Austin Dillon has seen the highs and lows of superspeedway racing. The highs include winning at Daytona twice, while the lows have seen him in some of the more terrifying crashes and hits in years.
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That was no different Sunday in the YellaWood 500 at Talladega, as Dillon was caught up in a huge crash late in the race. The incident occurred after a push gone wrong by Brad Keselowski on rookie driver Carson Hocevar.
BIG CRASH.
Brad Keselowski, Austin Dillon and more involved in this one. #NASCARPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/5BKF5Z9fJv
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) October 1, 2023
Keselowski took credit for causing the incident, but Dillon didn't quite see it that way. He had some criticism for Hocevar, who was only making his fourth Cup start. Dillon told Bob Pockrass from Fox Sports that Hocevar was looking for trouble most of the race and that he was more at fault than Keselowski.
Austin Dillon wasn’t happy with the way the wreck he was collected in developed as he felt Brad Keselowski shouldn’t have tried to push Carson Hocevar at that point. He explains why: pic.twitter.com/Xhiovj0Fk9
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) October 2, 2023
"I got out of the middle line because of the 42. I don't know if he had a new spotter or what. He was all over the place," Dillon said. "Brad (Keselowski) said he pushed him too hard and wrecked him, so we had a hard hit. Sucks. Our Bass Pro Shops Chevy was good."
Obviously, in Dillon's mind, he saw an issue coming.
"I had the benefit to see the 42 all over the place, like when he was just by himself. I surely had seen it most of the day, I didn't think the 42 was very good for anybody to be around. So, that's what you get when you push when there's no need to push at that point," Dillon said.
Is Dillon's criticism fair of Hocevar? It was his first-ever Cup race at a superspeedway. He is young and still learning, and the fact of the matter is he has been outperforming Dillon in each of his four Cup starts. Is there a little jealousy from Dillon?
It's very likely that Hocevar will be a full-time Cup driver in 2024 — so, Austin, you better get used to it.
