Austin Dillon’s race-deciding maneuvers in Richmond last Sunday, in which he intentionally destroyed Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin, not only set the NASCAR The community was in an uproar, but the sport also received some attention at sports shows across the country.

Only on a few occasions this season has NASCAR entered the mainstream, and most of the time it involves controversy or confrontation of some sort. On Monday’s “Actions Detrimental” podcast, Hamlin pushed back against the notion that incidents like the one in Richmond help the sport grow.

“It’s part of the format,” Hamlin said. “We have elimination style and all that other stuff. I think NASCAR tries to create those exciting moments through eliminations. And the sample size of a championship is getting smaller and smaller. You can’t fool our core fan base that follows us. You can’t fool the millions that follow us every week. … A new fan that likes it, A, they’re not going to see that as much. But you can still have highlights on ‘SportsCenter,’ like when we had a three-way photo finish (in Atlanta). Why does it have to be, ‘Hey, look how lawless we are?’

“It’s just the way it is — anyone can tune in to watch a demolition derby. But you’re watching a professional sport with professional officials, and there are rules that prohibit that. … I think we’ve built a reputation over time that would tell us that we’re a bunch of hooligans and we’re demolition derbies sometimes. Look at all the accidents we have. I mean, this is natural racing, but we’ve prepared it by having double-wide restarts and green-white checkered finishes. We’ve let it get this far and show me some information or data that shows our sport is growing. As a team owner, I don’t think the direction we’re going or have gone necessarily puts us at the grown-up table.”

Denny Hamlin says Austin Dillon’s accidents in Richmond were “over the top”

After Richmond, Dillon’s last-lap maneuver is the only topic of discussion, and perhaps rightly so, as it has thrown chaos into the playoffs with just three regular-season races remaining. Dillon entered Sunday’s race in 32nd place and is now playoff-eligible. Ross Chastain and Chris Buescher, meanwhile, have fallen below the playoff line with Dillon’s win and Bubba Wallace in fourth.

However, Hamlin believes Dillon crossed the line of aggressive racing and NASCAR should take appropriate action. The sanctioning committee is expected to announce potential penalties on Tuesday.

“In a major sport where we like to be in the top tier of the sporting world, there are referees for a reason,” Denny Hamlin said. “I just don’t know why we’ve let it get to this point over time. And I think you have a responsibility as a sanctioning body to set an example not only to your competitors but to the juniors and say, ‘This is how we race professionally. This is how racing is done.’

“…Let me ask you a question: If that’s not over the line, what is over the line? … He didn’t try to make a turn. He just drove until he destroyed him (Logano). He kept driving until he destroyed him.”