, the Dale Jr. Download, Dillon said it was the pressure of the moment that led to that outbust.

“I’m expecting something, obviously,” he said of NASCAR’s upcoming penalty decisions. “As far as my spotter, I talked to him, and I truly think that emotions were really high for us, as the 3 car.

“We’ve been beat up and banged up for a while now, and with two laps to go we had a 3s lead at Richmond, and a caution comes out. Now we’re here talking about things that take away from the car that we really had.

“From our spotter, I believe like 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.

“But what he was saying didn’t change what happened in Turns 3 and 4. I’m driving at that point for all it’s worth and he’s just keying the mic, talking. I know he’s bummed about that, but he’s had my back through a lot of the rough patches that we’ve had. I can’t fault him from being a fan at that moment.”

Dillon also dissected his version of events and how he drove against Hamlin, during one of the most…