Hauler Talk: No penalty to be issued to Austin Dillon for Brad Keselowski crash

There will be no penalty issued for the crash involving Austin Dillon and Brad Keselowski at Nashville Superspeedway after NASCAR officials quickly determined no fault in the incident. During the latest episode of the "Hauler Talk" podcast, senior director of racing communications Amanda Ellis said the wreck was reviewed immediately at NASCAR's remote race control facility in Concord, North Carolina. RELATED: Nashville recap | NASCAR goes 'Nashville hot' as tensions rise "Scott Miller pulled all the data from that incident, and we knew pretty quickly that Austin was out of the throttle (before hitting Keselowski)," Ellis said. "They obviously tangled on the track, and then the incident happened, right? But we were able to tell pretty quickly that it wasn't a situation where Austin was in the gas or anything related to that." In his team's radio communication and interviews, Keselowski held Dillon responsible for the crash. Prime Video analyst Steve Letarte dissected the incident Monday in a NASCAR.com video and determined Dillon was at 100% throttle at the exit of Turn 4 and dropped to 17% throttle at the time of impact on the front straightaway. "Those two (drivers) clearly kind of had some differences of opinion throughout the race," Ellis said. "And so that one is really more of just a racing incident, and that's really how NASCAR viewed it on Sunday night." The crash was one of 11 cautions, including four for drivers with brake issues. WATCH: Inside the brake rotor failures at Nashville NASCAR vice president of racing communications Mike Forde said the problems likely were the result of setups that weren't optimized for a 2026 rules package with an increase to 750 horsepower and lower downforce. The higher corner entry speeds necessitated heavier braking. "Depending on what kind of brake package you use and setup that you chose, which is a team's choice, that's what we believe led to a lot of the problems," Forde said. "I think it's going to be pretty easily fixable. We saw 30-some cars that didn't have any problems. We did see the four, but we want to see zero. So I think there will be some learnings from the entire garage, but I think, suffice to say, we looked at it, and if this was back at the 670 (horsepower) package last year, we probably wouldn't have seen the problems. "It's kind of the teams have to work through it, and I don't think anyone's calling for any change in that regard."

Other topics covered by Forde and Ellis during the 56th episode of "Hauler Talk," which explores competition issues in NASCAR:

-- The decision to hold the yellow flag for a Kyle Larson spin near the end of the race at Nashville. -- The process and rules that govern how a polesitter starts a race. -- The verdict in Ryan Preece's appeal hearing. -- Why flashing lights are used to help drivers determine when the pits are closed. Click on the embed below to listen or search for "Hauler Talk" wherever you download podcasts to hear it on your phone, tablet or mobile device. Nate Ryan has written about NASCAR since 1996 while working at the San Bernardino Sun, Richmond Times-Dispatch, USA Today Co. and, for the past 10 years, at NBC Sports Digital. He is a contributor to the "Hauler Talk" show on the NASCAR Podcast Network. He has also covered various other motorsports, including the IndyCar and IMSA series.