Earlier at the Eldora Speedway, the penultimate round of the SRX Series wrapped up. Tony Stewart returned to winning ways in the feature race, ahead of a delighted Hailie Deegan taking her first Top 3 finish. Meanwhile, championship leader Ryan Newman was in third, ahead of Bobby Labonte. However, one of the big stories was the nightmare debut of Richard Childress Racing driver, Austin Dillon.

The Richard Childress Racing star broke down what went wrong

Austin Dillon was running in the heat race when he encountered a mechanical issue on Lap 9. As it happened, his radiator hose broke and the car skidded straight into the outside wall. As if that wasn’t bad enough, it triggered a multi-car crash that knocked out five cars. Among the victims were Matt Kenseth, Tony Kanaan, Marco Andretti, and Hailie Deegan.

Speaking with Matt Weaver after the race, Dillon said, “I can show you the lower radiator hose first. It’s in place, don’t know why it did that I have barely see it like that. You can see right here. Hose just burst. I don’t know what the plan is. That was a hard hit! The engine, I think, is actually fine, doubt the car is. It was pretty hard, we’ll look at it and see. Might be able to put a hose on now.”

WATCH THIS STORY: Dillon Slams Kyle Busch’s Bitter Rival’s “Desperation” That Stopped Him From Helping His Teammate Win Daytona 500

With the help of Weaver’s camera footage, fans got to see the car’s engine. They also got a chance to see what went wrong with Dillon’s #33 machine. In all honesty, it was interesting to see what made the SRX car tick and see what engine it used, compared to NASCAR.

Austin Dillon did not compete in the feature race

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Sadly, that would be the last that anyone saw of him at the Eldora Speedway. As it turned out, the damage was too great, and as a part-time driver he was not able to hop in a backup car. Since Andretti and Deegan were full-time drivers, they were given a higher priority on the backup car front.

While all that was happening, an oblivious Tony Stewart dominated the race weekend. This inches him closer to championship leader Ryan Newman. However, with one race remaining, does it mean that Newman has clinched the championship? All the signs do point in that direction, as there is a 39-point gap between him and Stewart. With 49 points up for grabs, Tony Stewart needs to sweep the race weekend and Newman does not score more than 10 points.

READ MORE: “Not Really Racing for Anything”- Tony Stewart’s NASCAR Driver Gives Up After Bitter Ford Disappointment