Richard Childress Racing lost its appeal process in overturning Austin Dillon’s penalty of having his NASCAR Cup Series victory at Richmond Raceway stripped from Playoff eligibility following a hearing from the National Motorsports Appeals Panel on Wednesday, August 21.
Dillon’s penalty stems from August 11, where he wrecked both Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin on the final lap and final corner to win at Richmond during an overtime shootout, actions Dillon mentioned as last-resort actions to race his way into the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.
Three days after the victory, however, NASCAR stripped Dillon’s Playoff eligibility, citing that he “crossed the line” with the actions he made to wreck both Logano and Hamlin on the final corner. In addition, his No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet team were docked 25 driver/owner points while Dillon’s spotter, Brandon Benesch, was assessed a three-race suspension for encouraging Dillon to wreck the leaders to win. Amid the penalties, Dillon was still credited as the official Richmond winner.
Following the penalties that were handed down to Dillon and Richard Childress Racing, the organization released a statement, citing their plans to appeal the penalties.
A week since, the National Motorsports Appeals Panel, which overheard and reviewed the appeal process made by Dillon and Richard Childress Racing, ruled that both had violated the Member Code of Conduct Penalty Options and Guidelines from the NASCAR Rule Book. Therefore, the loss of points and the Richmond victory not being credited towards Playoff eligibility for Dillon remained intact. The panel did reduce spotter Brandon Benesch’s suspension from three to one race.
In addition to the decision being made, the panel, which included Tom DeLoach, Kelly Housby and Tommy Wheeler, released the following statement of their decision.
“NASCAR represents elite motorsports and, as such, its drivers are expected to demonstrate exemplary conduct if its series’ championships are to be validated. In this case, the ‘line’ was crossed.”
As a result of the penalties remaining intact, Dillon remains mired within the top-30 mark in the 2024 regular-season stretch and in a “must-win” situation to make the Playoffs with two regular-season events remaining on the schedule.
Not long after the decision was made, Richard Childress Racing released a statement that expressed the team’s disappointment with the outcome and plans to appeal to the National Motorsports Final Appeal Officer, which is permitted per the NASCAR Rule Book.
In the meantime, Austin Dillon’s on-track quest to race his way back into the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs continues this upcoming Saturday, August 24, at Daytona International Speedway for the Coke Zero Sugar 400, the penultimate regular-season event on this year’s schedule. The event’s airtime is slated to commence at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC.
