The 2023 Pocono Cup race witnessed former RCR teammates Austin Dillon and Tyler Reddick going hard on each other. Reddick left Richard Childress Racing last season to join 23XI Racing. While the TRD driver is already in the playoff, his ex-Chevy teammate is having one of the worst seasons of his career, making the emotions around the incident much worse.
The fiery incident occurred on lap 41 of the race. In a three-way fight, the No:45 Camry hit the No:3 Chevy Camaro ZL1 in the left rear. Dillon supposedly went up to Tyler Reddick’s Lane, causing the incident. The Chevy got spun and slammed into the outside wall and then slid down to the infield track, where the driver was able to get the car to a halt.
The 2018 Daytona 500 winner was fuming and was determined to get back on Reddick. He got out of his car on his own and waited for the field to get back to the place of the incident. NASCAR had already called caution, and the cars were running slow. Dillion took his opportunity and, as soon as Reddick approached the scene throw his helmet at his car. He then walked off with the marshals to the infield care center.
Austin Dillon, who suffered his seventh DNF of the season, went on an angry rant after the race. He said, “I was just trying to hit him. I’m (expletive) I didn’t lead it; they were going probably 65mph. If I was started at the front of the car, I probably would have got him in the door.” He also went on a lament about the poor season he is having.
Reddick went on to finish the race P2 behind his boss Denny Hamlin was infuriated by his former ally’s actions and didn’t mince his words after the race. He said, “But we’re three wide, I’m trying to make it into the corner and I had one plan of approach, and he had another, and unfortunately, just made contact. We hadn’t really had any moments today or anything really to put us in a spot where we would intentionally run into each other.”
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Here is how NASCAR Twitter reacted to the incident
The fans on Twitter were conflicted about whom to blame for the incident. A small majority quickly came out and slam Austin Dillon, whom they claimed wrecked himself. Few claimed that it was Reddick’s fault, and the TRD driver is jealous of his former teams’ impressive 2023 season, where Kyle Busch secured three wins with the No:8 teams.
Oh no the Silver Spoon had a crash.
— Erik Sekse (@Erik_Sekse) July 23, 2023Ridiculous behaviour. If drivers did that in any other category of racing they would probably be banned from a race
— Jack Ainslie (@jack_ainslie) July 23, 2023I’ll say this once, when’s the last time we’ve seen a helmet throw in NASCAR?
— John Nguyen (@JohnNguyenAHS) July 23, 2023He watched the replay and still whined about being "entitled to my lane" as if it wasn't RACING. Shocker.
— angielovesnascar (@nascarchick8848) July 23, 2023Estou tentando entender essa atitude dele, afinal quem desceu foi ele. Aí ele quer que saiam da frente e do lado? Reveja com calma.
— Fábio Machado (@fabio0904) July 24, 2023Discover more:
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