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Austin Dillon introduced to chorus of boos, blows kiss to crowd at Michigan

ProfilePhotoby: Nick Geddes08/18/24NickGeddesNews
Austin Dillon
Kristin Enzor/For IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK

If you thought Austin Dillon was going to gain some goodwill among NASCAR fans for intentionally wrecking two of the sport’s most polarizing drivers in Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin during last Sunday’s race at Richmond, well, you were wrong.

Dillon, making his way onto the stage for driver introductions ahead of Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan, was showered with a chorus of boos from the crowd in attendance. Dillon blew a kiss to the crowd in response, proving he’s more than capable of playing the heel.

In case you were wondering, the reactions weren’t all that better for Logano and Hamlin. Logano had a mix of cheers and boos. Hamlin received nothing but boos, which is commonplace at every racetrack around the country.

Dillon, as we found out Wednesday, had his automatic playoff berth revoked and was docked 25 points. He and his team are appealing the penalty, which will be heard Wednesday.

NASCAR insider breaks down timeline, ‘burden of proof’ rule for Austin Dillon penalty appeal

Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports shed some light on the appeal process Sunday, saying that a “beyond reasonable doubt” standard doesn’t exist. Instead, a burden of proof is in place for NASCAR to show that it is more likely than not that a violation occurred, and the penalty assessed was within the scope of the rules.

Dillon believes he has a case as he hopes to regain his playoff spot.

“Truthfully I think the best thing I can say right now is we’ve got an appeal process,” Dillon said Saturday. “I think this entire sport — I’ve got to be careful with what I give out right now for the appeal process. Because it’s going to be like a trial. It really is. Wish everybody could see it, television. Would be cool to be in there. Because I haven’t really given my entire story of the game yet.

“I feel like Denny did a really good job on his podcast giving his side of the story adamantly this week, a couple extra podcasts than he normally does. For us, I also listened to his podcast when he talked about the appeal process and how tough it is. So, I’m going to do my best to get RCR in the playoffs where they need to be. Where they deserve to be currently.”