“What an idiot”: Austin Dillon criticizes Cody Ware over on-track wreck

Austin Dillon did not hold his anger for long against Cody Ware at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway after a late-race incident wrecked the No. 51 car and out of contention. The drifting of hot tensions started early in Stage 1 when, just barely fighting to stay on the lead lap, Dillon bumped Ware. The contact spun Ware across the track, dangerously close to race leader Ryan Blaney. Both drivers escaped great damage at that stage, but that run-in had set a tone for what lay ahead later. While less than 50 in the lap count remained, Ware was going for a revenge move. He attempted to turn Dillon. And it just backfired spectacularly. Instead of spinning the No. 3 Chevy, Ware lost control of his own car and hit the outside wall, ending his day.Going through all the turmoil, Dillon counted on his recovery from a 28th-place starting position to finish 13th. While the race might not have been one to win, according to the 13th may have been the result of some much-needed redemption after a series of disappointing finishes for the Richard Childress Racing driver."We fought hard for that one," Dillon said. "The car was tough to handle at the start, but the guys kept adjusting, and we made it better. The restarts helped us climb, and we came away with a solid finish."His teammate Kyle Busch wasn't that lucky and slid down to 30th as Ryan Blaney capitalized on all the chaos to win his first Playoff and lock himself into the Round of 8.New Hampshire was all about damage control for Dillon after his playoff hopes took a crippling blow at Bristol. Tire issues plagued him there as he fell four laps down in the final straw to Round of 16. Looking back on the struggle, Dillon conceded he had been very much taken aback by how quickly the tires wore out: "I thought I had a puncture, but we were actually cording tires just 20 laps into a run." With his championship wants basically done, Dillon now switches focus to stringing together consistent finishes.