NASCAR: Austin Dillon responds to Danica Patrick's criticism

Following their contact at the NASCAR Cup Series regular season finale at Richmond, Danica Patrick expressed her frustration with Austin Dillon. Here is how Dillon responded.

Danica Patrick and Austin Dillon made contact on lap 256 of the 400-lap NASCAR Cup Series regular season finale, the Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond Raceway in Richmond, Virginia, which took place last Saturday.

As a result of the contact, Patrick spun out, although she did not make contact with the wall. Dillon, however, was able to keep going. Patrick ended up finishing the race in 23rd place, while Dillon finished just two positions ahead of her in 21st.

On a side note, it was as a result of this contact that the caution flag period ensued during which drivers made their way to the pits and were caught off guard by an ambulance sitting on the apron of the track right at the pit commitment line.

Here is a video of the contact between Patrick and Dillon.

Here is what Patrick had to say about Dillon moving forward.

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"“Austin Dillon has two very obvious options — one is to move over so I can’t hit him or stay in front of me so I can. One is far more dangerous than the other.”"

And here is how Dillon responded to her.

"“Well, that’s good to know. I’m glad she’s worried about me, but I’ll talk to her at some point. I’m sure it will be okay. She could have retaliated at Richmond. I pulled right in front of her to allow her to do it, but nothing happened, so. I was ready to get out of the Richmond race. We sucked so bad, I was like ‘man, just take me out if you want,’ but, she didn’t do it, so I guess I didn’t think she was that mad."

Dillon, unlike Patrick, qualified for this year’s NASCAR Cup Series playoffs for the second season in a row thanks to his first career Cup Series victory in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte on Memorial Day Sunday.

With Patrick having just announced that she will not be returning to Stewart-Haas Racing next season, which is probably the best team she could have had a full-time ride in the Cup Series with next season anyway, she really won’t have much to lose in the playoffs, so it will be interesting to see if she and Dillon can solve their problems off the track before things get out of hand on the track.

Next: Five possible replacement candidates for Danica Patrick in 2018

What do you think of Austin Dillon’s response to Danica Patrick’s criticism? Let us know in the comments below, and be sure to follow along with Beyond the Flag for the latest news, opinions and analysis stemming from a number of different motorsports series. You don’t want to miss any of it. Also be sure to follow Beyond the Flag on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

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NASCAR: Austin Dillon responds to Danica Patrick’s criticism

By Asher Fair | Sep 13, 2017

Following their contact at the NASCAR Cup Series regular season finale at Richmond, Danica Patrick expressed her frustration with Austin Dillon. Here is how Dillon responded.