NASCAR Should Be Terrified By All These Empty Seats & This Damning Audio Could Get Austin Dillon Suspended

Well, I'll be damned – Dale Earnhardt is still alive. Can't believe it. What a twist heading into election season! I've heard of October surprises, but an August one like this? Wild. 

Wonder if he'll be voting for Kamala in a few months? Probably. 

Wait. What? That wasn't Dale Sr. in his old No. 3 last night in Richmond beating the hell out of cars for the win? Seriously? I thought for sure it HAD to be. 

No way any other driver would seriously pull stunts like that for a win. Dale did it back in the day … sort of. But he had street cred to do so. Very few NASCAR drivers have it, by the way. 

Just ask Terry Labonte. 

Austin Dillon … does not have it, for those wondering. He ain't Dale. May drive his car – and for his old boss – but he ain't Dale. So you're telling me that was Austin Dillon wrecking the hell out of Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin last night? Gotcha. 

Yeah, that's a problem. A good one for us – because we love the #content – but a bad one for him. And, frankly, for NASCAR. 

We'll get to it here in a bit. 

What else should we talk about?! I mean, we finally got an automobile race yesterday for the first time since Joe Biden was still running for reelection! Surely we have something positive to talk about, right? Wrong!

Did y'all see that attendance at Richmond? I did, because the picture of it is going viral on social media right now. And it ain't great. When they lose a race next season, and you're angry about it – which is a very real possibility, according to Mr. Rumor Mill – remember this video. 

Don't worry! I didn't forget about the NASCAR WAGs even though vacation is over and racing is back. Hooters Gianna and Samantha Busch were such #content machines last week my head nearly exploded. What a run, especially for Sam. Goodness. 

OK, that's enough to get us started. Plenty to get to. So, let's get to it!

Four tires, a splish-splash of that Sunoco racing fuel, and maybe some Witness Protection for Austin Dillon … Monday Morning Pit-Stop – the ‘Get The Hell Outta My Way, I’ve Got A Race To Win And Also Look Like A Jackass In The Process' edition – is LIVE!

Thank goodness for Austin Dillon's baby

For starters, if you didn't see this coming – at least a little bit – you need to get back to the film room. The second I saw Joey Logano take the lead after the restart, I knew little Austin Dillon would ram his nose so far up there Joey wouldn't know what to do (hey now!). 

And that's exactly what happened. Now, did I think Austin would do it even though he was 14 miles behind Joey going into the final turn? Nope. Did not see that coming. But, Austin needed a win to make the playoffs, this was his best chance, and he went for it. Full send.

Jam on the gas going into 3, don't let up until you hit something – in this case, Joey Logano's Ford – and hope like hell it sticks. 

And it stuck! Sort of. The move only worked because A) Joey Logano was there to slow Austin down, and B) Denny Hamlin was also there at the backend to help him straighten back up. 

Teamwork, baby! Speaking of babies …

Does NASCAR need to address this?

My first thought while watching live? Thank GOD for that kid. Seriously. If Austin Dillon wasn't holding his kid, I honestly think Joey Logano would've interrupted that interview and beat the hell out of him. 

And as much as I loved the #content, he would have been 100% in the right. It was such a blatant BS move I almost thought it wasn't real while watching it live. It's a move we've all done a million times in video games, but you can't just … do it in real life. Can you?

That's what NASCAR is gonna be grappling with this week. Frankly, though, I'm not sure what we expect them to do. I'm not sure there's really a precedent for this, is there? I mean, Dale Earnhardt famously wrecked Terry Labote at Bristol decades ago and, as far as I know, he still has that win. 

Joey, by the way, has dumped people, too. Remember this, from last year? Same with Denny. 

Obviously, there's a pretty big difference. I get that, too. Joey and Denny weren't miles behind the leader when they pulled off the bump-n-run. They were right on him. Makes it a little more fair, at least to the naked eye. 

So, I'm not really sure what NASCAR's gonna do here. I don't think they're gonna strip Austin Dillon of a win, and I'm not really sure they can fine him without stripping him of the win. 

If this was a battle for 20th, Austin Dillon would be fined this week for reckless driving. I promise you, he would. Maybe even suspended. Hell, NASCAR suspended Chase Elliott for a race last season for punting Denny into the sun.  

But can you fine a race-winner and still allow him to keep the win? What a mess for NASCAR. And by the way – NASCAR loves this. They don't love the fallout, but they LOVED what they saw last night, because it got the internet buzzing after a relatively uneventful race. That's a win. That's always gonna be a win for NASCAR. 

PS: is this the most sane take Denny Hamlin has ever had? 

PPS: how about this nugget from Elton Sawyer? Interesting. 

NASCAR should be thanking Austin Dillon for taking our attention off of this …

Some big moments coming up here for NASCAR. Strap in. 

As for Denny, he's 100% right. Like him or hate his guts, Denny Hamlin is probably the best Speaker of the House NASCAR drivers have right now. Used to be Kevin Harvick. Now, it's Denny. 

I also love how guys are just cussing on TV now. Logano throwing around chicken-shit like it's an everyday term, Denny ripping guys to shreds to Bob Pockrass. The best. I love it. 

And by the way – and I'm done talking about it after this, I promise – videos like this ain't gonna help Austin this week:

WRECK HIM!!!!!! Austin Dillon's spotter is just one of us, playing NASCAR Thunder 2003 as a kid. Those were the days. 

Where do you stand on all the drama? Let me know! Zach.Dean@OutKick.com. 

Ok, moving on … to more depressing matters, like the Richmond crowd:

Kyle Busch, Samantha Busch & Hooters Gianna, oh my!

Whooooooooooooooof. Not great. I know some people are all upset because that was taken during pre-race ceremonies, but guys … come on. Do y'all really think that place just magically filled up by the time the green flag dropped? No shot. 

There were just 50,000 people in the concessions when this video was taken? All waiting in line to take a piss? I don't think so. 

Not a great look for NASCAR or for Richmond. And you know what? Kevin Harvick sort of noticed this a few days prior when he went all boomer from his living room couch during Saturday's qualifying:

To be fair … who in the world watches qualifying? On a Saturday night, no less!? Kevin, buddy – you're retired. Go out, get tanked, have some fun … no need to be watching Richmond qualifying on a Saturday night. I promise, there are better things to do. Literally anything is better, frankly. Anything. 

OK, let's check in with Kyle Busch before we end the day with his smoking hot wife. 

See? Texting and driving ain't that bad when you see this. Solid work here from Kyle. He claims he sprained his wrist at Indy a few weeks ago, but I ain't buying it for a second. 

When you go to Italy with Sam Busch and her white flag bikini, you're gonna be in for a wild few days:

I mean, what a heater from Sam. There's #content, and then there's that. What a trip for the Busch Clan! Looks like it was a blast. 

OK, that's all for today. What a way to start a week, huh? I'm all jacked up, baby! 

Take us to Michigan, Hooters Gianna.