In a stunning move, NASCAR has revoked Austin Dillon‘s automatic berth into the 16-driver NASCAR Cup Series playoff field for his moves on the final lap Sunday at Richmond Raceway.
Dillon won the race following a last-lap incident where he turned Joey Logano and then hooked Denny Hamlin to take the checkered flag and what he thought was an automatic playoff berth that goes with a regular-season win.
NASCAR will not strip Dillon of the win, but it won’t allow him to use the win for an automatic playoff berth. Dillon was also docked 25 points in the standings and his spotter, Brandon Benesch, was suspended for three races.
NASCAR rules allow for that decision as the playoff eligibility requirements state: “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 also issued a $50,000 fine to Logano for smoking his tires as he drove by Dillon’s crew and family on pit road following the race.
Dillon and RCR can appeal the penalty, and any decision by NASCAR’s appeals panel would be made before the playoffs begin.
Assuming he doesn’t win any appeals, the Richard Childress Racing driver, who is 26th in the series standings and has no chance to make the playoffs on points, will have to win one of the final three races — Michigan, Daytona and Darlington remain on the regular-season schedule — to earn a spot in the playoff field.
Dillon was cruising to the victory — a victory that would turn around a miserable season where he sat 32nd in the standings after 22 of the 26 regular-season races — when a caution came out with two laps remaining, setting up an overtime restart.
Logano got a good jump on the restart and had enough of an advantage that he thought he would be able to hold off Dillon, who went into Turn 3 and turned Logano. Hamlin ducked to the inside and Dillon hooked him in the right rear.
Dillon indicated he was just flooring his throttle and didn’t intend to turn Hamlin.
FINAL LAPS: Austin Dillon secures checkered flag in overtime at Cook Out 400
NASCAR Senior Vice President of Competition Elton Sawyer said Sunday night that the sanctioning body would look at data of the cars’ throttle, steering and braking info and dive into team communications to determine if Dillon did anything against NASCAR’s rules on aggressive driving.
Dillon spotter Benesch did say “wreck him” a couple of times in the final lap, although Dillon said he didn’t hear that — he was just reacting to the evolving situation.
“I was just trying to get to him,” Dillon said about Logano. “I went into Turn 3 in fifth gear and drove in, tried to get him loose, got him up the track. I got the car downshifted, and the car actually turned pretty good when I did that.
“When I was coming back left, the 11 [of Hamlin] was coming. That was just kind of a reaction. … I wasn’t lifting at that point because I was more looking at where the 22 [of Logano] was. When the 11 came across, it was just reaction.”
NASCAR typically allows drivers to trade paint but blatantly wrecking someone for position can — but not always — result in a being held one or more laps. When it is done in retaliation, it is typically when it rises to the level of a suspension.
Hamlin and Logano both said that Dillon should be penalized for the move.
“He can come from five car lengths back and completely wreck someone and then wreck another one to the line — and we’re going to call that racing?” Logano said.
It was the hook of Hamlin, though, that likely caught NASCAR’s ire. NASCAR has penalized drivers for such a move, but typically those are done in retaliation.
“He right-rear hooked me. … There was a two-lap penalty for Layne Riggs that spun somebody out in a truck race [earlier this year], but we’re going to say that that’s fine?” Hamlin said.
With Dillon no longer eligible for the automatic berth, there are four playoff spots up for grabs and at least one will go to a driver who doesn’t win during the regular season. Because Chris Buescher and Ross Chastain were tied in points for the fourth spot among winless drivers, the bubble margins have not changed.
Martin Truex Jr. remains 78 points ahead of the cutoff while Ty Gibbs is 18 points up and Bubba Wallace is three points ahead. Buescher and Chastain are now tied for the last spot with the next-closest driver Chase Briscoe at 99 points behind them.
Full coverage of Richmond fallout:
Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.
Get more from NASCAR Cup Series Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more
