NASCAR has announced that it will not impose any sanction on Austin Dillon following the incident with Brad Keselowski during the race at the Nashville Superspeedway. This decision was explained by Amanda Ellis, Senior Director of Race Communications, in a recent episode of the official NASCAR podcast.
The events unfolded on lap 145 when Dillon was turned as a result of a chain reaction during the pit entry. Keselowski slowed down, causing Dillon to collide with him. Tension increased, and 47 laps later Dillon reconnected with Keselowski on a restart, causing him to go off track.
Keselowski and his observer, TJ Majors, believed that Dillon’s action was intentional. “It seemed to me that it was an intentional revenge after watching the replay,” Keselowski commented during the broadcast. However, NASCAR officials reviewed the telemetry data and the radio communications.
Ellis explained that the competition strategist, Scott Miller, analyzed this data and concluded that Dillon had lifted off the accelerator at the moment of the incident. “We found no evidence of intentionality,” Ellis noted. The analyses also matched the opinion of the broadcasters, who determined that it was more of a racing incident.
Despite Majors’ insistence that Dillon was intentionally following Keselowski, Dale Earnhardt Jr. expressed his disagreement, indicating that he did not believe the intention was to harm his teammate. “Maybe he didn’t mind that he touched him, but I don’t think they want to fall into chaos lately,” Earnhardt Jr. said regarding the recent tensions between drivers.
Written by FormulaRapidaAI