During Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race at Pocono, Austin Dillon wrecked while racing Tyler Reddick for position. That itself is not particularly notable, but Dillon made the story at least a little bit more compelling when he decided to throw his entire helmet at Reddick's passing car under the caution that followed.
He missed.
Dillon seemingly meant to show his displeasure at Reddick for what he perceived to be causing a wreck, but Reddick's No. 45 was already outside of the main line of cars when Dillon began his wind-up. The helmet instead bounces off the racing surface, landing well behind Reddick's car and also missing every other car in line.
The helmet throw is made all the more confounding by replays of the crash, which show that Reddick held his line and that Dillon's position on track was restricted more by a car to the outside. In other words, while Dillon spun off the nose of Reddick's car, Dillon was the one who was actually responsible for the crash in the first place. This does not seem to be the result of some sort of long-term rivalry, either. While the helmet through could be cumulative frustration from years spent as Reddick's teammate at Richard Childress Racing, the two also have no real history of on-track altercations in the Cup Series before this crash.
Dillon currently sits 30th in the NASCAR Cup Series standings and has no reasonable path to the playoffs this season without a win. Reddick is 11th, and an earlier win means that he is already effectively locked into the postseason.
