With Cup playoffs at stake, controversial limits of rough driving could be tested again

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 Dillon's 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. "They're not afraid to make hard decisions, and I think that's very, very important to the governing of the sport, so it's 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 we'd 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 NASCAR's premier series returns Saturday night to Richmond, Virginia, with two races remaining in the regular season and three open slots in the playoffs, did Dillon's win establish the new boundary of what's 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 don't think he gets both of them. "I don't think we'll 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 don't take a head count of who's frustrated with or mad at us," he said. "It's 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 you're in position and have the opportunity to win, I don't 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. You've 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 Chevy's chances on the 0.75-mile oval. "I'm pumped," he said. "I just want to see if we can be as successful as last year. It was still a big day, and I'll 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 it's 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 we'll all think about it more," Wood Brothers Racing driver Josh Berry said. "We've been strapped in the car for three or four hours. You get out, and it's no different than being on a plane and standing up for the first time. Your legs are a little shaky." Team Penske's 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. "That's a long way for a big, tall guy to fall. It's 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 Racing's No. 19 Toyota is the only driver with top 10s in the season's first three short-track races at Martinsville Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway and Iowa Speedway. ___ AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing