Have you ever watched a NASCAR race where two Chase drivers are going all out for the win, trading every inch of track like the championship depends on it? That was Chase Briscoe and Christopher Bell at Charlotte, battling at the front with everything on the line. But sometimes, the messiest fights happen nowhere near the lead.
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Even when neither driver is in the Chase hunt, pride and position can be enough to turn a routine battle into a grudge match. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Michael McDowell proved exactly that at Charlotte, and the fallout has now drawn an unexpected response from another Cup Series driver.
Richard Childress’ grandson, Austin Dillon, kept his response short and direct under an Instagram post showing the two drivers arguing after the race and giving his stance.
“Ricky ain’t wrong,” his comment read.
Dillon and Stenhouse have had their own run-ins on track, making his take particularly interesting as the fallout from Charlotte continues.
The two drivers’ history goes back to the 2013 race at Talladega, when they were running third and fourth on the final lap. Contact sent Dillon spinning into a heavy crash, turning a fight near the front into a wreck.
So, while Dillon’s latest comment was aimed at Stenhouse’s dispute with McDowell, it came from a driver who knows what it is like to be on the other side of a tense on-track moment with him.
But what exactly happened at Charlotte to prompt Dillon’s reaction? Stenhouse and McDowell spent the closing laps trading aggressive moves while running outside the top 15. Their fight included deep dives into corners, contact, and moments when both cars were pushed toward the wall. Stenhouse eventually forced McDowell wide in Turn 1, then tried to complete a slide job that did not work. Neither driver gained much from the exchange: McDowell finished 19th, while Stenhouse ended the race in 23rd.
The argument continued after the checkered flag. On the cool-down lap, Stenhouse caught up with McDowell and began leaning on his car, shoving him toward the upper lane. Riley Herbst had to back off to avoid getting caught in the middle. McDowell responded with contact of his own, and Stenhouse then hit the brakes in front of him. McDowell’s next move sent Stenhouse spinning up the track before he continued on.
The drivers were less aggressive once they reached pit road. They stopped bumper-to-bumper and spoke through the incident, with McDowell leaning toward Stenhouse’s window. The exchange did not turn physical, and the two appeared to settle down. But a video of their conversation later showed that they still disagreed over what had happened during the race.
Stenhouse accused McDowell of repeatedly trying to block him, saying he had moved left before Stenhouse did. McDowell maintained that he was trying to leave the outside open, explaining that Stenhouse had been running that line. He said he had come off Turn 4 intending to give Stenhouse room, only to be surprised when the No. 47 moved underneath him on the tri-oval.
Stenhouse insisted the issue went beyond that single moment. “I’m not just talking about that. I’m talking about every time I caught you,” he told McDowell. He also questioned why McDowell appeared to be watching his mirrors while entering corners. McDowell responded, “I get it, but we’re doing 190 mile an hour.” Stenhouse was unmoved, and the conversation ended with him telling McDowell to get out of there.
The confrontation even caught Brad Daugherty, co-owner of Stenhouse’s Hyak Motorsports team, off guard. Daugherty was watching the incident unfold on the USA Sports show when the drivers began trading contact. “Hey, hold on, what in the world?” he reacted, laughing. “What are we doing? After the race! Oh no … don’t tear it up now!”
Despite the cool-down-lap contact, NASCAR ultimately chose not to penalize either driver. Speaking on the latest episode of the “Hauler Talk” podcast, NASCAR vice president of racing communications Mike Forde said officials reviewed multiple angles, including in-car footage and an overhead shot, before reaching their decision.
“It was a lengthy discussion,” Forde said. “A lot of discussion on whether we penalize, or whether we don’t. I would probably say that this is probably the closest it’s gotten to being a penalty without it being a penalty. But we looked at it as emotion again. And they came down pit road, and Stenhouse went to (McDowell’s) window and had a conversation. It cooled down pretty quickly.”
Forde said a penalty likely would have followed if either driver had hit the wall or damaged another car. NASCAR also considered past cases, including Bubba Wallace’s $50,000 fine after he bumped Alex Bowman following the 2024 Chicago Street Race, when Bowman’s car struck a concrete barrier. Forde confirmed that officials plan to meet with Stenhouse and McDowell at Phoenix Raceway to discuss what happened.
For now, both drivers have avoided a penalty, but the upcoming meeting means NASCAR still wants to address the incident. Dillon’s comment has added another voice to the debate, while the clash itself has raised a familiar question about where hard racing ends and retaliation begins.