Austin Dillon’s automatic playoff spot was revoked by NASCAR

In an unexpected move, Austin Dillon’s automatic spot in the 16-driver NASCAR Cup Series playoff field has been revoked by NASCAR due to his actions on Sunday’s final lap at Richmond Raceway.

In the final lap, Dillon passed Joey Logano and hooked Denny Hamlin, winning the race and, in his mind, the automatic postseason berth that comes with winning the regular season.

While NASCAR won’t deny Dillon the victory, it will prevent him from using it to secure an automatic postseason berth. In addition, Dillon lost 25 points in the standings, and Brandon Benesch, his spotter, was barred for three races.

Because the playoff eligibility requirements state that “race finishes must be unencumbered by violation(s) of the NASCAR Rules or other action(s) detrimental to stock car auto racing or NASCAR, as determined in the sole discretion of NASCAR,” NASCAR rules permit that decision. “.

Additionally, Logano was fined $50,000 by NASCAR for smoking tires during his pass through Dillon’s family and crew on pit road after the race. According to Logano, he won’t challenge the fine.

RCR will contest the penalty, and NASCAR’s appeals panel will rule on the matter prior to the regular-season finale on September. 1 in Darlington.

“The penalty imposed by NASCAR on the No. 33 car deeply disappoints Richard Childress Racing. 3 team “A statement was released by the team. “We intend to appeal the decision because we disagree with it. “.

In order to prevent anything he said from being used against NASCAR in the appeals process, NASCAR Senior Vice President of Competition Elton Sawyer spoke carefully and avoided giving too much away. He stated that Dillon’s move from Turn 3 to the finish as a whole created the penalty.

The No. When it comes to [the championship race at] Phoenix, our top priority is to ensure that we are safeguarding both the playoffs and the championship, according to Sawyer.

We also want our competitors to understand that this is not acceptable. After all, our sport has been about hard racing for over seventy-five years, so we want them to be the ones making all the decisions and understanding when something is wrong. I think that’s what every single one of them understands. ****.

Sawyer said they will investigate how to reach these decisions sooner rather than waiting the full three days following the race.

Sawyer stated, “We want to make sure that getting it right is the most important thing in these decisions; it would be bad on our part to make a split-second decision and it be wrong.”.

Sawyer stated that although they weren’t sure which rule to use, they thought about taking Dillon’s victory away.

“Upon reviewing the rule book, we don’t currently see a mechanism that provides us with that choice,” he stated.

The driver for Richard Childress Racing, who is currently 26th in the series standings and without a chance to qualify for the playoffs based solely on points, will need to win one of the final three races (Daytona, Michigan, and Darlington are still on the regular-season schedule) in order to secure a spot in the playoff field, assuming he wins no appeals.

A caution was issued with two laps left, triggering an overtime restart, just as Dillon was coasting to victory. This would be the perfect way to cap off a terrible season in which he had finished 32nd in the standings after 22 of the 26 regular-season races.

After getting a good start on the restart, Logano believed he had enough of a lead to hold off Dillon, who passed him as he entered Turn 3. Dillon caught Hamlin by surprise by hooking his right rear after he ducked inside.

Dillon said he had no intention of turning Hamlin, just flooring the throttle.

FINAL LAPS: At Cook Out 400, Austin Dillon wins the checkered flag during overtime.

According to Sawyer’s comments on Sunday night, the sanctioning body would examine data pertaining to the cars’ throttle, steering, and braking information as well as team communications to ascertain whether Dillon broke any of NASCAR’s rules regarding aggressive driving.

While Dillon claimed he didn’t hear spotter Benesch yell “wreck him” a few times during the last lap, he was simply responding to the changing circumstances.

Dillon stated, “I was just trying to get to him.” in reference to Logano. I attempted to free him up the track by driving into Turn 3 in fifth gear and driving in. The vehicle actually turned fairly well after I downshifted it.

“The 11 [of Hamlin] was approaching when I turned to return left. It was merely an instinctive response. dot. At that point, I was more interested in locating the 22 [of Logano] than I was in lifting. It was only a reaction when the 11 was revealed. ****.

Drivers can usually trade paint in NASCAR, but it’s not always the case that doing so will win you a lap or more if you deliberately wreck someone for position. Usually, it reaches the point of a suspension when it is done in retaliation.

Dillon ought to be punished for the action, according to Logano and Hamlin.

“We’re going to call it racing when he can wreck someone completely from five car lengths back and then wreck another one to the line?” asked Logano.

An irate Joey Logano talked about Austin Dillon’s overtime move and Dillon’s driving style.

But it was probably Hamlin’s hook that infuriated NASCAR. Drivers have faced penalties from NASCAR for similar actions, but these are usually taken in retaliation.

“He hooked me in the rear. dot. Layne Riggs was given a two-lap penalty for spinning someone out in a truck race earlier this year, but we’re going to say it’s okay?” asked Hamlin.

There are four playoff spots available now that Dillon is not guaranteed a spot; at least one of those spots will go to a driver who finishes the regular season without winning. The bubble margins have not altered because Ross Chastain and Chris Buescher were tied in points for the fourth position among drivers without a win.

Martin Truex Jr. continues to lead by 78 points over the cutoff, followed by Ty Gibbs by 18 points and Bubba Wallace by 3 points. With 99 points separating them, Buescher and Chastain are now tied for the final position. Chase Briscoe is the driver who is nearest to them.

Richmond fallout covered in full:.

NASCAR fined Joey Logano $50,000 for his actions during the Richmond postrace.

Drivers in NASCAR must make decisions about how far to push themselves to win a Cup race.

Austin Dillon said of Joey Logano’s reaction to Richmond’s victory, “If he retaliates, he retaliates.”.

Austin Dillon’s controversial last-lap moves in NASCAR history: where does he rank?

NASCAR insights: There is controversy surrounding Austin Dillon’s contentious victory in Richmond.