Chickens***

I’ve made it a point to think twice before ripping a racing series I don’t follow incredibly closely. They differ in regulations, rules, and culture. A lot of times, it’s best to shut up for a second to listen…and learn.

I’ve thought once and twice. Here comes the ripping.

NASCAR appears on my television occasionally, yes, but I don’t follow it as closely as Formula 1 so I gave myself an additional evening to consider what I saw in Richmond on Sunday night.

If you haven’t see, there was a late race restart and one competitor, Austin Dillon, intentionally wrecked two others, Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin, on the last lap to win the race.

Not kidding.

See? Told you I wasn’t kidding.

NASCAR’s relationship with contact is different from most other series. You can get away with A LOT. But as many fans leapt into the fray to argue in the aftermath, one theme rose to the top.

Surely there’s a line and, if so, where the hell is it?

Many fans who don’t like Hamlin and Logano simply said they were whiners and dismissed their complaints.

Stupid.

This wasn’t some door-to-door contact. This wasn’t nudging someone off their line. It was, as Logano said after climbing out of his car, “chickenshit.”

There’s no argument that this is racing. Bumper cars would be more apt.

For those of us who are sim racers, that move would get you kicked out of a lobby and some very indelicate language lobbed your way.

But above all, the biggest point I want to highlight is a complaint from Hamlin.

He said NASCAR will never be taken seriously as long as officials remain so steadfastly hands-off despite absurd sequences like this. His criticism of the series’ playoff format generating this ridiculousness is worth listening to as well.

Austin Dillon needed to win to get a playoff berth. He was 32nd in the standings going into the race, well outside playoff contention.

He didn’t deserve a playoff berth yesterday and he doesn’t deserve one today.