RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Austin Dillon was first to the finish at Richmond.
The question is whether he crossed a different sort of line on his way there.
Dillon won for the first time in nearly two years in the Cup Series on Sunday night, but the race seemed out of reach before he spun Joey Logano out of the way and then sent Denny Hamlin into the wall as well — all in the final few seconds. Once the initial celebration ended, Dillon had quite a bit to answer for — but becoming a NASCAR villain for a few days may be a small price to pay for such a desperately needed victory.
“Absolutely a line was crossed, but it’s an invisible line,” Hamlin said. “It’s not defined. I mean, they have rules and provisions for stuff like this, but they never take action for it.”
Elton Sawyer, the senior vice president of competition, indicated NASCAR would take a good long look at the end of this race, but that doesn't mean the penalties will outweigh the benefits of Dillon's aggressiveness. He was outside the top 30 in the standings, but this one victory put him on track to make the playoffs.
“Our sport has been a contact sport for a long time. We always hear, ‘Where’s the line?'" Sawyer said. “I would say that the last lap was awful close to the line. We'll take a look at all the available resources. ... If anything rises to a level that we feel like we need to penalize then we'll do that on Tuesday.”
The reactions from other drivers were unsurprising. Logano was livid. Hamlin said the collision blew his shoulder out. Even Bubba Wallace — tangentially involved because Dillon leapfrogged him in the playoff race — tossed a few barbs the winner's way.
There’s no denying the excitement of the wild finish. The 400-lap race had been pretty quiet for the first 398 or so. There wasn’t a single unplanned caution until a wreck involving Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Ryan Preece sent the race to overtime and likely robbed Dillon of a much less controversial win.
Until then, the race’s biggest story involved tire strategy. It was the first time in a points-paying Cup race that teams had multiple tire options, and that created some choices to analyze. It was an interesting topic, but not a particularly thrilling one.
Then Dillon bumped two veteran drivers out of the way to win.
“As far as good for the sport, I heard we were trending No. 1 on Twitter right now,” Dillon said. “People must be viewing it right now, so that’s good.”
NASCAR, of course, is no stranger to the larger debate about when aggressive driving becomes reckless driving. But a more modern development — the playoff race — probably played a role Sunday as well. The win-and-you're-in nature of postseason qualification means the difference between first place and second can be massive.
“It’s just the rules of the sport, right? It is what it is,” Dillon said. “Wins get you into the next round.”
So Richmond turned into a perfect storm of sorts. A struggling driver had a chance — perhaps his last decent chance — to salvage a mediocre season. Dillon had every incentive to push the envelope and apologize later if need be.
Not that his team was all that apologetic.
“They would have done it to him, you know?” said owner Richard Childress, Dillon's proud grandfather. “It’s one of those deals that when it comes down to winning a race and you’re in that position, you’re hungry, you do what it takes. That’s what I told him all his life.”
Unless NASCAR hands down unusually substantial penalties, it was probably worth it for Dillon — although he'll want to watch his back for the rest of this season. Logano offered an ominous “wait and see” when asked how he'd race Dillon in the future.
Hamlin's thoughts were about the big picture.
“What happens is you see young guys coming up in the short track ranks seeing that, and they think it’s fine,” Hamlin said. “That’s why we see some of the lower series turn out the way they do in these green-white-checkered situations because some of the best that they’re seeing on Sunday do stuff like that.”
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NASCAR's postseason format meant Austin Dillon had every incentive to wreck his way to victory
NASCAR's postseason format meant Austin Dillon had every incentive to wreck his way to victory
FILE - Austin Dillon during the NASCAR Daytona 500 auto race media day Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara, File)
Israeli strikes in the southern Gaza Strip killed at least 15 people overnight, including six children and two women, Palestinian medical officials said Tuesday. In northern Gaza, where Israel has been waging an air and ground campaign in Jabaliya for more than a week, residents said families were still trapped in their homes and shelters.
It’s been more than a year since Hamas-led militants blew holes in Israel’s security fence and stormed in, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting another 250. They are still holding about 100 people captive inside Gaza, a third of whom are believed to be dead.
Israel’s offensive in Gaza has killed over 42,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities, who do not say how many were fighters but say women and children make up more than half of the fatalities. The war has destroyed large areas of Gaza and displaced about 90% of its population of 2.3 million people.
In solidarity with Hamas, Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has exchanged cross-border fire with Israel almost daily for the past year. Israel escalated its campaign against the group in recent weeks.
Rumors circulated for weeks over head of the expeditionary arm of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard Gen. Esmail Qaani’s status after an Israeli airstrike that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut in late September. But Qaani, the head of the Quds Force, was seen in a black bomber jacket, wiping away tears at an event early Tuesday morning at Tehran’s Mehrabad International Airport.
Here's the latest:
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The funeral of an Iranian Revolutionary Guard general killed alongside Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah drew the largest crowd of top leaders in the paramilitary organization together Tuesday for the first time since Tehran launched a ballistic missile attack on Israel.
The Guard’s leadership hasn’t been as visible in the two weeks since Iran’s Oct. 1 attack on Israel. The Guard is the main power behind Iran’s theocracy and oversees its arsenal of ballistic missiles — which would be crucial in any future attack on Israel.
At the funeral in Tehran for Gen. Abbas Nilforushan, the Guard’s chief commander, Gen. Hossein Salami, attended alongside President Masoud Pezeshkian and the head of the country’s judiciary. Other Guard generals also attended, including Gen. Esmail Qaani of the Guard’s expeditionary Quds Force, about whom rumors had circulated for days regarding his status after the strike that killed Nasrallah.
At least two prominent Guard generals were not on hand: Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the commander of Guard’s aerospace division that oversees its missile program, and Gen. Ali Reza Tangsiri, commander of the Guard’s navy, did not attend.
Iran offered no explanation for their absence, though Israel has threatened to carry out a serious retaliatory strike against Iran.
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Israeli strikes in the southern Gaza Strip killed at least 15 people overnight, including six children and two women, Palestinian medical officials said Tuesday.
A strike early Tuesday hit a house in the southern town of Beni Suhaila, killing at least 10 people from one extended family, according to Nasser Hospital in nearby Khan Younis. The dead include three children and one woman, according to hospital records. An Associated Press camera operator at the hospital counted the bodies.
In the nearby town of Fakhari, a strike hit a house early Tuesday, killing five people, including three children and a woman, according to the European Hospital, where the casualties were taken.
The Israeli military rarely comments on individual strikes. It says it tries to avoid harming civilians and blames their deaths on Hamas, accusing the militants of sheltering in civilian areas.
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — In northern Gaza, where Israel has been waging an air and ground campaign in Jabaliya for more than a week, residents said families were still trapped in their homes and shelters Tuesday.
Adel al-Deqes said his relatives tried to move to another place in Jabaliya in the morning, but the military shelled them.
“We don’t know who died and who is still alive,” he said.
Ahmed Awda, another Jabaliya resident, said they heard “constant bombing and gunfire” overnight and Tuesday morning. He said the military destroyed many buildings in the eastern and northern parts of the camp, which dates back to the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s creation.
“They bombed many buildings; some of them empty buildings,” he said.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The head of the expeditionary arm of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard has appeared in television footage aired Tuesday by Iranian state television.
Rumors circulated for weeks over Gen. Esmail Qaani’s status in the time since an Israeli airstrike that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut in late September. But Qaani, the head of the Quds Force, was seen in a black bomber jacket, wiping away tears at an event early Tuesday morning at Tehran’s Mehrabad International Airport.
While Iranian state television did not acknowledge the rumors, it made a point to film Qaani for over a minute and later share the footage from the airport ceremony online.
Qaani was on hand for the repatriation to Iran of the body of Revolutionary Guard Gen. Abbas Nilforushan, 58, who was killed in the airstrike.
WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Australia’s government has imposed targeted financial sanctions and travel bans on five Iranians contributing to the country’s missile defense program, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Tuesday.
Iran’s launch of at least 180 ballistic missiles against Israel on Oct. 1 was “a dangerous escalation that increased the risk of a wider regional war,” Wong said in a statement.
The fresh sanctions target two directors and a senior official in Iran’s Aerospace Industries Organization, the director of the Shahid Bagheri Industrial Group, and the commercial director of the Shahid Hemmat Industrial Group.
The decision brings to 200 the number of Iran-linked individuals and entities now sanctioned by Australia.
“Australia will continue to hold Iran to account for its reckless and destabilizing actions,” Wong said.
People chant slogans during the funeral ceremony of the late Iranian Revolutionary Guard Gen. Abbas Nilforushan, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut in late September, in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
People and officials attend the funeral ceremony of the late Iranian Revolutionary Guard Gen. Abbas Nilforushan, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut in late September, in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Commander of the Iran's Revolutionary Guard Quds Force, Gen. Esmail Qaani, mourns during the funeral ceremony of the late Revolutionary Guard Gen. Abbas Nilforushan, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut in late September, in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Mourners carry the coffin of Iranian Revolutionary Guards' deputy commander Brigadier Gen. Abbas Nilforushan who died alongside Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut last month during his funeral in Karbala, Iraq, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Anmar Khalil)
Palestinians look at the damage after an Israeli strike hit a tent area in the courtyard of Al Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Pro-Israel protesters holds Israeli flags as demonstrators protest Israel's war against Hamas outside the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
A displaced family fleeing the Israeli airstrikes in the south, sits next to their tent on Beirut's corniche, Lebanon, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Families fleeing the Israeli airstrikes in the south, sit in front of the Mohammad al-Amin Mosque in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Mourners carry a picture of slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah during the funeral procession of their relatives, in Maisara near the northern coastal town of Byblos, Lebanon, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Palestinians look at the damage after an Israeli strike hit a tent area in the courtyard of Al Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Middle East latest: Israeli strikes on southern Gaza kill at least 15 people overnight
Middle East latest: Israeli strikes on southern Gaza kill at least 15 people overnight
