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Austin Dillon confronts Kyle Larson on pit road after last-lap spin at Watkins Glen

Originally posted on 5 GOATs | By Jonathan Howard | Last updated 8/21/23

On the last lap of the race at Watkins Glen, Austin Dillon and Kyle Larson went for a spin after some heavy contact. Dillon got into Larson to make a pass, so the 5 gave it back on the next turn. Both NASCAR drivers spun out, but Dillon was left out on the track for a while.

It didn’t bring out a caution, but Austin Dillon lost a ton of spots after spinning out. His car stalled and shut off. Meanwhile, Kyle Larson got his car fired back up and drove off quickly.

The two were fighting for position around the top-20. By the time they crossed the finish line, Dillon was P31 and Larson P26. Corey LaJoie was just ahead of this incident and finished P20.

The Richard Childress Racing driver took exception to it and confronted Larson on pit road. Nothing much occurred, as Larson waved Dillon off with a couple of lazy thumbs up.

Kyle Larson had speed to potentially compete with his teammate William Byron for the win. However, a penalty on pit road forced him to the rear of the lead lap and doomed him to a mid-pack finish. Then this wreck put him further back.

I’m not too sure what Dillon was thinking driving that hard on Larson. Top-20 finishes matter, but in this scenario, Larson has no reason to give him any ground. Larson is already waiting to get out of the car at that point, so he’ll just door you back. Although, AD did say he was going to start being more aggressive after Pocono.

Kyle Larson loses ground after pit road penalty

At the very least, Larson was a top-5 car on the day. However, pit road penalties can just sink your efforts. There were penalty issues with Michael McDowell and his team, another car that could have won the race, and they never recovered.

With Byron winning, Hendrick Motorsports is basically in the same place it was coming into the race weekend. Byron is the leader, Larson would be better if not for DNFs and pit road mistakes, and Alex Bowman and Chase Elliott are in must-win situations. Plain and simple.

Elliott ran out of fuel while running in the top-10 and came to a stop on the track just as green flag pit stops began. It relegated him to a lap down and he was never able to get that back.

William Byron flexed his muscles a bit. Kyle Larson needs to have a complete race again. As for Bowman and Elliott? Only one of them, at most, can make the NASCAR Playoffs at this point.

This article first appeared on 5 GOATs and was syndicated with permission.

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