During the Cup Series race at Richmond on August 11th, 2024, Austin Dillon intentionally took out the No. 22 NASCAR Ford Mustang Dark Horse of Joey Logano and the No. 11 Toyota TRD Camry of Denny Hamlin. NASCAR came down hard on Dillon’s No. 3 Chevy team, nullifying his Playoff eligibility and issuing points deductions. Richard Childress Racing (RCR) appealed the penalty, and was subsequently shot down, and now, the team has officially lots its final appeal, meaning all punishments will stand.
According to a report from NASCAR.com, the National Motorsports Appeals Panel (NMAP) Final Appeals Officer, Bill Mullis, upheld the penalties assessed to Dillon’s No. 3 Chevy team. As a reminder, Dillon’s Playoffs berth was revoked, meaning he will have to win again if he wants to make this year’s championship. The No. 3 Chevy team was also docked 25 points in both the owners’ and drivers’ championships for intentionally crashing his competitors.
“The data presented today from SMT and IDAS systems indicate that more likely than not a rule violation did occur at Richmond Raceway on 8-11-24 by the No. 3 RCR car on the last lap of the race,” Mullis stated, citing Rule 12.3.2.1.B Eligibility. This section states that race finishes must be unencumbered by violations of the NASCAR rules or other actions detrimental to stock car auto racing or NASCAR as determined in the sole discretion of NASCAR.
RCR has not commented on the final appeal decision.
Currently, Dillon is 29th in points and 30th in the projected Playoffs picture. He will not have enough points to compete in the postseason championship if he does not win at Darlington on September 1st, 2024, which is the final regular season race. Meanwhile, Logano’s No. 22 NASCAR Ford team is locked in since he won a regular season race.
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Comment
I realize that bumping a race car from behind is called something else when it’s done at Daytona Speedway BUT some of those bumps sent cars into accidents last Saturday. Austin Dillon, who I care not a rats behind about, does it and he loses his well earned spot in the playoffs. Let the men race for gods sake! Bunch of cry baby drivers like Logano puts peoples lives in danger on pit road and that idiot gets only a 50k fine. Nascar makes the cars safer, then take away the thrill of allowing them to win the old fashion way.