Austin Dillon has been allowed to keep his win at Richmond, but it does not confer automatic Playoff eligibility, NASCAR’s penalty report confirmed Wednesday afternoon. Additionally, the No. 3 team has been docked 25 driver and owner points, bringing Dillon even further down from 26th all the way to 31st in the points standings.
The Richard Childress Racing team needed a good result at Richmond, and Dillon demonstrated how hungry he was on the last lap. After running out front until a caution with two laps to go, Dillon lost the lead on the overtime restart.
Several car-lengths behind then-leader Joey Logano coming into the final set of corners, Dillon powered in and drove through Logano, sending Logano’s No. 22 up the track and spinning. When Denny Hamlin looked to the inside to take advantage of both the leaders slowing down and moving up the track, Dillon darted down and right-hooked the No. 11, sending him spinning as well.
Logano and Hamlin were outspoken in their criticism of Dillon’s move to win the race. However, Hamlin did not expect any penalty, commenting exasperatedly that NASCAR, as “just a different league” to other motorsports, refused to hand out penalties for rough driving.
The move drew criticism from the drivers involved as well as fans and industry insiders, for potentially exploiting the Playoff system. The ‘win-and-you’re-in’ format means any full-time driver, regardless of their points position, can automatically earn a Playoff berth just by winning, potentially opening the door for intentional wrecks in a last lap situation like this one.
Hamlin advocated a penalty for Dillon, though he said he didn’t expect one, commenting exasperatedly that NASCAR was ‘just a different league’ to other motorsports which refused to hand out penalties for rough driving.
But the sanctioning body did ultimately hand out penalties. After a long wait (penalty reports usually come out early on Tuesdays), the sport decided on the unprecedented punishment of revoking the Playoff berth.
NASCAR’s Senior Vice President of Competition Elton Sawyer explained that the penalty was warranted after a close look at the SMT data, which shows steering and throttle traces to demonstrate whether any contact was intentional, particularly the latter contact with Hamlin. Dillon had denied that spinning Hamlin was fully intentional, calling it just “reaction.”
“In our view, that crossed the line without a doubt,” Sawyer told Kim Coon on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “Again, our sport has been based on, you know, strong emotions. It’s been based off, you know, win and you’re in, but anything that we feel like from the sanctioning body that has crossed the line from a standpoint that compromises the integrity of our playoff format as well as our championship, we are going to get involved.”
He explained that the sanctioning body took extra time to deliberate the penalty, hence the delayed announcement.
“The magnitude of this decision needed us to get back, get all the information,” he said. “Work with all of our stakeholders, work with our the folks in the industry have a great deal of experience, gather all of that information and then sit down and make a NASCAR decision, and that’s what we did starting Sunday night, gathering the information, meeting again on Monday as well as yesterday. And finally, last night, coming to a conclusion.”
Sawyer concluded that, though NASCAR usually “doesn’t want to get in the middle of” hard racing on the track, there needs to be a line drawn in the sand for every driver to understand.
“They understand where the line is,” he said. “You know, they may ask from time to time where is the line. I guarantee you when you walk through there and you ask them, they will know where it is. So we just felt like in this case we needed to let them know that we know what the line is as well. And this is not something that we’re going to tolerate.”
As an additional penalty for the No. 3 team, spotter Brandon Benesch has been suspended from the next three points events, through Darlington. He was heard over the radio instructing Dillon to ‘wreck him’ in the middle of the chaotic final turn.
Dillon’s team wasn’t the only group receiving penalties after Richmond, though. Joey Logano also earned a $50,000 fine for violating the NASCAR Member Code of Conduct for compromising the safety of individuals with his actions on pit road after he turned his car around from the wall to finish 19th.
As Logano made his way angrily down pit road faster than some of his other competitors, he came very close to a group including Austin Dillon’s family and sponsor executives who were making their way to celebrate with him on the fronstretch. After stopping next to them, Logano continued down pit road for interviews with a burnout that turned his car temporarily towards pit wall and other NASCAR officials.
Logano’s camera clearly showed officials at the time running towards his car angrily, and they confronted him when he got out of his car on pit road.
NASCAR management drew criticism for allowing Dillon’s family, including young children, onto a hot pit road as cars drove past in the first place, something Sawyer said he and his team would also ‘do a better job.’
The penalties can be appealed, but Sawyer suggested that the thoroughness of NASCAR’s process makes any success very unlikely.
So, while Logano’s fine will only hurt his pockets, Dillon’s penalty, as it stands, has big implications for the Playoffs. Taking away his Playoff berth means the number of spots available on points increases from three to four, with Martin Truex, Ty Gibbs, Bubba Wallace, and Chris Buescher occupy those spots heading into Michigan, with Ross Chastain zero points out, tied with Buescher at the cutline but out on the tiebreaker. That battle will only heat up as the regular season draws to a close, now with more spots to fight for.
Update, 5:15 p.m. ET: Richard Childress Racing has decided to appeal the penalty, the team announced in a post on Twitter.
“Richard Childress Racing is very disappointed in NASCAR’s penalty against the No. 3 team,” the statement read. “We do not agree with the decision that was made and plan to appeal.”
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