Boy was Richmond an interesting race. Some choices made on the final lap of the race were questionable, and now those choices have resulted in some steep penalties. NASCAR was forced to step in after Austin Dillon’s race-winning moves, were viewed to have crossed the line.
Dillon’s win stands, but there is an even bigger fallout from him wrecking both Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin. NASCAR has chosen to remove Dillon’s automatic playoff berth, from that win. It all but sends him back to where he was in the point standings before the race at Richmond. That isn’t the only thing that Richard Childress Racing has to worry about though, as the team and owner are also feeling the consequences of Dillon’s actions. The driver and team were also docked 25 points according to motorsport.com’s Nick DeGroot.
NEWS: @austindillon3’s win at @RichmondRaceway will not count toward #NASCARPlayoffs eligibility in both the driver and owner championships.
NASCAR states that Dillon violated its playoff eligibility rule and loses benefits of the win. pic.twitter.com/5R5AzOOA45
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) August 14, 2024
The sport had no choice but to make a judgment more or less, because of what Dillon did to Hamlin, alongside dumping Logano.
NASCAR Defends Decision to Punish Dillon
NASCAR Senior Vice President of Competition Elton Sawyer was quick to defend the choice to take away Dillon’s playoff eligibility.
” I think in all due respect to the appeal process, we looked at this and the totality of everything that happened as you enter Turn 3 and as the cars got to the start/finish line,” Sawyer told NASCAR.com. “So, as we look through all of that data, we came to the conclusion that a line had been crossed. Our sport has been based going for many, many years, forever, on good, hard racing. Contact has been acceptable. We felt like, in this case, that the line was crossed.”
https://twitter.com/NASCAR/status/1823813100031586365
Dillon won’t be feeling the penalties levied against him alone. RCR will feel it as a whole, and that seems fair given everything that the replays and audio presented to NASCAR.
Dillon’s Spotter faces major penalties as well
Brandon Benesch the spotter for Dillon’s No. 3 Chevy, will also be dealing with repercussions from his actions last Sunday. NASCAR has suspended Benesch for the next three races. He could be heard saying ‘Wreck him’ right before, Dillon hooked Hamlin into the outside wall. It is very clear that is a big no-no. Radio communications have previously gotten teams in trouble in NASCAR, as was the case at Richmond.
Logano Fined For Pit Road Antics
Those are some huge penalties against Dillon and his team, but that wasn’t the end of the fallout from Richmond. Logano angrily spun his tires while on pit road, near dozens of crew members and NASCAR officials. That didn’t sit well, and so he was fined $50,000 for his actions. That has been commonplace for that type of incident. Daniel Suarez in 2023, for his actions on the pit lane at COTA got fined the same amount.
How to Move Forward
Well, it doesn’t help to dwell on what happened, but Richard Childress Racing has made it clear they are going to appeal the penalties. They have every right to do so, but thinking the bigger picture here, is it wise? NASCAR made it very clear what Austin did was crossing the line. The team took to X to officially announce they would be appealing.
” Richard Childress Racing is very disappointed in NASCAR’s penalty against the No. 3 team,” the team said. “We do not agree with the decision that was made and plan to appeal.”
It will be interesting to see, how that appeal works out, but what was done was done. NASCAR had to make a tough choice, but it was the right one given the circumstances. This will certainly continue to be a talking point well past this week.
