For the third time this Sprint Cup season, Dillon was upset with someone on his team. In Sunday’s case during the STP 500, he took issue with Richard Childress Racing teammate Paul Menard.
PHOTOS: Scenes from Martinsville
Dillon criticized Menard on the radio after the two traded paint on several run-ins with just more than 100 laps remaining. The tight racing and disparaging words didn’t spill over to pit road, however, as the two briefly talked and shook hands after the race.
“(The conversation) was good. Paul just said we had fast race cars,” Dillon said. “That’s pretty much the end of it. Me and Paul are fine.”
The spat is nothing new for Dillon.
In Las Vegas, Dillon was upset with crew chief Slugger Labbe and his No. 3 team, saying, “We can’t get a f— race win because of these stupid-ass pit stops."
It was more of the same in Phoenix, with Dillon telling Labbe, “We gonna get our lunch ate here,” after staying on the track while others pitted for new tires.
“I’ve got to learn to keep my mouth shut on the radio,” Dillon said Sunday after a fourth-place finish. “That’s part of racing. I’m a fiery guy and it was fun today. Sometimes you’ve just got to grow up a little bit, but It’s nice to be running up front.
“It’s Martinsville. Your head’s hot. You say things you don’t want to mean. Monday morning I’ll talk to everybody and we’ll figure it back out.”
Despite the feud between teammates, both drivers finished in the top 10 with Menard coming in eighth. With the fourth-place finish — his fifth top 10 of the season — Dillon moved up three spots to seventh in the points standings.
